Troubleshooting DNS login issues

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If you can't login to Second Life because you see the following error:

Unable to connect to Second Life.
DNS could not resolve the host name.
Please verify that you can connect to www.secondlife.com
web site. If you can, but continue to receive this error,
please go to the support section and and report this problem.

Or:

Login failed.
Unable to connect to a simulator.

The Domain Name System connects machines across the Internet by translating numerical addresses into human-readable ones. If DNS can't be resolved as described above, it's somewhat like dialing a forwarding phone number that recently existed but the phones were disconnected — perhaps at the other end, or something in between happened.

Since there are several possible reasons why this might happen and if waiting and retrying periodically hasn't worked, try the following steps to deal with the problem.

Check Grid Status Reports

On rare occasion, this is a problem that affects Second Life broadly. It eventually resolves after we fix it.

Restart your computer and Internet equipment

Yes, it's such a general step. But it may work. Fully unplug your cable modem, router, and other gear you use to access the Internet for several minutes so that residual memory is cleared. This may purge "stale" settings.

Use a DNS service

Warning: We can't guarantee the quality of these, they're provided solely for informational purposes.

Companies like OpenDNS and DNS Advantage claim to provide more robust DNS resolution.

Contact your ISP

A problem at your Internet Service Provider's routing servers may block your access to specific places like Second Life. Check if they have any known issues.

Flush your DNS cache manually

See "Easy Ways to Flush DNS Cache in Mac, Windows, and Linux" if you feel technically comfortable.