Usually, we use DNS servers that is assigned to us by default. ISPs automatically assign a DNS server when you are browsing the internet. However, sometimes you might feel that your browsing speed is not on par with your connection speed. Usually, restarting your internet might fix this problem as a new DNS server might get assigned to you. However, you can manually select DNS servers for better browsing.
You might be wondering what exactly is a DNS Server. When you type any website address in the URL bar of your browser e.g. techhowtodo.com or aiitsoltutions.com DNS will find the real IP of that website and communicate with the root server using the closest DNS server and then the DNS server displays the website into your browser. Internet uses IP (Internet Protocol) which communicates with each other to provide connectivity
So in short DNS (Domain Name System) is a system build for ease of access for humans. As humans, it would be hard for us to remember all then numbers this system was designed to do this for us. The closest DNS server depends on your location. If you are living in the first world countries you might not even notice any difference after changing the DNS. However, choosing the best server manually can be beneficial if you are facing slow browsing issues in some cases.
There are different types of DNS if you have a paid DNS it offers better performance and features than a free DNS. Organizations might provide their employee with private DNS servers. However, we are talking about finding the best free and open DNS servers for browsing in this article.
How to Choose Best DNS Servers for Better Browsing
Setting the DNS server to automatic will work out great for most people. However, if you are facing browsing issues choosing a better server according to your location can be beneficial. You can use any software to find out the best DNS for your location such as Name Bench DNS benchmarking tools. So download this tool to find the best DNS according to your location. However, before running the benchmark tool it is a good idea to flush your DNS to remove the old cache data.
To flush your DNS click on the start menu or search button on the bottom left corner of your screen and Type CMD. Then right-click on Command Prompt and select run as administrator.
Now in the command prompt type these commands one by one
Ipconfig /flushdns
Ipconfig /registerdns
Ipconfig /release
Ipconfig /renew
Netsh winsock reset
After adding the last command your computer will have to be restarted for the reset to take effect. So restart your computer and Install and open the Name Bench software to find out the best DNS for your location. Change the number of queries to 50 and start the benchmark.
Please note that it can take up to a lot of time for this software to perform a benchmark. Once it completes it will take you to a page that will suggest the best primary and secondary DNS for your location. So, we suggest performing this benchmark overnight or when you are not using your computer.
How to add a custom DNS server to your PC
To add a custom DNS server to your pc follow these steps. First, click on the start menu or search button on the bottom left corner of your screen. Type View Network Connections and open the view network connection option. Here right-click on the ethernet device or WIFI adaptor that you are using and select properties.
Now select Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and click properties.
Select the Use the following DNS addresses option and add the primary and secondary DNS suggested by the software and press OK.
Now test your browsing speed if you feel it is still slow you can use other suggestions or you can also go back to automatic DNS selection by Selecting the “Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically” option.
List of Popular Free DNS.
If you do not want to go through the hassle of finding out the exact DNS server that matches your location you can try the DNS servers from this list. You might find an optimized server for your location.
- Google DNS
Primary: 8.8.8.8
Secondary:8.8.4.4
- Open DNS
Primary : 208.67.222.222
Secondary: 208.67.220.220
- Cloud fare
Primary: 1.1.1.1
Secondary: 1.0.0.1
This is the list of a few popular free DNS.
