Your DNS provider affects every internet-connected device in your home, which is why one of the most common networking tips is to switch to a faster provider like Cloudflare or Google Public DNS. While that’s often an improvement over your ISP’s default DNS, using the same DNS for every device is rarely the best approach.

A smart TV, a work laptop, your kids’ tablet, and a smart light bulb all have different priorities. Instead of treating them the same, you can match each one with a DNS service that best fits how it’s used.

Keep ads off your smart TV or streaming device

Cut ads and telemetry where it matters the most

Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek

Smart TVs are notorious for tracking your viewing habits, and streaming boxes aren’t far off. ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) is the main culprit, which tracks almost everything your TV is displaying, regardless of the source.

Some of the best DNS providers for smart TVs are NextDNS, AdGuard DNS, and Control D. They effectively act as firewalls for your streaming devices, blocking mainstream ad and tracking domains and preventing your smart TV from sending your data back to the manufacturer or ad services.

On top of that, smart TVs have low-power processors that are easily overwhelmed by sponsored content, which is why ad-blocking DNS providers can truly shine on them. They do a fantastic job of cleaning up your smart home interface and overall experience.

Once you switch the DNS, you’ll instantly notice fewer ads on the home screen, side banners, and pop-ups. Many privacy-oriented DNS resolvers will also block telemetry and privacy trackers by blacklisting the analytics servers that the TV manufacturer and other associated companies use.

Note that your custom DNS won’t block regular ads on streaming platforms like YouTube. This is because the ads use the same domain as the video you’re trying to watch, so if it tried to block the ad, it would also block the video.

Regardless, an ad-blocking DNS provider is a massive upgrade when it comes to keeping your TV’s data more private and away from prying eyes.

The good news is that most of the major smart TV platforms, including Android/Google TV, Samsung Tizen OS, and LG webOS, allow you to set a custom DNS directly on the device.

However, it’s also worth noting that some TVs will try to bypass the custom DNS by resolving through a different public DNS if they recognize that a query is being blocked.

Brand

Unifi

Range

1,750 square feet

The Unifi Dream Router 7 is a full-fledged network appliance offering NVR capabilities, fully managed switching,a built-in firewall, VLANs, and more. With four 2.5G Ethernet ports (one with PoE+) and a 10G SFP+ port, the Unifi Dream Router 7 also features dual WAN capabilities should you have two ISP connections. It includes a 64GB microSD card for IP camera storage, but can be upgraded for more storage if needed. With Wi-Fi 7, you’ll be able to reach up to a theoretical 5.7 Gbps network speed when using the 10G SFP+ port, or 2.5 Gbps when using Ethernet. 

Sandbox your kids’ devices with network-level filtering

Let the DNS help you with parenting

Credit: Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek

There are more ways than ever to help parents protect their children from malicious content online. However, parental controls and blacklisting websites by hand in router settings can only go so far in restricting what children can access on their personal tablets, gaming consoles, and phones.

While parental control apps do exist and can do a wonderful job at keeping children safe online, they can also be quite heavy and may slow down devices in the process. Family-focused DNS providers work just like any other DNS provider, except they heavily filter malicious domains and often even enforce SafeSearch on Google.

A few good options for kid-safe DNS providers include OpenDNS FamilyShield, CleanBrowsing Family Filter, and Cloudflare for Families.

Please note that a DNS focused on family protection is only the first line of defense. It can block obvious threats and bad domains, but it cannot block explicit content inside apps like TikTok and Instagram. In other words, don’t rely on DNS alone to do the job as a parent; it’s important to also monitor installed apps, the websites they access, and their screen time.

Feed your computers and phones pure performance and reliability

Fast lookups for smooth browsing

While blocking telemetry and ads on smart TVs and adult websites on children’s devices using DNS providers with heavy filtering is important for privacy and safety, there are still a few devices where you may want to prioritize performance instead.

This includes your smartphone, desktop computer, laptop, gaming consoles (the ones you don’t share with your kids), and so on.

Every single website load, update, and background process has to go through your DNS provider.

If you use a DNS provider with heavy filtering, you may sometimes run into issues where you can’t even access content in an app or website—I’ve had that happen several times. My wife uses a company-owned website for her work, and she had trouble accessing it because I was running a restrictive DNS provider.

On top of that, if you prioritize fast response times that resolve queries quickly regardless of where the request is going, a performance-first DNS provider makes the most sense.

Besides, your computer or phone likely already has several layers of security built in, so you don’t need to rely on your DNS as much for protection—especially if you’re careful about the websites you visit.

The most commonly recommended DNS providers are actually the ones suited for this scenario. These include standard options like Cloudflare and Google Public DNS, or Quad9 if you want to retain some real-time threat protection (which I personally use as my secondary DNS).

Quarantine sketchy IoT gadgets in a DNS sinkhole

Restrict devices that don’t need internet freedom

Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek

Smart home devices are some of the “chattiest,” most insecure pieces of hardware many of us own. While they can’t serve you ads like smart TVs, many of them constantly pipe telemetry back to their manufacturers in the background. Worse still, they’re often the easiest devices to exploit, making them a common entry point into your entire network.

Fortunately, you can lock them down using a dedicated home DNS sinkhole. Instead of filtering incoming ads, the sinkhole intercepts outbound requests, dropping sketchy telemetry and tracking connections before they can escape your LAN.

You can choose to run a cloud-based sinkhole like NextDNS or Control D, or you can take it a step further by running your own DNS server using Pi-hole or AdGuard Home on a Raspberry Pi, NAS, homelab device, or even an always-on PC.

Again, just like smart TVs, these gadgets can sometimes bypass your custom DNS settings using hardcoded paths. If you want absolute protection, you’ll need to couple your sinkhole with firewall rules in your router’s settings.

DNS shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all setting

Different devices play different roles in your life, which means they can benefit from a tailored DNS resolver. While you could absolutely run a single unrestricted DNS across your entire network, your home setup will usually be a lot more efficient, more secure, and easier to manage if you match the DNS to the device.