With many options available it can be hard to know which DNS server is the best to use in New Zealand. Your initial thought may be that your ISP's provided DNS server is the fastest and the best as typically this is the one closest to you and while this may be true in many cases there are other considerations to keep in mind when choosing which DNS server to use.
Should you use your ISP's DNS server or a global DNS server? Which is the best for your use case? Are you looking for the best gaming DNS server or wanting content filtering to protect your family from unwanted content?
People sometimes think that using a global DNS server can slow down their DNS lookup requests because they incorrectly think that because they use a single easy to remember IP address that they are only in one location and that they are likely not very close to smaller countries like New Zealand.
However, the term global means that they have a global presence and have multiple servers located all around the world with sometimes many hundreds of servers some of which are usually in popular nearby cities.
For this reason, we recommend using a free global DNS server like Google's 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1.
→ Read more about global DNS servers.
Whether you're gaming on a PS4, PS5, Xbox or PC it doesn't require you to use a special DNS server to improve gaming performance - you should just use the best DNS server for all your internet usage.
Typically, changing your DNS server won't affect your gaming experience while you are actively playing - it won't lower your ping or latency as it only matters when you first make the initial connection to the gaming server.
DNS lookups happen when resolving a domain name into an IP address, this is typically only done once and then cached on your gaming console or PC for faster future lookups. Even then, it only takes a few milliseconds which is something you will likely not even notice.
→ Read more about the best DNS servers for gaming.
If you are a non-technical person or have decided against using a global DNS server and wanting to keep things simple, then it is likely that your router will automatically assign your DNS servers directly from your ISP. This is often the easiest option and, in most cases, will work just fine. If you need help with your connection, using your ISP provided servers may offer your best chance of obtaining support from your ISP.
If you need to manually configure a device then you can browse the list of providers below to get the primary and secondary DNS servers to use.
