What is DNS, and how to check if it's causing your problem
Websites won't open even though your internet technically works? Before you start suspecting your router or provider, check whether DNS is the culprit — it's one of the most common, and most easily fixed, causes.
DNS in one sentence
DNS is the service that translates website names (like google.com) into the IP addresses where servers actually live. Without it, your browser doesn't know where to send its request, even though the internet connection itself is fine — a bit like a working phone line with no functioning phone book.
How to tell it's a DNS problem
No site loads, but pinging an IP address works
If ping google.com fails, but ping 8.8.8.8 works — that's a near-certain sign the problem is DNS, not the internet connection itself.
Your phone works fine on mobile data
Switch your phone from WiFi to mobile data. If the internet works fine there, that confirms the problem is in your own network (the router or its DNS settings), not with your carrier or the sites themselves.
How to fix it
Restart the router
Most temporary DNS problems clear up after a simple router restart — always the first step before changing anything manually.
Flush the DNS cache in Windows
In Command Prompt, type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter. This clears outdated DNS data stored locally on your computer.
Temporarily set a public DNS server
In Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi → click your network → next to "DNS server assignment" choose Edit → Manual → turn on IPv4 and enter, for example, 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) as preferred and 8.8.8.8 (Google) as alternate. If the internet starts working, that confirms the problem was with your provider's or router's DNS.
When it's a job for IT
- Switching to public DNS (1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8) helps, but the problem returns after every computer restart.
- The problem affects the whole office at once, not just one computer.
- After changing DNS, internal company resources (a file server, VPN) stop working — a sign the company uses its own internal DNS, which you shouldn't change on your own.
- None of the above helps, and the problem persists.
An important note for businesses
If your company uses its own domain and internal resources (like a file server reachable by name rather than IP address), manually switching to public DNS can cut off access to those resources, even though the internet itself starts working faster. In that case, it's worth checking with IT before making the change permanent on your own.
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