Does Changing Your DNS Make the Internet Faster? What’s True, Which to Choose and How to Do It on PC, Phone and Router

📒 What DNS Is (in Plain English)

Computers don’t understand names like tecnologiamoderna.com.br: they talk using numbers, IP addresses. DNS (Domain Name System) is the service that does this translation — it works like an old phone book: you look up the name and it gives you the number.

Every time you open a site, your device asks the DNS server “what’s the number for this name?”. By default, the one answering is your internet provider’s DNS. Changing your DNS simply means choosing another “phone book” — one that may be faster, more private or more protective.

🔄 The Path of a DNS Lookup, Step by Step

To understand where DNS can (or can’t) speed something up, here’s what happens in a fraction of a second when you type an address:

1. The browser checks whether it already knows the address (the browser’s and Windows’ cache).
2. If not, it asks the configured DNS server — usually your provider’s.
3. If the DNS server doesn’t know either, it asks other servers on the internet until it finds the answer, and remembers it for a while.
4. With the IP number in hand, the browser finally connects to the site and starts downloading the page.

Notice: DNS only takes part before the download. Once the page starts loading, your bandwidth, your Wi-Fi and the site’s server are in charge. That’s why changing DNS can make a site “start” faster, but won’t make a video download faster. For sites you visit every day, the answer is usually already cached — and DNS isn’t even consulted.

🚀 Does Changing DNS Make the Internet Faster?

If your problem is genuinely slow internet, the cause is usually elsewhere — see slow Wi-Fi at home: causes and how to know if someone is using your internet.

🏆 The Best Free DNS Services Side by Side

My suggestion: for a home with kids, Cloudflare for Families; for extra protection against scams, Quad9 or Cloudflare 1.1.1.2; if you just want stability, Cloudflare or Google. All are free.

⏱️ Measure: Which DNS Is Fastest at Your Home

The fastest DNS depends on your city and provider. Measure before deciding. In PowerShell, this command shows how many milliseconds each server takes to answer:

foreach ($s in '1.1.1.1','8.8.8.8','9.9.9.9') { $t = (Measure-Command { Resolve-DnsName tecnologiamoderna.com.br -Server $s -DnsOnly -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }).TotalMilliseconds; "$s = $([math]::Round($t)) ms" }

To compare with your provider’s DNS, find out which one it is:

Get-DnsClientServerAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Where-Object ServerAddresses

🪟 How to Change DNS on Windows 11 (with Encrypted DNS)

1. Open Settings → Network & internet.
2. Click Wi-Fi (or Ethernet, if you use a cable) and then Hardware properties.
3. Next to DNS server assignment, click Edit and choose Manual.
4. Turn on IPv4 and fill in Preferred DNS (e.g. 1.1.1.1) and Alternate DNS (e.g. 1.0.0.1).
5. Turn on encryption: depending on your build, choose DNS over HTTPS → On (automatic template) or Preferred DNS encryption → Encrypted only (DNS over HTTPS).
6. Save.

From the terminal, replace Wi-Fi with your connection’s name (see it with Get-NetAdapter):

Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias "Wi-Fi" -ServerAddresses ("1.1.1.1","1.0.0.1")
ipconfig /flushdns

To go back to your provider’s automatic DNS:

Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias "Wi-Fi" -ResetServerAddresses

📱 How to Change DNS on Android and iPhone

Android has a feature called Private DNS, which is already encrypted and applies to both Wi-Fi and mobile data:

1. Open Settings → Network & internet (on some Samsungs: Connections → More connection settings).
2. Tap Private DNS.
3. Choose Private DNS provider hostname and type one.one.one.one (Cloudflare), dns.google (Google) or dns.quad9.net (Quad9).
4. Save.

iPhone: under Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) next to the network → Configure DNS → Manual, you can change it per Wi-Fi network. For encrypted DNS on every connection, the simplest route is installing the service’s official app (like Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1) from the App Store.

📡 Changing It on the Router: Covers Every Device

Change it on the router and your TV, game console, guests’ phones and every device in the house automatically use the new DNS:

1. Open the router’s admin panel (usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in the browser).
2. Look for DHCP, LAN or Internet/WAN — the DNS option is on one of these screens, depending on the brand.
3. Replace the primary and secondary DNS with your choices and save.
4. Restart your devices (or turn their Wi-Fi off and on) so they pick up the new setting.

Don’t know how to get into the panel? The step by step is in how to access the router panel. Some ISP-supplied routers block DNS changes — in that case, change it on each device.

✅ How to Confirm the New DNS Is Working

Get-DnsClientServerAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Where-Object ServerAddresses
Resolve-DnsName tecnologiamoderna.com.br

The first command should show the addresses you configured. To confirm encrypted DNS is active with Cloudflare, open 1.1.1.1/help in your browser: it shows whether you’re using the service and whether the connection uses DNS over HTTPS.

🛠️ Common Problems After Changing DNS

📺 Smart TVs, Game Consoles and When NOT to Switch

🕶️ Encrypted DNS vs VPN vs Incognito Mode

Each tool solves one thing. To understand the risks of free VPNs, see are free VPNs worth it?, and to bust the incognito myth, what incognito mode really hides.

FAQ