In this article we will use example DNS settings provided by OpenNIC. Designed to take back power from governments and corporations, OpenNIC is run by volunteers, and provides a completely unfiltered DNS resolution service, with DNS servers located all across the world.įor more information about OpenNIC, please see here. This is a non-profit, decentralized, open, uncensored and democratic DNS provider. If you are at all interested in privacy, then a much better option to Google and the other US-based commercial providers listed above is OpenNIC. Google, however, is Google, and it will spy on your DNS requests in order to track what you get up to on the internet in order to target you with ads. Google DNS, in particular, can be useful for quick-and-dirty solutions, as its settings (DNS server addresses) are very easy to remember (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). If you are changing DNS settings for a more general reason, then you can use a public DNS server such as those run by Google Public DNS, Open DNS or Comodo Secure DNS. If you are changing your DNS settings to something in particular, then you should already know the settings you require (for example a SmartDNS provider will tell you the settings you need in order to muse its service). I can’t actually think of a reason why you might need to do this, but it is probably a sensible precaution, anyway. Back up your DNS settingsīefore changing your DNS settings, it might be an idea to note down your existing settings and store them somewhere safe, so you can easily reset them should you need to. Evading censorship – changing DNS settings can effective at evading DNS level censorship / DNS poisoning by ISPs.įortunately, changing your DNS settings is pretty easy.To reconnect to the internet (including to reconnect the VPN!) it is sometimes necessary to change the DNS settings back to using a third party server). Fixing internet connection issues – in relation to VPN, when a VPN connection suddenly drops for some reason, it is common for the DNS settings to remain pointing at the VPN provider’s DNS server.Changing your DNS settings to a third-party provider is, therefore, a good safety precaution. This can happen even when using a VPN (this is known as a DNS leak). Improving privacy by preventing your ISP from handling DNS requests.There are a number of reasons why you might want, or need, to change your DNS settings (that is, change the default DNS server used by your Operating System to handle DNS requests). This DNS translation process is usually performed by your ISP, but when using a VPN, all DNS requests should be sent through your encrypted VPN tunnel, to be handled by your VPN provider instead. The Domain Name System (DNS) is used to translate the easy-to-understand and remember web addresses that we are familiar with, to their "true" numerical IP addresses that computers understand: for example translating the domain name to its IP(v4) address of 104.20.10.58.