The forgotten network setting making your internet feel slow

The worst thing about internet issues is that they can be caused by any number of reasons. That makes troubleshooting so very tedious.

Is it your router? Is it your ISP? ( I've been there. ) Is it Wi-Fi? Is it a faulty Ethernet cable? Is it bad router placement?

You'll probably ask yourself all of those questions before coming upon the idea that it might be caused by a bad DNS setting, and I get it. But there's one network setting that can absolutely slow down your connection, and it's worth checking out before you waste hours looking for other solutions.

Your internet may not be slow, but your websites might be

The delay before the page even starts loading

DNS is one of those things that sounds much more technical than it actually is. When you type a website name into your browser, your device has to figure out which actual server that name points to. DNS is the system that handles that lookup, turning something readable like howtogeek.com into the IP address your device can actually connect to.

When that lookup is fast, you never notice it happening, and that's the goal and what we all want. After all, nobody likes a slow internet connection.

But when it's slow, unreliable, overloaded, or poorly matched to your location, your internet can feel worse than it actually is. Pages may sit there for a second before anything loads, apps may be equally slow, and occasionally, either or both may just fail to load entirely.

That's why DNS issues can be such a pain to diagnose: it might look like your entire connection is okay, but for some reason, the web pages aren't. This could be because your device still has to ask where that site lives before it can actually start loading it.

Your ISP's default DNS is not always the best choice

Convenient does not always mean fast

Diagnosing DNS-related problems often starts with a long, hard look in the direction of your internet service provider.

Your ISP usually assigns DNS servers automatically, which is why most of us never really think about it at all. In fact, most of us never really think about the router past the initial plug-in, type in the password, and connect everything phase. That's convenient, sure, but that might not be the fastest or the most reliable option.

That doesn't mean those ISP DNS servers are terrible by default (they're not), so you don't have to change them just for the sake of it. But if websites continue to be slow, you might as well give it a try.

The easiest way to check is to compare your current DNS against a few public options. Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1, Google's 8.8.8.8, Quad9's 9.9.9.9, and OpenDNS are all popular alternatives, but I wouldn't pick one based on whichever service you like the sound of. DNS performance is affected by where you live, how your ISP routes traffic, and which resolver happens to be the quickest to respond to your connection's query.

The best DNS setting depends on what you want

Speed, privacy, or filtering

There isn't one DNS server that's universally best for everyone, and that's because they're not all built to deal with the same priorities. If you only care about web browsing, Cloudflare and Google Public DNS are easy places to start. But if you're more worried about security, Quad9 is worth a try because it focuses on blocking known malicious domains. OpenDNS is another long-running option, especially if you want filtering features rather than just pure speed.

Those concerned with privacy may have the toughest pick ahead. A privacy-focused DNS can reduce how much your ISP learns from your DNS requests, especially if you're using encrypted DNS through DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS, but it doesn't make you anonymous. You're still choosing a company to handle those lookups, so the question isn't just "which DNS server is fastest," it's also "who do I trust with this part of my browsing."

Make sure you're changing the right settings

Pick a point and start there

Before you start changing DNS settings, decide where you actually want the change to happen. The safest option is to change DNS on just one device first, such as a desktop or a laptop. That's a super low-risk way to test whether a different DNS provider helps without accidentally changing how every device in your home connects to the web.

Changing DNS on your router is the bigger move, and if your entire goal is to rule out various internet problems, this probably won't be the first thing to do. You'll want to explore some free router tweaks you can make and even go through traffic graphs before getting down to changing the DNS for your entire network.

When you do, it should apply the setting to most devices on your network, but there are exceptions. Some browsers and VPNs may have their own secure settings or even DNS servers, and some devices may ignore it entirely.

Test everything before you decide you're done

The fastest DNS is the one that actually works

Once you've changed DNS on one device, don't just load one website and call it fixed. Try a few sites you visit all the time, and then pay attention to whether they're actually faster than they were before.

You can also flush your DNS cache on Windows with ipconfig /flushdns, restart your browser, and test again.

DNS results can be cached, so the first load and the second load may behave differently, but what you really want is consistent performance with no random slowdowns.

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If nothing else helps, call your ISP

I don't normally tell people to call their ISP, as in my case, that wasn't the solution . But once you've spent some time troubleshooting your network, tweaking various settings, and even changing DNS, and your internet is still slow, it might be time to call it quits and let your ISP handle it from there. Network troubleshooting can be tedious, although changing DNS is something many people forget to do, and it can actually help.