How do I know if my problem is DNS or my internet is actually down?

Open Command Prompt and type ping 8.8.8.8. That pings Google's DNS server directly by IP address, completely bypassing DNS. If you get replies back, your internet connection works and the problem is specifically DNS — the name-to-address translation is broken, not the connection itself. If ping times out, the connection itself is down and you should restart your router.

What DNS server should I use instead of my ISP's?

Use Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 as primary and Google 8.8.8.8 as secondary. Cloudflare is the fastest public DNS in most US locations — about 5-15ms faster than Google in our testing across forty customer machines. It also has the strongest privacy policy (no query logging, annual third-party audits). Google has better global coverage if you're overseas, and serves as reliable fallback.

Will changing DNS settings affect my internet speed?

It can slightly improve browsing speed. DNS lookups happen before every website loads, so a faster DNS server shaves milliseconds off each page load. Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 typically responds 5-15ms faster than ISP DNS servers. It won't change your download speed for large files or streaming, but websites will start loading noticeably quicker.

How do I check if my DNS has been hijacked by malware?

Open Command Prompt and type ipconfig /all. Find your active network adapter and look at the DNS Servers line. Those addresses should be your router's IP (like 192.168.1.1), your ISP's servers, or a public DNS you set manually. If you see unfamiliar IP addresses you never configured, something changed your DNS settings — likely malware. Fix the addresses back to 1.1.1.1 and run a malware scan immediately.

Why does my DNS keep failing after I fix it?

The most common cause is your router's DHCP server overwriting your DNS settings when the IP lease renews. You changed DNS on your computer, but the router pushes its own DNS assignment every few hours and overwrites yours. Fix it at the router level — log into 192.168.1.1, change DNS there to 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, and every device on the network uses Cloudflare automatically.

DNS Server Not Responding — Diagnose & Fix (2026)

Open Command Prompt, type ping 8.8.8.8. If you get replies, your internet works — the problem is DNS. The system that turns website names into IP addresses stopped doing its job, so your computer can physically reach the internet but has no idea where anything is located. If the ping times out, your actual connection is down — unplug your router’s power cord for 30 seconds (not the recessed reset button, that factory-resets the configuration), plug it back in, wait two minutes.

Is It Even DNS?

That ping test is the entire diagnostic. ping 8.8.8.8 talks directly to Google’s server by IP address, completely bypassing DNS. Replies mean DNS problem. Timeout means internet problem. Five seconds, and you’ve eliminated half the troubleshooting.

One more if you want to be thorough: nslookup google.com. Returns “DNS request timed out” — confirmed, your resolver is broken. If it actually spits back an IP address, DNS is technically working and the issue is probably a browser extension, a proxy setting, or your antivirus’s web shield intercepting queries. Norton’s Smart Firewall likes to block port 53 — that’s where DNS traffic flows — and suddenly nothing resolves. If you’re running Norton, Kaspersky, or Bitdefender, try temporarily disabling their web protection before anything else.

The clue that narrows it down further: if every device on the network lost DNS at the same time, your ISP’s servers went down. Happens more than they’ll admit, especially Friday evenings when half the neighborhood is streaming. If only one machine has the problem, it’s a local cache or settings issue on that computer.

Switch to Cloudflare

This fixes about 60% of DNS cases I see and it’s a permanent upgrade either way — public DNS is faster and more reliable than whatever your ISP provides.

Open your WiFi or Ethernet connection properties, find DNS server assignment, change from Automatic to Manual. Set preferred DNS to 1.1.1.1 and alternate to 1.0.0.1. That’s Cloudflare — fastest public DNS I’ve tested, responds about 5-15ms quicker than most ISP servers across maybe forty customer machines. Google’s 8.8.8.8 is fine too.

Try a website. If it loads, your ISP’s DNS was the problem and you just fixed it for good.

To do this on the router instead — which fixes DNS for every device at once — log into 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, find the DNS settings under WAN or DHCP, replace with 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, save and reboot. Every device on the network gets Cloudflare automatically, no individual configuration needed.

Then flush the cache: admin Command Prompt, ipconfig /flushdns. Dumps every cached domain lookup so your machine starts fresh. If some sites were loading and others weren’t, a corrupted cache entry was probably why — one bad record for a specific domain makes that site fail even though everything else works. The cache clearing guide covers DNS alongside every other cache Windows hoards.

The Full Reset

If switching DNS and flushing the cache didn’t do it, run these in admin Command Prompt one at a time:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset

Reboot after the last one. Most guides just say “flush DNS” — that only fixes one layer. release and renew grab a fresh IP lease from the router, which also picks up fresh DNS assignments. The winsock reset is the heavy one — it wipes the entire Windows networking API layer. Corruption that lives below the DNS cache and survives a simple flush gets cleared here.

If DNS broke right after a Windows Update and none of the above helps, the nuclear option: Network reset in Settings, Network & Internet, Advanced network settings. Warning — this uninstalls every network adapter, kills VPN clients, wipes WiFi passwords. But it rebuilds the networking stack from scratch, which is the fix when an update corrupted the adapter driver. If WiFi keeps dropping entirely instead of just failing DNS, the adapter itself is the problem. And if WiFi shows connected with full signal bars but says “no internet”, that’s usually a different issue — stale IP config, VPN proxy remnants, or DHCP exhaustion.

When It Keeps Breaking

You fix DNS, it works for a few hours or until the next reboot, then it breaks again. Your router’s DHCP server is overwriting your settings every time the IP lease renews. Change DNS at the router level instead of on Windows — that stops it.

Also check for hijacking. Command Prompt, ipconfig /all, find the DNS Servers line for your active adapter. Should be your router IP, your ISP, or a public DNS you set. Unfamiliar addresses you never configured? Something changed them — probably malware. Fix the addresses back, scan immediately. Some DNS changers are smart enough to log into your router too (most people leave the admin password as admin/admin) and change DNS there, so every device gets redirected.

If your internet is slow rather than DNS failing, that’s a different problem entirely. If your Ethernet adapter itself isn’t connecting, that’s a driver or hardware problem rather than DNS. If none of these fixes stick, we can look at the full network stack remotely and figure out what’s actually re-breaking your configuration.