Overview

DNS (Domain Name System) is used by computers to find the actual IP (Internet Protocol) address of sites. This is done by querying a DNS server. Normally, this server is owned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Your router probably automatically got the address when it was initially configured. While easy to do, this provides your ISP with knowledge of every site you visit or your applications use.

As part of stricter user ownership of information, we can utilize new tools to take back ownership of this particular data set. To do so we will connect securely to a trusted (I will let you decide who you trust) DNS server.

Google and others provide DNS servers that are fast and easy to configure. In this particular example we will be setting up a connection to CloudFlare’s DNS server.

The following is the quick setup instruction set. If you need more elaborate instructions, or wish to see how other configurations are done, you can visit CloudFlare’s site.

Installation

1. Access your router settings
2. Look for the section where you can enter DNS server information
3. Enter 1.1.1.1 for the primary DNS server
4. Enter 1.0.0.1 for the secondary DNS server
5. If your router supports DNSSEC (secure DNS connections), then enable it
6. Save the settings and reboot the router

All done!