So back days some sites were blocked, i used vpn to unblock it but it was very slow, so i talked to my isp about it, and he said that i can change my dns server or something, cant remember exactly what he said, so what does he mean by that, what does changing dns or proxy do? is it similar to using vpn?, and can it do it manually? If yes, how?
Changing your DNS is not the same as using a proxy or a VPN. All 3 are different things. That said, some VPNs do have their own DNS.
DNS is just the system used to fetch websites, i.e. when you type facebook[dot]com the DNS system is the one responsible for matching the domain name with the right IP address. Presto, your browser gets to the right page without you having to remember a random IP.
Changing your DNS can be done right now and it’s not that complicated, but it does differ from one OS/device to another. You can opt for Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8) and there are easy tutorials on how you can do it on your device and OS.
If your ISP tech said this would solve the issue, this is the fastest/safest solution. I’d go for Cloudflare. It’s free and likely a safer/better choice than your ISP’s.
It’s not really similar to using a VPN. and some VPN’s will start leaking your IP address or cause DNS leaks if you are not using the DNS servers they use within their vpn. When you connect to a vpn, it will usually use their pre-determined DNS addresses.
I look at DNS Servers as the “phone book” of the internet - to simplify things.
Everytime you type in a website e.g (reddit.com) your computer will go to its “phone book” and find out which IP address it needs to connect to, based on the associated domain name, and connect/grab the content you request.
ISP’s will provide their own DNS servers, and most routers/modems from ISP’s will default to these. Some ISP provided DNS servers are slower than other services.
You can either change your DNS address’ on the router/modem so that all devices on your network will use the new “phone book” to look up all of your requests. Or you can do it on a per-device basis. that’s what the DNS Servers settings are in any device you see.
Personally I do it on both, (though you may have to do it on a per-network basis) because when I was in school I didn’t want to use the school’s DNS servers.
There are 2 that I can reccomend. Google’s Public DNS and Cloudflare’s DNS
I prefer cloudflares DNS servers, as It’s a bit more privacy focused compared to Google’s and my websites are hosted on their platform, so the DNS records for my sites get updated a bit faster when I’m using them.
for cloudflare it’s as easy as putting in
Primary DNS: 1.1.1.1
Secondary DNS: 1.0.0.1
And now you’re using them.
You “technically” only need one DNS address, and the second is more of “backup” in-case the first one can’t be reached, but some devices require 2 anyways so I always just but the 2. There are also more DNS address’s from cloudflare I believe but I’ve never needed them ( I believe they are even more privacy focused) - Please don’t quote me on that.
Bottom line: Changing your DNS servers *can* improve speed in loading web-pages and be more reliable than using your ISP provided ones. Whether or not the difference is substantial enough for your use-case is up to you - but as a general rule of thumb, every device I have and every family member I have - given the chance I will point them to cloudflare.
Edit*
Oh and to answer your question changing your DNS servers probably won’t unblock content for you, but using a proxy could. Essentially the proxy passes your request to another location (I have less experience with proxy’s so I may be wrong).
Ultimately a VPN is the better choice for unblocking content, and I don’t know how long ago you used a VPN, but they have gotten a lot faster over the years - but will always be slower than your actual internet connection. But if your internet speed is the underlying issue, you’ll usually always have a rough time until you get a speed that you find adequate .
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