What Is DNS and Why Change It?

DNS (Domain Name System) translates website addresses (google.com) into IP addresses your browser can connect to. Your ISP provides DNS by default, but third-party DNS servers can be faster, more private, or more reliable. Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) is the fastest globally and has a strong privacy policy. Google DNS (8.8.8.8) is reliable and widely used.

Change DNS on Your Router (Applies to All Devices)

  1. 1

    Access your router admin panel

    Type 192.168.1.1 (or 192.168.0.1) in a browser. Log in with your router credentials (printed on the router label).

  2. 2

    Find DNS settings in WAN or Internet settings

    Navigate to WAN, Internet, or Advanced Settings. Look for DNS settings — usually two fields labelled Primary DNS and Secondary DNS. Change to: Primary: 1.1.1.1, Secondary: 1.0.0.1 (Cloudflare) or Primary: 8.8.8.8, Secondary: 8.8.4.4 (Google). Save and restart the router if required.

Change DNS on Windows

Settings → Network & Internet → click your connection (WiFi or Ethernet) → DNS server assignment → Edit → Manual. Toggle IPv4 on. Enter Preferred DNS: 1.1.1.1, Alternate DNS: 1.0.0.1. Click Save.

Change DNS on Mac

System Settings → Network → select your connection → Details → DNS tab. Click + to add DNS servers. Add 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. Click OK and Apply.

Change DNS on iPhone

Settings → WiFi → tap the (i) next to your network → Configure DNS → Manual. Delete existing servers and add 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. Tap Save.

DNS over HTTPS for extra privacyStandard DNS queries are unencrypted — your ISP can see which websites you are looking up. DNS over HTTPS (DoH) encrypts these queries. Enable in: Windows (DNS settings → DNS over HTTPS dropdown), Firefox (Settings → Privacy → Enable DNS over HTTPS), or use Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 app which enables encrypted DNS on all connections.

Frequently Asked Questions

Possibly — DNS speed affects how quickly website addresses are resolved, which is one part of page loading time. Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) consistently benchmarks as the fastest DNS globally. The improvement is most noticeable on slower ISP DNS servers. For most Australians on modern ISPs, the difference is small (milliseconds per lookup) but adds up across many requests. The more significant benefit is privacy — Cloudflare’s privacy policy is stronger than most ISPs.
1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare): consistently the fastest DNS server globally, strong privacy policy, does not log IP addresses or sell data. 8.8.8.8 (Google): extremely reliable and fast, widely trusted, but Google does collect some DNS query data for security and improvement purposes. Both are significantly better than most ISP-provided DNS for speed and reliability. Cloudflare is the recommended choice for privacy-conscious users.