If you are using your ISP’s default DNS servers, you may get better speed and more reliable service by changing to a different DNS service. When changing DNS server settings, you’ll want to make sure that you specify at least two servers, although you can include more if you want. Personally, I prefer OpenDNS (208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222) and Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4).Įvery major DNS service has at least primary and secondary servers to ensure that requests will always be answered. There are a number of third-party DNS servers available as well. Your home router is likely set by default to use your ISP’s DNS servers, which may or may not be very reliable. In fact, DNS requests can take as little as 40 milliseconds! Public DNS Servers If the page needs resources from another domain, as many do, the computer will go through the whole process again for each domain or subdomain.įrankly, it’s amazing that this whole process, called resolution, takes less than a second. The computer initiates a connection to that IP address and continues with loading the page.The router receives a reply from a public DNS server and sends that on to your computer among other details, it includes an IP address such as 190.93.242.181.If other devices have previously requested the Tuts+ Hub, the router may have the result cached already and may skip this step. The router asks a DNS server for the IP address.Type into the web browser the computer asks the router for the IP address for so it can connect to the server.Connect to a wireless network the router tells your computer what DNS server to use, usually the router itself.

Every device on the public Internet has an IP address DNS is like a phonebook that associates a domain name, for instance, with the server’s IP address, 190.93.242.181. In this tutorial, I’ll show you what DNS is and some tips you can use to be safer on the web.ĭNS stands for Domain Name System and is a protocol, or language, that computers use when talking to each other. When you open your web browser and type in to find something interesting to learn, your computer is able to find a server with the IP address 190.93.242.181. Among other technologies, a protocol called DNS helps your computer find that server.

Dns servers mac optimize