Before answering whether DNS affects video streaming, it would be best first to understand what DNS entails and how it works.
DNS (Domain Name System) memorizes names and numbers and translates them to IP addresses.
With this, browsers load internet resources by controlling the server to reach an end-user once they type a domain name.
IP addresses help network devices to connect to each other online. The only connection between humans and computers is that there is a conversion of names into number form.
A human can use a domain name while a computer needs an IP address to execute commands, which makes online communication easy.
DNS can be used for two main purposes; to enhance performance and for security purposes.
Again, there are so many types of DNS, some free, others paid, or public and private.
Just like a VPN, a DNS can help you unblock websites while using a DNS proxy. Many opt to use DNS to access geo-restricted content, as it is much faster.
One reason could be because of its lightweight nature. But on the other hand, a VPN is more secure compared to the DNS.
While they perform similar tasks, they do this in different ways.
If you have any issues with DNS use, you can go to StreamingRant which is an online streaming guide that can assist with related queries.
The website greatly addresses the hitches consumers face while streaming.
One issue that crops up when using DNS when video streaming is that when so many users log into the same DNS server to get their domain names, this may prevent network performance.
But usually, this is not an issue to do with how the DNS network works, which erodes the conception that DNS affects the streaming speed.
This gives us the answer to whether DNS can affect video streaming. DNS will not affect your video streaming; its main job is to translate a domain to an IP address.
But even if DNS is not directly related to the effect of your streaming, such as speed, it is known to influence how fast you can load your webpage on your computer.
And once there is a connection, DNS should not in any way affect the speed.
Is DNS Best for Streaming?
DNS can be used for video streaming, and it proves to be much faster and cheaper.
But if you want to protect your privacy, then it may not be your priority when streaming, as it’s easy to track your IP address.
If you are to choose DNS for streaming, the best thing is to avoid using a free DNS. A DNS will not use your bandwidth when providing encryption and this makes it faster.
DNS has to be exploited by the content distribution network (CDN) to be a high-quality streaming service.
The development of domain name systems such as Open DNS has greatly affected the CDN content distribution mechanism resulting in more network resources.
Though DNS should not be a concern when thinking of your streaming speed, you can improve your overall speed by changing your router’s DNS server.
Why Do You Need to Change Your DNS Server?
While your DNS server will help you with faster connections, you can upgrade to a better DNS. If you’re using an ISP’s default DNS server it’s advisable to change to a more reliable DNS server.
Any issue with the system will offer some effects on your streaming experience. For instance, if your DNS server has not been configured properly, this may lead to connection issues.
So, to be on the safer side, you can choose to change your DNS server for your home network on your laptop, Mac, Chromebook, among others.
Other than for speed and reliability improvement, there are many reasons why you may choose to use a third-party DNS server.
You could use it for your parental controls to secure adult-related controls from being viewed by your kids.
DNS Change on Your Home Network
The change will affect all your devices such as smartphones PCs, TV streaming boxes etc.
Note that you must have the DNS settings to change your entire home network, not unless you need to change the settings for every device.
Changing DNS on your router will mean that every other device will be under the new DNS server. Thus, you will only require a single setting to have the DNS changes in one place.
Depending on your router, you can follow the guidelines set in your router manual.
If you have never changed your username and password, you only need to follow the instructions to access the web interface.
This will guide you to the DNS server option, where you can make your changes. It may be easier to check the change option on the DHCP server setting.
If you still have an issue with changing the DNS server, you can Google on how to change the DNS server for your router model.
You can choose to change from a default server to some of the best public DNS servers such as Clean Browsing, Cloudflare, Alternate DNS, Quad9, among others.
Or choose to have a private server. But be aware that most of the free DNS servers may sell your data to others.
Another option would be to change the DNS setting for every device you have. Note that the guidelines for changing DNS settings are different for every router.
Once you are done with the changes, you should restart the router to make the changes effective.
