Safari Connectivity #6: Manually entering DNS server addresses

As we've covered the widespread issue with Safari (and other browsers) not being able to connect on the first try due to DNS issues, we've noted that one of the most successful solutions has been to manually enter your ISP's DNS server address(es) in the DNS Servers field of the TCP/IP tab of your Internet connection port in Network preferences. Unfortunately, some ISPs don't seem to be as cooperative as they could be. Reader Dino Papas writes:

"My ISP is Cox and they have told me that their 'residential' system is all dynamic and thus cannot provide any DNS server addresses for us to enter into the Network preferences pane. Perhaps someone has another workaround?"

Some ISPs that use DHCP to distribute IP addresses to customers prefer not to provide DNS server addresses, with the argument being that DHCP is supposed to provide such information to connected computers automatically. However, in this situation, one solution is to enter them manually, so we encourage readers to be persistent with their ISPs. Apart from the fact that a DNS server address might change in the future, requiring the user to then manually enter the updated address, there are few technical reasons why an ISP shouldn't give its customers the IP addresses of their DNS servers if it's the best solution to a connectivity problem.

If you're using a DHCP connection and your ISP won't cooperate, you may be able to figure out your current DNS server(s) in one of two ways. Sometimes the server's address(es) will appear in the TCP/IP tab of your Internet connection port in Network preferences. If it doesn't, you may be able to determine its address by launching System Profiler, selecting the Network item in the Contents pane, selecting your current Internet connection type (Ethernet, AirPort, etc.) on the right, and then looking for the DNS Servers item in the details section at the bottom of the window.

If your ISP refuses to give in on this issue, and you aren't able to figure out your DNS server address(es) yourself, an alternative is to use another ISP's DNS server address(es) or to use one of the many "public" DNS servers on the Internet. You can find a few of the latter here or here (the "Tier 2" servers); you can also do a Web search for "public DNS server." One drawback to this approach is that sometimes a DNS server outside of your local network or ISP will provide slower DNS performance than your "preferred" DNS servers.

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