At some point, you’ve probably been told that switching your DNS server to 8.8.8.8—or some other alternative—might be the cure for your internet problems.
In some cases, switching your DNS server can fix your internet issues, but it can also increase your privacy and help you control what kind of content is accessible on your network.
What is a DNS server and what do they do?
DNS servers are the internet’s phone book
Most of the time when you connect to a website, you’ll enter an address like google.com or howtogeek.com. Behind the scenes, however, your PC is actually using the website’s IP address—which functions like a phone number—to send and receive information.
DNS servers are what translate the familiar addresses we use daily into the IP addresses computers actually use. Without them, we’d be stuck typing in things like 172.217.171.110 just to connect to Google.
Quiz
Home Networking & Wi-Fi
Think you know your routers from your repeaters — put your home networking know-how to the ultimate test.
Wi-FiRoutersSecurityHardwareProtocols
What does the ‘5 GHz’ band in Wi-Fi offer compared to the ‘2.4 GHz’ band?
That’s right! The 5 GHz band delivers faster data rates but loses signal strength more quickly over distance and through walls. It’s ideal for devices close to the router that need maximum throughput, like streaming 4K video.
Not quite — the 5 GHz band actually offers faster speeds at the cost of range. The 2.4 GHz band travels farther and penetrates obstacles better, which is why smart home devices and older gadgets often prefer it.
Which Wi-Fi standard, introduced in 2021, is also known as Wi-Fi 6E and extends into a new frequency band?
Correct! 802.11ax is the technical name for Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. The ‘E’ variant extends the standard into the 6 GHz band, offering a massive swath of new, less-congested spectrum for faster and more reliable connections.
The answer is 802.11ax — that’s Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. Wi-Fi 6E adds support for the 6 GHz band, giving it far less congestion than the crowded 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. 802.11be is actually the upcoming Wi-Fi 7 standard.
What is the default IP address most commonly used to access a home router’s admin interface?
Spot on! The vast majority of consumer routers use either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 as the default gateway address. Typing either into your browser’s address bar will bring up the router’s login page — just make sure you’ve changed the default password!
The correct answer is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. These are the most common default gateway addresses for home routers. The 255.x.x.x addresses are subnet masks, and 127.0.0.1 is your own machine’s loopback address, not a router.
Which Wi-Fi security protocol is considered most secure for home networks as of 2024?
Excellent! WPA3 is the latest and most robust Wi-Fi security protocol, introduced in 2018. It uses Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to replace the older Pre-Shared Key handshake, making it far more resistant to brute-force attacks.
The answer is WPA3. WEP is completely broken and should never be used, WPA is outdated, and WPA2 with TKIP has known vulnerabilities. WPA3 offers the strongest protection, and if your router supports it, you should enable it right away.
What is the primary difference between a mesh Wi-Fi system and a traditional Wi-Fi range extender?
Exactly right! Mesh systems use multiple nodes that talk to each other intelligently, handing off your device seamlessly as you move around your home under one SSID. Traditional range extenders typically broadcast a separate network and can cut bandwidth in half as they relay the signal.
The correct answer is that mesh nodes form one intelligent, seamless network. Range extenders are actually the ones that often create separate SSIDs (like ‘MyNetwork_EXT’) and can significantly reduce speeds. Mesh systems are far superior for large homes with many devices.
What does DHCP stand for, and what is its main function on a home network?
Perfect! DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the unsung hero of home networking. Every time a device joins your network, your router’s DHCP server automatically hands it a unique IP address, subnet mask, and gateway info so it can communicate without manual configuration.
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and its job is to automatically assign IP addresses to devices on your network. Without it, you’d have to manually configure a unique IP address on every single phone, laptop, and smart device — a tedious nightmare!
What is ‘QoS’ (Quality of Service) used for in a home router?
That’s correct! QoS lets you tell your router which traffic gets priority. For example, you can prioritize video calls or gaming over a family member’s file download, ensuring your Zoom meeting doesn’t freeze just because someone is downloading a large update.
QoS — Quality of Service — is actually about traffic prioritization. By tagging certain data types (like VoIP calls or gaming packets) as high priority, your router ensures latency-sensitive applications get bandwidth first, even when the network is congested.
What does the ‘WAN’ port on a home router connect to?
Correct! WAN stands for Wide Area Network, and the WAN port is where your router connects to the outside world — typically to your cable modem, DSL modem, or ISP gateway. The LAN ports on the other side connect to devices inside your home network.
The WAN (Wide Area Network) port connects your router to your ISP’s modem or gateway — essentially your entry point to the internet. The LAN (Local Area Network) ports are for connecting devices inside your home. Mixing them up can cause your network to not function at all!
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If your DNS server is overloaded, you might notice a slight delay between when you enter an address and when your PC actually starts connecting to the website. If the DNS server your PC is using is offline completely, you won’t be able to connect using a URL at all.
You aren’t stuck using your default DNS server. You can change your DNS server by changing settings in your operating system or in your router.
What is 8.8.8.8?
DNS By Google
Most DNS server IP addresses are very simple. They’ll have addresses like 1.1.1.1 instead of the more complex addresses used by websites.
8.8.8.8 is the IP address of one of the two primary DNS servers operated by Google; 8.8.4.4. is the other one.
If you’re using IPv6 instead of IPv4, those two DNS servers will be 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844 instead.
Why use Google’s DNS?
Most of the time, your default DNS settings are probably fine, but there are a few possible advantages to using Google’s DNS service.
Google’s web infrastructure is robust and has a number of redundancies, which means it is unlikely to get bogged down by excessive traffic or go down completely. As a result, it can sometimes be more reliable than your default DNS server.
Additionally, if your default DNS server has some kind of filter applied—which may be used to prevent you from connecting to specific addresses—switching to a different DNS server will allow you to connect to them.
8.8.8.8 supports DNS Over HTTPs
HTTPS is most commonly used to encrypt your internet traffic so that your online activities can’t be read by anyone that intercepts your traffic. It is a vital part of securing sensitive information, like your medical records, social security number (or equivalent), and credit card numbers against malicious actors or prying eyes.
Ordinarily, your DNS requests aren’t encrypted, which means that anyone that intercepts your DNS requests can see the websites you connect to, though not what you do once you’re there. However, you can use HTTPs to encrypt your DNS requests, which makes them unreadable to anyone besides you and the DNS server you send them to.
Google’s 8.8.8.8 DNS server does support DNS Over HTTPS (DoH), which means you can use it to hide your DNS requests from your ISP or anyone else besides Google.
Your ISP can always see what IP address you’re connected to unless you’re using a VPN, so using encrypted DNS doesn’t guarantee any sort of privacy.
8.8.8.8 hands more of your data to Google
Google sees every website you connect to
Switching to Google’s 8.8.8.8 DNS server does have some perks, but it also comes with one glaring drawback: Privacy.
When you switch your DNS server to 8.8.8.8—encrypted or not—Google is guaranteed to have full visibility of every website that you connect to.
If you’re trying to de-Google your life to regain some control over your privacy and data, using their DNS server is probably counterproductive. On the other hand, Google’s data collection apparatus is already massive and extremely effective, so in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter all that much unless you go out of your way to avoid Google’s other tracking measures too.
What are other secure DNS servers?
If you want to avoid Google, there are other options
Google’s encrypted DNS service is only one of many available now. If you want to try and get a little bit more privacy from your ISP, there are some easy ones you can switch to:
|
Service |
Primary DNS |
Alternate |
Perks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
8.8.8.8 |
8.8.4.4 |
|
|
Cloudflare |
1.1.1.1 |
1.0.0.1 |
|
|
Quad9 |
9.9.9.9 |
149.112.112.112 |
Includes malware blocking by default |
|
AdGuard Public DNS |
94.140.14.140 |
94.140.14.141 |
Optional malware and tracking filter |
|
Control D Free DNS |
76.76.2.0 |
76.76.10.0 |
Optional malware and tracking filter |
Some of these services offer additional features that can help you customize what sites can be accessed. Many of them have multiple DNS servers available, some of which will automatically filter out known malicious sites, trackers, ads, and more, depending on which server you choose.
NextDNS also has a free encrypted DNS server you can use, and up to 300,000 requests can be run through a filter that you define for free. After that, the filter is disabled and you’re left with regular encrypted DNS. If you need more than 300,000, subscriptions start at $2 per month or $20 per year.
Changing to 8.8.8.8 isn’t a catch-all solution
While changing your DNS server to 8.8.8.8 can fix some overt issues, the most common benefits tend to be a bit less obvious. It’ll often be a bit faster than your default DNS, and it supports encrypted DNS requests, which might improve your privacy.
However, if you’re facing nondescript internet problems, you’re probably better off troubleshooting your network than changing your DNS server.
9/10
- Brand
-
Unifi
- Range
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1,750 square feet
- Wi-Fi Bands
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2.4/5/6GHz
- Ethernet Ports
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4 2.5G
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.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
