DNS Cache problem recurring on Windows 11 Laptop

[JasonPang]

Recently my home upgraded our wifi routers and satellite, towards the end of the week I faced no issues. Until the same afternoon which it showed I was connected to wifi but refused to load. The next day, I used the built in network troubleshooter and it stated that there was a problem with the DNS Cache. I attempted to resolve this issue by checking for updates on windows, device manager, wifi driver was uninstalled and restarted, using Cmd prompt as admin to flushdns, manually routing DNS, restarting the laptop, forgetting the network and connecting again, disabling firewall and restarting the router and satellite itself. To which I have had no luck in solving the issue. There have been temporary fixes where most the time I get online for about 5-10 minutes before DNS cache issue comes back. All other devices connected to the network are working fine. My phone has no issue loading anything for long periods of time neither does other devices.

Im not sure if this issue is with the network or the laptop as Ive tried all solutions suggested to me on microsoft support about related issues and google. Flushdns, ipconfig release, reset, renew, netsh commands all doesnt work. Ive attempted to uninstall and reinstall wifi drivers, disabled wifi 6 and currently only running on Wifi 5, turned down roaming aggressiveness, ran diagnosis from advanced reset and it found that the wireless network had passed, full network resets, defaulted the power management and still have no luck. The wifi adapter used is "Realtek RTL8852BE Wifi6 802.11ax PCIe adapter" and is the most up to date according to device manager. There are no pending Windows update either. Thus the issue remains puzzling and frustrating. The issue only occurs on my home wifi and does not appear when connected to my hotspot or other wifi networks. Other devices in the same network face no issues.

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @JasonPang,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to help you.


Thanks for the detailed breakdown. You've done a thorough job troubleshooting this, and I can understand how frustrating it must be when everything else works except your HP laptop on your home Wi-Fi. Since the issue is isolated to your home network and only affects this laptop, here are some advanced steps and less obvious causes that might help resolve it:

1. Check for Conflicts with Security Software

Even if the firewall is disabled, third-party antivirus or VPN software can interfere with DNS resolution.

• Try temporarily uninstalling any third-party antivirus or VPN (not just disabling).
• Reboot and test the connection.

2. Use Static DNS Settings

You mentioned manually routing DNS — just to confirm, try this:

1. Go to Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Hardware Properties.
2. Click Edit under IP settings.
3. Set to Manual, enable IPv4.
4. Use:
   • Preferred DNS: 8.8.8.8
   • Alternate DNS: 1.1.1.1
5. Save and restart.

3. Disable IPv6

Some routers and adapters have trouble with IPv6.

• Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.
• Right-click your Wi-Fi adapter > Properties.
• Uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
• Click OK and restart.

4. Check for Realtek Driver Issues

Even if Device Manager says the driver is up to date, the Realtek RTL8852BE adapter has had known issues with DNS and connectivity on certain firmware versions.

Try downloading the latest driver directly from HP or Realtek, not via Windows Update: Official HP® Laptop Drivers and Software Download | HP® Support

5. Router-Specific Fixes

Since the issue started after a router upgrade:

• Log in to your router admin page.
• Disable DNS Relay / DNS Proxy if available.
• Try setting the router’s DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1.
• Check if QoS, band steering, or smart connect features are enabled — try disabling them temporarily.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have an amazing day!
 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

VikramTheGreat

[JasonPang]

Hi Vikram, thanks for your prompt assistance.

Ive temporary uninstalled third party antiviruses and VPN but the problem persists. Ive disabled the IPv6 which saw slight imporvement initially but then the issue returns and constant interference. Ive downloaded the latest Realtek wifi driver from the official HP support page that you shared. After downloading and following the instructions given by the HP application, there was no improvement and when trying to manually install through device manager update. Even selecting the folder which it downloaded. It continued to say that the most up to date driver was installed. So im not sure what there is to do about it in that respect. 

I did contact HP support in my region yesterday and the technician on the phone said it is likely an issue with my network and ISP. Ive looked onto my router's web interface and configuration but couldnt find anything wrong apart from it configured my device as a desktop when it is a laptop. But still it faced no improvement. Apart from that, I couldnt find any other issues. 

Thanks for your support anyways. The issue may lie with the ISP rather than with HP or Windows. But I do see alot of people struggling with similar issues with this Realtek wifi driver. 

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @JasonPang,

Thank you for the detailed update, and I genuinely understand how frustrating persistent Wi-Fi issues can be, especially after exhausting all the expected steps. Since you've already gone through disabling third-party tools, updating the Realtek driver, disabling IPv6, and even checking your router, to find more details, please share the details below in a private message.

Please help us with your HP unit serial number or the product number in a private message for further assistance.
 

Here is the link to find the product Serial number: - Click here

To access your private messages, simply click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile and send a private message to me with the serial number because we value your privacy.

VikramTheGreat

HP Support

[Paul0311]

A confounding problem for sure. Here are a couple of thoughts. It is possible that DNS is not the problem but rather just a connection problem. I had a connection problem that often was reported with a web page that reported a D.NS error. That happened the first time I browsed to a new website (like google.com). It was misleading because the wifi icon still showed connected, but in fact I was not connected. If I waited a bit the page turned to No Connection and finally the icon turned into a globe. So if the was no dns ip mapping for google.com, a request to the dns server was made but failed because of no connection.

If you configured a custom dns server as Vikram suggested (8.8.8.8) and that did not fix the issue it seems likely that dns is not the issue. When you have a page not loading problem you could try pinging the dns server (ping 8.8.8.8) or even pinging your routers ip address; if it hangs I'd say it was a connection problem.

You might consider changing the 5GHZ channel in your router. I have read that recommended channels are 36, 40, 44, 48 that are all non-overlapping. The channel width is 20 MHZ and does not offer the highest speed (as 40 and 80MHZ) but It's one more data point and you can always go back to the original setting. Generally you do this if you have a busy network and think you might have interference, so it might not make sense in a home environment.

Since you have tried every possible fix you might want to try installing an older wifi adapter driver on the assumption that your real problem is a random connection issue. It can't hurt and you can always go back to the most current driver. For your adapter I would try 6001.15.152.0.  It is in the hp version package 1.0.0.248 Rev.S.  I have been running it since 6/15/25 and it solved a chronic wifi drop problem I had.

[VikramTheGreat · Accepted solution]

Hi @JasonPang,

It sounds like reverting to the older Wi-Fi driver successfully resolved your chronic Wi-Fi drop issues. That’s great news and a reminder that sometimes the "latest" software isn't always the most stable for every setup.
 

Thanks again for documenting this so clearly. Your solution could definitely help others facing similar symptoms.

Take care and have an amazing day!
 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

VikramTheGreat

[JasonPang]

Hi Paul, 

I've looked into changing the channel of the router but for 5Ghz it is already set to 40. 

However, I am unable to revert to the older driver as the roll back button on my device manager for the WiFi adapter is dimmed and unavailable. And I am unable to find the older version of the WiFi driver on the HP support website. The version it gives is the one I have now which is encountering problems. The Realtek 8852BE 802.11ax adapter. It's the 1.0.0.271 version that I can download which is what I have now. But not the 1.0.0.248 which you mentioned. Is there a way one that I can manually download and install?

[JasonPang]

Hi Vikram,

Currently the issue has not been fully solved yet as I have not been able to revert back to the old driver. Im looking for the official site to download the previous driver version but it doesn't seem to be anywhere. 

I have seen many similar issues regarding this Realtek WiFi driver that other users have also complained about on HP and Microsoft support across different devices and brands. If this could be reflected to HP and Realtek, it would be of great help and that an update by Realtek to solve the issue would be great especially for the importance of WiFi and wireless connection.

[Paul0311]

I saw a post saying you resolved your problem, but your query has a later timestamp. So, I will reply. I did make an assumption that the driver I mentioned is included in a common HP software package for our Realtek adapter regardless of the model of the HP laptop. I'm sure there is a shortcut but this is probably the right way to do it:

1. Go to the Official HP Laptop site that the HP Agent mentioned in his past post.

2. Enter your laptop model; then OS and OS version. (My laptop is model 15-fc0093dx Product# 8F1A6UA)

3. Expand Driver Network

4. Expand "+ Realtek RTL 8xxx Series Wireless Lan Drivers"

5. Expand "+ Previous versions"     You should see the 1.0.0.248 package. If not, it might be in a different package for your model but that would not make sense to me.

6. You download it, unzip the spxxxx file which puts it in C:\SWSetup\Spxxxxx. Click Next and then Finish.

7. At that point you run the update driver via Properties for your adapter via the Device Manager, but chose "Browse my Computer" and pick the driver from the list.

[JasonPang]

I was able to roll back the wifi adapter version to the previous one. And Ive tested it out for most the day about 6 or so hours and I dont seem to run into problems anymore. So Im fairly confident to say that the issue is solved. Hopefully this doesnt jinx it but it seems to have worked. Thank you for your assistance and solution. But the latest Realtek wifi adapter seems to be problematic and I see other users encounter similar issues with it as well. Reverting to the older version of the driver seems to have worked. 

Thanks Paul and Vikram for your assistance throughout these frustrating times.