How to Change DNS on PS4 and When Should You?.
Contrary to popular belief, changing the DNS on your PS4 does not increase your internet speed. All DNS does is translate the URL into an IP address. Yes, it can speed up this initial connection, but will not affect the data transfer rate after it is established. However, there are other reasons for changing DNS on PS4, for example, your ISP’s DNS is not working properly or you want to access geo-restricted websites or set parental controls on your PS4 browser.
How to Change DNS on PS4 and When Should You?
There are many DNS servers that serve a specific purpose. If you are unable to choose between several options, you can use the DNS Test Tool to determine the fastest DNS server. DNS servers like Cloudflare are known for their speed, OpenDNS for content filtering, GoogleDNS for reliability, and Smart DNS Proxy DNS allows you to access geo-restricted content like Netflix US, Hulu, HBO, etc. Are some of the more popular servers that are free to use. Below are some of the most popular ones.
- Cloudflare – 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
- OpenDNS – 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
- GoogleDNS – 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
- Smart DNS Proxy DNS – 23.21.43.50 and 169.53.235.135
Change DNS on PS4
To update the DNS values ​​on your PS4, turn on your console and sign in to your account. Use your controller to navigate the home page to the settings icon and open it.
On the settings page, you will find the Network Settings option. Press X to select to load network settings to the screen.
In the network settings, select “Configure Internet Connection” from the list of options to start the setup.
You can establish a connection using Wi-Fi or LAN cable. The steps for both methods are exactly the same. Select your connection type from the list and proceed to the next step.
Select a Wi-Fi network from the list of available networks to connect. If you are connecting to a new network, you may need to enter your Wi-Fi password before proceeding to the next step.
The simple method establishes an Internet connection automatically and does not provide all the possibilities. We need to select “Custom” as this will allow you to customize the DNS.
In the IP address settings,
select “Manual” from the list of options. Automatic mode prevents you from entering an IP address and PPPoE is usually used by your ISP, but most routers set up PPPoE configuration on the router.
Now enter the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS. You can specify two different DNS in the Primary DNS and Secondary DNS fields.
Read also: How to find out which DNS server you are using
You can leave MTU settings enabled automatically if you don’t know what value your connection should have. MTU, or Maximum Transmission Unit, is the largest packet size that can be transmitted over the Internet. Its value is in the range 68-1500, and the most commonly used values ​​are 576 and 1500, as accepted by the TCP protocol.
You can also add a proxy address to improve the performance of your connection, especially if you use it at work or school. You can also use a proxy to browse the web anonymously, but you haven’t heard of this from me.
Now, the only thing left to do before completing the setup is to test your connection. After adding the proxy server, click the test connection button to start the process. Your console will check the connection with the configured parameters and show you the results below. If done correctly, you should see a screen similar to the one shown below.
In general, it’s always a good idea to restart your PS4 to clear the previous DNS and start using the new one.
Mandatory Reading: Change Your Online ID on PS4
Change DNS on router
The above method works great on PS4, but does not change the fact that you only change it on a specific device. If you have access to your router, you can change the DNS on it. Thus, this applies to all devices that connect to the network. This saves time and future configuration.
Each router is different and has its own user interface. I use a Netgear router with custom DD-WRT firmware. So, the steps for you will not be identical, but somewhat similar.
Log into the router using the web portal. The address, username and password are mostly printed behind the router. If you don’t know the IP address of the router, this is the address of the network gateway. To find this, open a command prompt and enter the following command, or use this guide to find out the IP address of your router. ipconfig | findstr “Default Gateway”
Write down the default gateway in the address bar of your web browser. Log in with your credentials and wait for the page to load. Each router has its own interface, but DNS is not difficult to find. Find the item “Setting” and click “Basic setting”.
Read: How to Set a Password on PS4
On the basic setup page, navigate to the network address server (DHCP) settings. You will have text fields for entering DNS IP addresses. Enter DNS in the fields, on my router I had three entries which may differ from router to router. Click “Save” and then “Apply Settings”.
Read: How to Record Gameplay on PS4
Change DNS on PS4
These were two ways to change your DNS on PS4 for better gameplay. Changing DNS can help you improve your gaming performance and improve security. There are many DNS services that offer DNS for free, while you can also pay for a decent DNS service like Smart DNS Proxy and browse the web anonymously. Having problems changing DNS on PS4? Let us know in the comments below.