DNS Speed Internet: How Changing DNS Boosts Speed Explained

Discover how DNS speed internet performance works and how changing DNS can boost your browsing speed, reduce lag, and improve overall connectivity instantly.

Although a bit technical, DNS is behind almost everything you do on the internet, even if you don’t see it explicitly. It’s not an extra; it’s the most fundamental piece of the system.

Every time you type technoluing.com, youtube.com, or any other URL into Google, your browser doesn’t connect directly to that name. The internet doesn’t understand words; it only understands numbers: IP addresses, like 142.250.180.110.

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The problem is that you can’t learn a huge list of numbers of everything you visit every day, and that’s where a system that almost everyone uses without knowing it comes into play: DNS.

The DNS is what allows that understandable name for us that you put in the browser to become the real IP to which your computer or mobile phone has to connect so that the page can load.

In practice, the DNS is behind every time you open a link, an email, a streaming app, an online game, or even a messaging service. It’s time for you to learn more about what it really is and, above all, how it works.

What is DNS?

The DNS, whose full name is Domain Name System, is the system that is responsible for converting domain names, such as google.com or youtube.com, into numeric IP addresses, such as “142.250.180.110.”

As mentioned before, without this system, every time you wanted to enter a website, you would have to type in the name and IP, something impossible when you browse hundreds of sites a day (and even if it’s just one).

This feature is essential for the day-to-day life of the network. It is not only used for websites, but also for email, for streaming apps, for online games, for social networks, for cloud services… Anything that uses a domain name goes through a DNS process before reaching the correct server. Although it sounds technical, DNS is behind almost everything you do on the internet, even if you don’t see it explicitly.

Here’s how it really works behind the scenes

When you type a domain into the browser, the DNS process seems almost instantaneous, but it actually goes through several steps. In practice, the system does the following:

First, when you enter a URL such as youtube.com in your browser, your device asks its DNS server (the one you have set up on your router, mobile, or PC): what IP has youtube.com? That server, which is usually from the carrier, Google, Cloudflare, or another company, searches within the global DNS hierarchy.

You may have to ask higher-level servers, such as those in .com, .es, or .net domains, and then the servers that directly control those domains. When it finds it, it receives the IP and returns it to your device.

The browser then uses that IP to actually connect to the web server and start downloading the page. In many cases, that IP is cached for a while, both on the DNS server and on the device itself, so that the next time you enter the same page, it doesn’t have to repeat the whole process. That usually means that the DNS query takes only a few milliseconds and seems almost invisible.

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But if the DNS server is slow, saturated, or misconfigured, that same ask-and-answer step can take several seconds, causing the website to load before the browser even starts downloading content.

That’s where changing DNS can make all the difference: if you go from a slow server to a faster one, that part of the process speeds up and browsing feels better, even though the bandwidth is the same.

The problem with your carrier’s default DNS

In most cases, when you buy a router or activate mobile WiFi, the system uses the DNS that the operator sets by default. You don’t choose it; it just comes already configured that way. That means that, unless you touch something, all your DNS queries go through that server of the operator.

This can lead to several problems. In many cases, the operator’s server is saturated, not as optimized, or has less capacity than large public DNS services, so name responses can be slower. This translates into websites that take longer to start loading.

Therefore, it is recommended, on some occasions, to stop using those default DNS and switch to public, fast, and well-maintained DNS servers, such as those of Cloudflare, Google DNS, Quad9, or OpenDNS. These services are designed to solve millions of DNS queries quickly and securely.

Change DNS on the router: the setting that affects the whole house

If you want the DNS change to have a maximum impact, the most effective place to set it up is the router itself. When you change the DNS on the router, all devices that connect to that same WiFi (computers, mobiles, tablets, consoles, smart TVs, security cameras, etc.) will automatically use those new DNS servers, without you having to touch anything on each device.

The process, in most routers that you can have at home, is very similar. Enter from the browser the IP of the router, which is usually something like 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, or 192.168.1.254. Once inside, you enter the username and password and then look for a section of network, WAN, Internet, or DNS, which is usually within the advanced settings.

In that menu you will see an option such as “Get DNS automatically” or “UseISP DNS servers”; there you have to uncheck it and activate manual DNS entry. Then you put two DNS addresses; for example, for Cloudflare you put 1.1.1.1 as primary and 1.0.0.1 as secondary, or for Google DNS you put 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. You save the changes and restart the router, and when all the devices reconnect, they will already be using that new DNS.

Many people who have done this say that pages start loading faster, server can’t be found errors are reduced, and in some cases, even streaming and apps feel more reactive. In addition, the router can cache many of those DNS queries, which means that if several people in the house visit the same sites, the responses are almost immediate the second time.

Change DNS on your computer: customize it just for your PC

If you don’t want to touch the router, or if you want the change to affect only a specific computer, you can also change the DNS directly on the computer itself. In Windows, for example, the process is usually like this: you open the Control Panel or the network menu (WiFi/Ethernet), go to Properties, and from there open Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties.

In that window you will see an option that says “Get DNS server address automatically”; there you have to uncheck it and activate manual DNS entry. Next, you enter two DNS addresses, such as 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 for Cloudflare or 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 for Google DNS. You apply the changes and close the window, and from there that computer will start using that new DNS.

The procedure in macOS, Linux, or other systems is very similar: you enter the device’s network settings and change the DNS manually.

On mobile, both Android and iOS, it can also be done in the advanced settings of the WiFi network, choosing the type of DNS and manually typing the IPs you want.

Which DNS to use: Speed, privacy, or security

Not all public DNS is created equal, and choosing one or the other depends on what you prioritize: speed, privacy, or security. Some of the most widely used ones include Cloudflare, Google DNS, Quad9, and OpenDNS, and each one has a slightly different approach.

Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1) is very fast thanks to a global server network and places a lot of emphasis on privacy, claiming that it deletes or anonymizes your query information in no time.

Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) is also very fast and is designed to respond to a huge volume of queries. Google claims that it collects data anonymously for a limited time and then deletes it, although you should know that traffic goes through Google’s infrastructure.

Quad9 (9.9.9.9 / 149.112.112.112) is more security-oriented because it blocks many malware, phishing, and known threat websites directly in the DNS system.

OpenDNS has parental control options, content filters, and security tools, and is widely used in business environments or homes with children.

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