- Similar to other DNS services on the list, AdGuard DNS offers a detailed guide on how to configure DNS server settings for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux and routers. The AdGuard DNS servers are: Primary DNS: 176.103.130.130.
- To manually configure your Mac with ExpressVPN's DNS server addresses, follow this step-by-step guide. Contact ExpressVPN Support for further assistance.
For years I have hated having to try to memorize different static IP address' when trying to access different network resources on my local network. This past week I finally forced myself to sit down one evening with a stiff drink and an ambition to set up and configure my own DNS server for my local network. My server would be my newly reclaimed Mac Mini running the latest version of OS X (El Capitan 10.11.x). With a good recommendation from a good friend and Sysadmin from work I set out to build my own DNS server with 'dnsmasq' and found it to be surprisingly easy. Easy enough that I figured I should post it out to my blog so that I could remember in the future and hopefully share with others who might be so inclined to attempt the same.
While you can always use the system network preferences panel to change the DNS servers on your Mac, some geeks would prefer using the Terminal to get the job done.Using Terminal to change the DNS servers has its advantages, like it lets you remotely access the DNS servers with SSH, and it even works when the GUI is dead on your machine. Assuming there are several DNS servers set within Mac OS X’s networking preferences, you will see a report of each DNS server in the order of their priority, looking something like this: 8.8.8.8 208.67.220.220 208.67.222.222 10.0.0.1. One reason you might want to change the DNS servers assigned by your ISP is if you suspect there's a problem with the ones you're using now. An easy way to test for a DNS server issue is by typing a website's IP address into the browser. If you can reach the website with the IP address, but not the name, then the DNS server is likely having issues.
Pre-requisites:
- Mac OS X Yosemite 10.11.x (I fathom that all of this could easily be done on older versions)
- Homebrew (http://brew.sh/)
- An open terminal to execute the required commands per step outlined below
Step by step process (some commands may require 'sudo' permissions):
- Install the latest version of the 'dnsmasq' package/module on your server.
- Command: brew install dnsmasq
- Create directory to store the 'dnsmasq' configuration file.
- Command: mkdir /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq
- Copy the default example 'dnsmasq' configuration file into the local configuration directory.
- Command: cp /usr/local/opt/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.conf.example /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.conf
- Modify the default configuration file to suite your needs.
- Command: vim /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.conf
- In this step I personally configured 'dnsmasq' to use my own personal domain as well as auto-appending the domain for requests.
- Configure the 'dnsmasq' software to start automatically as a daemon on reboot.
- Command: brew services start dnsmasq
- Configure hostname to IP address mapping via the local hosts file.
- Command: vim /etc/hosts
- This step can vary depending on how you have 'dnsmasq' configured, but with default configurations the software will look to the servers /etc/hosts file to serve as the hostname/ip registrar.
Hopefully this tutorial/guide is helpful in getting your own DNS server up and running. I know that I personally have LOVED being able to access my home network via my router's VPN software using my own personal DNS server to make sure I never have to try to memorize another IP address again.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/4/5/134542305/788922948.jpg)
As always feel free to leave a question in the comments section.
The slow or inconsistent internet connectivity that you are currently experiencing on your Mac might be due to slow or crowded DNS Servers used by your Internet Service Provider. You will find below the steps to change the DNS Servers on your Mac to Google or OpenDNS to fix this problem.
Change DNS Servers on Mac
In general, most Mac users do not think or worry about changing the DNS Servers on their Computer. However, it is a known fact that changing the DNS Servers on a computer to a faster DNS Server can often result in significant improvement in internet connectivity and browsing speed.
While you can switch to any DNS provider, Google and OpenDNS are two of the most popular and free DNS providers that you can make use of. Both these DNS providers are highly reliable and are likely to be much faster than the DNS Servers used by your Internet Service Provider.
While Google provides a fast and dependable DNS service, OpenDNS provides additional features like content filtering, anti-phishing and child protection controls.
Change DNS Servers on Mac to Google or OpenDNS
Follow the steps below to change the DNS servers on your Mac.
1. Click on the Apple Logo from the top menu-bar on your Mac and then click on the System Preferences… option in the drop-down menu.
2. On the System Preferences screen, tap on the Network option.
3. On the Network Screen, click on the Lock Icon located at the bottom left corner of the screen.
4. Enter your Admin Account User Name and Password when prompted.
5. While you are still on the Network Screen, first make sure that you are on the WiFi Tab in the Left Sidebar Menu and then click on the Advanced option (See image below).
![Dns Dns](/uploads/1/3/4/5/134542305/183684600.jpg)
Best Dns Server For Mac
6. On the WiFi Network screen, first click on the DNS tab in the top menu and then click on the + Plus button located in the bottom left corner of the Window.
7. Enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 to change the DNS Servers to Google on your Mac and click on OK to save these settings (See image above).
Note: In case you want to use OpenDNS, enter 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
Mac Change Dns
While you can enter as many DNS Servers as you want, macOS prioritizes connection to DNS servers based on the order in which they appear. This means that your Mac will end up using the first DNS address most of the times, in case it is able connect to the first one successfully.
Mac Local Dns Server
After changing the DNS servers, you should see an improvement in the speed of browsing on your Mac, in case the problem of slow internet connectivity on your Mac is related to the slow DNS used by your Internet Service Provider.