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Domain Name FAQ

Questions List

1. What is a Domain Name?
2. How do I make a Domain Name point to my web site?
3. How do I register my own Domain?
4. How much does a Domain Name cost?
5. My domain name was registered through a registrar other than Sonic.net. How can I host my domain at Sonic.net?
6. Will Sonic.net modify my domain name for me?
7. I want to register a domain name in a top-level other than .COM, .NET, .ORG, .US, .BIZ, or .INFO.. Does Sonic.net have an automated tool to do this?
8. How can I change the name servers for a domain registered through Sonic.net?

Answers List

1. What is a Domain Name?

   Network Solutions defines a domain name thus: "An addressing construct used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet. Domain names provide a system of easy-to-remember Internet addresses, which can be translated by the Domain Name System (DNS) into the numeric addresses (Internet Protocol (IP) numbers) used by the network. A domain name is hierarchical and often conveys information about the type of entity using the domain name. A domain name is simply a label that represents a domain, which is a subset of the total domain name space. Domain names at the same level of the hierarchy must be unique. Thus, for example, there can be only one .COM at the top-level of the hierarchy, and only one networksolutions.com at the next level of the hierarchy."

   A domain name looks like: yourdomain.com or Sonic's: sonic.net where yourdomain is the name that you choose to register.

   Your new Domain comes with a few privileges:

   • If your WWW URL was http://www.sonic.net/~user
     Your new URL is http://yourdomain.com/~user

   • Also, you can use your current email address (user@sonic.net), and you can also use your domain name (user@yourdomain.com).

   • We offer a few additional-cost services to our members to help you archive a professional Internet presence.

2. How do I make a Domain Name point to my web site?

   You can direct web traffic for your Domain Name to your Sonic.net website by using the Basic Hosting or Value Hosting services. These can be added to an existing account using the Domain Tool.

3. How do I register my own Domain?

   You must be a current Sonic.net subscriber to use Sonic.net's domain registration tool. It makes getting your own domain name easy, and takes care of customizing the domain for your Sonic.net account.

4. How much does a Domain Name cost?
   

   We charge $9.95/year for registration of a domain and $1.95 per month for DNS hosting service. Please see our domain registration FAQ for details on how to register your domain now: Domain Name Registration

5. My domain name was registered through a registrar other than Sonic.net. How can I host my domain at Sonic.net?

   The simplest way to get your domain hosted at Sonic.net is to transfer registration of your domain to your account at Sonic.net. Information on how to do this can be found here: Domain Registrar Transfers

   If you do not want to transfer your domain registration, the first thing you should do is run a 'whois' search for your domain. Please click here for whois. This should list the current registrar for your domain. You should be able to make modifications to your domain via the tools available on the current registrar's website. You will need to change the authoritative DNS servers for your domain to the following:

   Primary Namesever - 'A.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Primary Nameserver Address - '209.204.159.20'

   Secondary Nameserver - 'B.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Secondary Nameserver Address - '64.142.88.72'

   Tertiary Nameserver - 'C.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Tertiary Nameserver Address - '69.9.186.104'

   If your domain is hosted with NetworkSolutions, you set Sonic.net as the technical contact for your domain by entering the UserID 'hostmaster@sonic.net' in the appropriate field.

   After you have received confirmation from your registrar that the changes have been made, you can add DNS, Value Hosting, or Basic Hosting service for your domain name using our Domain Name Hosting Tool. You may wish to independently confirm that your name records are pointing to the Sonic.net name servers using the Whois Search tool.

6. Will Sonic.net modify my domain name for me?

   Unfortunately, as domain names are considered personal property, and must be managaed by customers. Sonic.net is unable to modify domains for customers.

7. I want to register a domain name in a top-level other than .COM, .NET, .ORG, .US, .BIZ, or .INFO. Does Sonic.net have an automated tool to do this?

   Not at this time. However, you may visit the websites of the respective suffixes, register your name there, and point the domain to Sonic.net. Please use the following settings:

   Primary Namesever - 'A.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Primary Nameserver Address - '209.204.159.20'

   Secondary Nameserver - 'B.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Secondary Nameserver Address - '64.142.88.72'

   Tertiary Nameserver - 'C.AUTH-NS.SONIC.NET'
   Tertiary Nameserver Address - '69.9.186.104'

   After you have received confirmation from your registrar that the changes have been made, you can add DNS, Value Hosting, or Basic Hosting service for your domain name using our Domain Name Hosting Tool. You may wish to independently confirm that your name records are pointing to the Sonic.net name servers using the Whois Search tool.

8. How can I change the name servers for a domain registered through Sonic.net?

   To update your name server records to the new authoritative name servers for Sonic.net, first go to the member tools area at https://sonic.sonic.net/members/domain_tool/hosting.php.

   1. Select the radio button/dot next to your domain name, then click continue.
   2. Select "Move hosting to another hosting provider" then click continue.

   3. In the "Add new name server:" field, add the first name server and then click on the "Update Server List" button. Repeat this step to add any other new name servers. To use specify Sonic.net as your authoritative name server, use the following three:

      • a.auth-ns.sonic.net
      • b.auth-ns.sonic.net
      • c.auth-ns.sonic.net.
   4. Select "Remove" checkbox for the old name server entries and click 'update server list' again.
   5. Select "Only update name servers. I will return later to remove Sonic.net hosting." radio button/dot and click the "Continue Hosting Move".