Why You Should Use A Third Party DNS Server and How To Set It Up

A DNS (Domain Name System) server is one of the most important components of the Internet. It basically does the job of locating the website or resource you’re looking for online once you’ve typed in the address. All of the website names you remember aren’t how they’re actually classified, so the DNS server redirects your request to the actual address that is more complicated than say “http://www.coolpctips.com”. Your ISP has its own DNS servers, but quite a lot of times, it’s swarmed with requests and just can’t take the load, which results in internet browsing becoming slower. A simple fix is using a third party DNS server instead, and here’s how you can do it!

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What are the advantages of a third party DNS server?

Possibly better speeds

If you’re using a local ISP, specially one that’s being run by the government (BSNL, we’re looking at you), there’s a fair chance that you experience frequent disconnects and slow speeds. Because of the huge number of people on the same ISP, their DNS servers might not be able to keep up. Here’s where third party DNS servers might result in a better experience. If you’re not sure about third party DNS servers providing any tangible benefit, you can go ahead and use a tool called “namebench“, which lets you compare speeds.

More reliability

Performance and reliability go hand in hand, if your ISP servers are slow, chances are they aren’t maintained well and keep crashing. A big third part DNS server like OpenDNS and Google Public DNS won’t have downtime, so you have a more reliable connection.

Better security

Again, larger DNS servers like the ones mentioned above enforce security protocols that local ISPs often don’t. They usually make sure that all DNS requests are valid and genuine, so you don’t have to worry about the DNS data being forged or duplicated.

Access blocked content

Some countries or specific networks block access to certain websites. If you’re lucky, it’s simply a DNS reroute which redirects the website’s DNS entry to a static page. This can be fixed by switching to a third party DNS server that doesn’t have any such restrictions.

How do you change your DNS server?

There are 2 recommended ways to change your DNS server manually. The first one is through your router, which changes the settings for all devices connected, so you don’t have to do it individually on each device. This is the most preferable choice. The Second is through your computer, so if you don’t have any other devices on the network this will suffice.

On your router

1. Go to your router settings via the web interface. Enter the default IP address (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) and enter username and password if required. If you don’t know the web interface address, you can check it for your router model here.
2. In network settings you should be able to find Primary and Secondary DNS server fields, enter the address of your choice and click save.
3. Reboot your router to see the effects.

On your computer via control panel

1. Go to control panel and navigate to the Network and Sharing Center.
2. Right click your current network connection and select Properties.
3. From the list, select TCP/IPv4 and click Properties.
4. Here you should see an option to “Use the following DNS server addresses”, enter the address of your choice, click OK and then Apply.

So that was why you should probably use a third party DNS server and how to do it. If you face any difficulties, drop us a line below so that we can solve your problem!