Sporadic but frequent DNS failures in Firefox and PowerShell: System.Net.Sockets.SocketException 0x00002AFA

Question

Sporadic but frequent DNS failures in Firefox and PowerShell: System.Net.Sockets.SocketException 0x00002AFA

Mark Renton 115

Since I upgraded to Windows 11 PC I have been getting errors loading websites in Firefox.

"Hmm... we're having trouble finding that site", usually on l.facebook.com (used to record Facebook clicks and redirect them) but on other sites too.

So I wrote a PowerShell function to loop on doing [System.Net.DNS]::resolve("l.facebook.com") every 5 seconds until it gets an error, and the error it sometimes (every few thousand attempts) gets is the following (note the InnerException)...

ErrorRecord : Exception calling "Resolve" with "1" argument(s): "This is usually a temporary error during hostname resolution and means that the local server did not receive a response from an authoritative server."

WasThrownFromThrowStatement : False

TargetSite : Void CheckActionPreference(System.Management.Automation.Language.FunctionContext, System.Exception)

Message : Exception calling "Resolve" with "1" argument(s): "This is usually a temporary error during hostname resolution and means that the local server did not receive a response from an authoritative server."

Data : {}

InnerException : System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (0x00002AFA): This is usually a temporary error during hostname resolution and means that the local server did not receive a response from an authoritative server.

                             at System.Net.Dns.GetHostEntryOrAddressesCore(String hostName, Boolean justAddresses, AddressFamily addressFamily, Nullable`1 activityOrDefault)

                             at System.Net.Dns.Resolve(String hostName)

                             at CallSite.Target(Closure, CallSite, Type, Object)

HelpLink :

Source : System.Management.Automation

HResult : -2146233087

StackTrace : at System.Management.Automation.ExceptionHandlingOps.CheckActionPreference(FunctionContext funcContext, Exception exception)

                             at lambda_method463(Closure, Object[], StrongBox`1[], InterpretedFrame)

The HResult in hex is 0x80131501

Firefox is my default browser, so I haven't tested whether or not Edge gets similar errors.

This happened very infrequently on Windows 10. How do I fix it?

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Answer 1

Lychee-Ng 20,870 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Mark Renton,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thank you for sharing the detailed error message and context! The issue you described can be tricky, especially when it happens random but frequent, affecting your performance. This seems to be a classic DNS resolution issue on Windows 11, typically indicating that your system is not receiving timely responses from the configured DNS server, which can result from several underlying causes. Here is something you can try to improve the situation:

1 - Flush DNS and reset Network Stack

Open Command Prompt as Admin > run these prompts one by one:
- ipconfig /flushdns
- ipconfig /registerdns
- netsh int ip reset
- netsh winsock reset
Or if you prefer PowerShell > run this:
- Clear-DnsClientCache
- ipconfig /flushdns
Restart your computer after this.

2 - Temporary disable IPv6 (if possible)

Press Win + R > type ncpa.cpl > Open Network Connections
Right-click your active adapter > Properties
Uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)

3 - Switch to a more reliable DNS provider

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet/Wi-Fi
Expand your adapter > DNS server assignment > Edit
Set to Manual, enable IPv4:
- For Google: 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4
- For Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 & 1.0.0.1
Repeat for IPv6 if needed.

If the issue persists after applying the above fixes, consider checking the following:

Disable VPNs or firewalls to test: They can sometimes intercept DNS requests.
Update network drivers in Device Manager: Outdated or buggy drivers can cause DNS failures.
Temporarily stop the DNS Client service.
Test in Edge or Chrome to isolate whether Firefox is contributing to the issue. If they work consistently, Firefox may need a network settings reset.

Let me know if you'd like help with any of these steps. I can also share a guide on how to update network drivers and stop DNS Client service. If the fluctuations are consistent, there's also a chance that it comes directly from your Internet line - consider calling and checking with the provider in that case!

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it to assist others who might face similar issues. If you have extra questions, please click "Comment".

Note: To enable e-mail notifications, follow the steps in our documentation!

Mark Renton 115 Reputation points

2025-08-21T04:47:58.08+00:00

First, I was surprised to get an answer, since immediately after submitting the question via Feedback, I got a message like "Your question has been deleted as it does not adhere to our Community Guidelines"!

Second, this seems like a case where the cure is worse than the disease.

In Firefox, if I hit the [Retry] button enough times (or F5 to reload), it will eventually load the page successfully. This is much less effort and hassle than doing the DNS cache flush commands and rebooting!

For now, I have disabled IPv6 on my Ethernet adapter. BUT won't that mean that IPv6 devices or websites will be (or become) invisible to me?

I am currently running the following PowerShell loop

for($i=1;;$i++) { $x=[System.Net.DNS]::resolve("l.facebook.com"); "$i ($(Get-Date)) $($x.AddressList.IPAddressToString)"; sleep 10 }

and it is up to 15,560 iterations without encountering the error (even tho it bounces back and forth between two IP addresses in the resolve), so I think disabling IPv6 is a functioning work-around for now.
Mark Renton 115 Reputation points

2025-08-21T04:51:40.97+00:00

A related issue: If I click on my (MR) in the upper-right of Microsoft Q&A, click Profile, I see no listing of my question which was asked via the Feedback Hub (with the same Microsoft account, of course). Shouldn't it show up? It now does show that I commented on the question, but does not list the question as one which I have asked.
Mark Renton 115 Reputation points

2025-08-21T05:13:53.06+00:00

I spoke too soon -- I just encountered the problem again in Firefox, with IPv6 disabled.

Took 4 retries to re-connect to emojipedia.org
Lychee-Ng 20,870 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-25T06:29:38.8366667+00:00
Hi, sorry for replying late. Your question seemed to be hidden from the system, I took a while to get back to it.

I'd like to ask if you have tried the other suggestions? If yes and the issue still persists, I have another one that's a bit more advanced for you to try here:

Press Win + R > type regedit > Enter

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters

Look for a DWORD value named EnableSmhNr > set value to 0

If it does not exist > Add a new DWORD (32-bit) Value:

Name: EnableSmhNr

Value: 0

Close the registry editor and restart your PC.

Disclaimer: This is an advanced fix so be careful when performing it. For further protection, back up the registry before modifying it.
Mark Renton 115 Reputation points

2025-08-26T18:03:48.2733333+00:00

I just changed a Firefox network setting for proxies from "Use system setting for proxies" to "No proxy"

I set my Ethernet DNS servers to the Google servers.

The next version of Firefox (142.0) reloaded all the tabs in my current window without me having to explicitly select them (different behavior!) and failed on none of them!

So maybe the problem was with Firefox (not sure how that would make a PowerShell DNS resolve fail), or is with my ISP's DNS servers (?).

The PowerShell resolve loop looks like it's returning a single address rather than flipping between 2 different addresses.

This may also resolve another problem I have been having -- occasional failures to load images, in both Firefox and Edge (for which I have been doing Right-Click Reload Image).
Lychee-Ng 20,870 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-28T06:42:30.03+00:00

Good to see that it's working ok now. Feel free to get back if there are more issues showing up!
Mark Renton 115 Reputation points

2025-08-28T16:56:12.78+00:00

I will accept your answer, altho I am still not sure wherein the fault lies (my guess is my ISP's DNS server). Also, I'm not sure Google will be thrilled if millions of Microsoft customers are suddenly using a Google DNS server rather than their ISP's DNS server.

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Sporadic but frequent DNS failures in Firefox and PowerShell: System.Net.Sockets.SocketException 0x00002AFA

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