We have a domain running Windows Server 2012 Essentials on the server and Windows 7 on each client computer. Client computers are set up with static IP addresses, and with the Preferred DNS server set to x.x.x.254, which is the IP address of our modem. When these settings are intact, everything works beautifully. However, upon restart, the client computers’ Preferred DNS Server keeps resetting to x.x.x.5. which is the IP address of our server. When that happens, internet connectivity becomes spotty or nonexistent. Taking 30 seconds to load google.com or just giving page load failures. I cannot figure out why the Preferred DNS Server keeps resetting to our server’s address. I have also tried putting in Google’s DNS server on the client computers but it’s still significantly laggy over the proper x.x.x.254 setup. I have tried to figure out if there’s some sort of DHCP problem on the server, but I can’t find the setting in 2012 Essentials, and honestly, I’m not entirely sure what to look for if I did find it. When a computer is plugged into our wired network for the first time, it always shows an IP conflict until we assign one manually. I don’t know if that’s related to DNS problem or not, but I figured the more info the better, right? (FYI, wireless is handled via DCHP from the router and is on a completely different range than the wired network. Only the wired network is giving us problems.)