Ever wondered why does your game hang every second, even after you use a 4G connection, providing a downloading speed of up to 800 Mbps. Well, the reason could be your server.
DNS server stands for Domain Name Server. A major factor to consider while playing multiplayer games online with real players, a better DNS can provide you with greater ping speed increasing your chances of Chicken Dinner.
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Need Of DNS Server
A DNS server is a server that converts URL address of the website from alphabet to numeric IP, making it easier for the computer to understand which website it needs to refer to. You may think DNS as the phonebook of the internet. Therefore, changing or having a DNS server can potentially provide better download and upload speeds, reducing ping or latency to a significant extent.
For example: Suppose you want to visit facebook.com, what a simple approach is to open the browser and type www.facebook.com, and your account automatically pops up. What’s going behind the scene is, Web browsers such as Chrome or Firefox, don’t communicate through these names, instead a dedicated server known as Domain Name Server (DNS) converts this URL to a machine friendly IP address. You can try writing the IP for Facebook, and enter that directly into the browser, to find the same results.
How does a DNS works?
Explaining in Layman terms, a DNS server stores the IP address of the most commonly and frequently used websites. Let us say the user uses Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube, the most on his device. The DNS will store the IP addresses of these websites to allow faster communication leading to quick loading of these websites as compared to other websites. You might have experienced, the lag when browsing a website for the first time, this is because the DNS registers the IP of the newly requested website.
Now what role does DNS has in gaming?
A DNS is responsible for efficient communication between web browser and host server. Having a poor grade DNS may lead to slow communication between host server and the client (your gaming device). Whereas a better grade DNS will allow fast and efficient communication, leading to minimum lags.
In gaming, as more and more player connect to the portal, the load on the host server (let us say the server of PUBG) increases, causing lag. User who has a DNS of better bandwidth will communicate faster with host server and experience less lag.
Now the question comes, which DNS server to choose? Are these free? Does my privacy get hampered because of this? Will it interfere in my gameplay? And much more. All of your queries are answered below using a comparison.
Top 5 DNS servers
1. Google DNS Server
Well, the mega tech giant offers this service too. The Google DNS server is one of the most trusted and accepted DNS servers all over the globe. Serving more than a million gamers, the company assures your security and privacy. Google has made sure to provide lag free and smooth gaming experience to its users. Having the trust of Google, the risk of hacking and privacy hampering is almost negligible.
The IP address for Google DNS is 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4
Average ping using this DNS: 9ms FCg as well as regular Internet browsing. I hope my recommendation prove useful to you.
2. Norton ConnectSafe
Assurance by the leading networking company- Norton, after the success of their antivirus and VPN, they launched their DNS. Being a cloud-based DNS, the company promises not only lag free gaming, but also security from malicious websites. The server automatically blocks the suspicious websites as well as the violent content from normal websites.
3. Open DNS
A free cloud-based service that not only provides shielding against malicious websites but also a faster and safer internet with almost zero downtime. This company is now a part of CISCO, the leading company in the field of networking. Smooth gaming experience along with excellent technical support are the main features to consider.
https://www.opendns.com/
Use IP: 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220 to configure this server.
Average ping: 10ms
4. Comodo Secure DNS
Fast and reliable gaming experience. Almost no lag but low security.
Use IP: 8.26.56.26 or 8.20.247.20
5. Level 3
one of the most popular DNS in the market. Efficient management, good support, less lag.
Use IP: 209.244.0.3 or 209.244.0.4
Other Domain Name servers on my list
- DNS Advantage
- OpenNIC
- DYN
- SafeDNS
- watch
- CloudFare
I hope I was able to convey you the importance and need of DNS in gaming as well as regular Internet browsing. I hope my recommendation prove useful to you.
