Sometimes, when your favorite websites go 'down,' they're actually still right there. You just can't see them, because your computer doesn't know the route.
Hi Dave, I have to change my DNS server adress, but when I open System Preferences -> Network, I get a pop-up saying the following: Your network preferences are being changed by another application. The only thing I can do is clicking ok, but then I get the same message again. All this is really a rather lengthy way of saying, the best way to see what DNS servers are being used is to look at System Preferences > Network. The 'DNS Server:' entires are usually there, and 'Search Domains:' will allow you to search for incomplete addresses.
What if you could give your PC some better driving directions right now, in just a minute or two tops? What if this trick improved your privacy too?
To do that, you just need to change your DNS server.
Now playing:Watch this: Change your DNS to speed up the internet
What's a DNS server?
'CNET.com' is just the street address of this website. To figure out the 'driving directions,' if you will, your computer contacts a special server (called DNS, for Domain Name System) to figure out the route. That server tells your web browser that 'CNET.com' actually means '203.36.226.2'. The number, known as an IP address, is a far better description of where CNET actually lives.
If your DNS server goes down... it's like your computer no longer has GPS! But you can simply switch to another public DNS server to resolve those issues.
How does a DNS server help with privacy?
By default, your computer probably reaches out to a DNS server controlled by your internet service provider (ISP), say Comcast or AT&T. That means they can easily see the websites you visit -- and because they've got your name and address, too, they could theoretically build a fairly complete profile of you.
If you use a DNS server provided by a different company, they might record that info too...but at least it'll be harder for them to figure out who exactly is browsing those websites, which could make the data less valuable.
And at least one DNS provider has sworn it won't keep a log: CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) says it'll open itself up to third-party auditors to guarantee they aren't collecting data from you.
OK, so how do I change my DNS on Windows?
Hit Start and type Network Status (or right-click on your Wi-Fi icon and pick Open Network and Internet settings).
Click on Change Adapter Settings.
Right-click on your active network connection, then hit Properties.
Left-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and hit Properties. (If you use IPv6, change that one also/instead.)
Click on 'Use the following DNS server addresses:' and type in one of the following public DNS server addresses:
1.1.1.1 = CloudFlare DNS
208.67.220.220 or 208.67.222.222 = OpenDNS
8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 = GoogleDNS
84.200.69.80 or 84.200.70.40 = DNS.Watch
64.6.64.6 or 64.6.65.6 = VeriSign Public DNS
Note that you may need to try more than one to get your sites working. OpenDNS helped us around a Twitter and Netflix outage back in 2016, but GoogleDNS didn't.
How do I change DNS on Mac?
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System Preferences
Network
Click Advanced.
Click the DNS tab
Click the little + sign at the lower left to add a new DNS server
Type in the numbers of a public DNS server (see our suggestions in the Windows section above)
Click OK
Click Apply
Windows/Mac/Linux: Last week Google announced a free DNS service designed to speed up your browsing, but just because Google wants to be fast doesn't actually mean they're the best option for you. Namebench finds the fastest DNS server for your connection.
Google Public DNS Aims to Speed Up Your Browsing
Google today launched a new, free DNS service—called Google Public DNS—aimed at making your web…
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After you download and fire up namebench, just click the Start Benchmark button to test out a handful of free public DNS services, from Google Public DNS to OpenDNS to UltraDNS. Once started, the test took about 12 minutes to complete using the default settings. When it's done, you'll be presented with a handful of handy charts displaying the results of the tests.
Best Dns Servers For Netflix Streaming
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(Click the image above for a closer look.)
You can see the results to my test in the screenshots above and below. From the looks of things, UltraDNS is the DNS that's going to do the most to speed up my connection. In fact, it claims UltraDNS will be 46% faster than Google Public DNS (the DNS server my computer was using when I ran the test)—so it looks like I may just be switching yet again.
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(Click the image above for a closer look.)
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Namebench is a free, open-source download, works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. If you give it a try, let's hear what DNS server scores highest for you in the comments.