Things You Need to Know about DNS Leak Test and Protection

April 11, 2023 By Christine Margret No Comments 5 minutes

In this blog, find out what is DNS leak test, how to fix it, and browse privately online. However, before explaining the DNS Leak test, the main question is, what is DNS in the first place? Let’s get to that below.

What is DNS?

DNS stands for Domain Name System. It is a system that matches domain names with corresponding IP addresses. 

Take our website, for example; by typing Fastestvpn.com, you will request a DNS server that will request a unique IP address associated with this name. 

Browsing without a VPN will make all your requests pass through ISP on the DNS server unless you can figure out your router to work with a different DNS which is not that easy. 

Shortly, it means that your ISP knows every website that you visit. With a VPN, though, since your requests are routed through a VPN server, your ISP will not get any such information. 

That’s how it suppose to work, but sometimes DNS leaks can occur.

What Are the Causes of DNS Leak?

DNS leaks usually occur when a VPN is configured incorrectly or when the VPN service is unreliable. In rare examples, a VPN that you are using may not have its DNS servers at all. 

All those cases cause your connection to leak outside of the secure VPN tunnel, exposing all your private data. 

This is why FastestVPN, as the most reputable VPN, made its goal to include DNS Leak protection. 

For instance, FastestVPN can prevent any encrypted queries from going outside its VPN tunnel. If you want to give it a shot, check our blog on how to check VPN connectivity from any IP leaks.

Although using FastestVPN is a reliable option, there are other services like Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR), which deal with lowering the risks of cyberattacks. Apart from these, you still have to check for DNS leaks with a DNS leak test. 

Is My DNS Leaking?

Answering this question is fairly easy. You can conduct a DNS leak test to verify if your internet requests are exposed outside the VPN tunnel. 

I prefer to do a DNS leak check with websites like IPLEAK.NET or DNSLEAKTEST.COM. They are almost identical, just run a DNS leak test and check if you are still getting your original IP even when using a VPN. 

How to Detect DNS Leak? 

Firstly, check your original IP address using one of those websites above, then connect to a different server using a VPN and test the VPN connection with the same website. 

If the IP and location are completely different from your original ones, then everything is good; if not, you have a DNS leak at hand.

How to Fix DNS Leak? 

The next question that comes to mind is how to solve DNS leaks once you know about them. Well, fixing DNS leaks is usually not a clear case. 

Sometimes simply reconnecting or choosing a different VPN server will do the trick. Other times, you need to clear your cache and browser cookies, as they can keep information about your previous connection. Know more about flashing DNS Cache here.

But, in most cases, using a reliable VPN provider with a strong VPN privacy focus is the way to reduce the frequency of DNS leaks. 

FastestVPN offers dedicated features to prevent DNS leaks. Another DNS leak fix is to deploy a Firewall. 

A Firewall is a network security system that prevents data from leaving your device, including  DNS requests information. 

Since a Firewall can effectively disable the DNS process, It prevents the information from leaking out of your system.

What Happens After Solving a DNS Leak? 

Even after sorting a DNS leak test, you should remember that other ways will expose you online, including browser fingerprinting (a type of online tracking). 

To ensure that you follow the best security practices, check your VPN provider’s support pages regularly.

Moreover, to frequently tame security vulnerabilities, regularly update your operating system and internet device as soon as the update becomes available. 

For an even more private connection, consider installing the Tor Browser. It is safe as the connection is entirely encrypted, and data is transmitted through a series of relays.

Tor browser not only hides your IP address, but it also helps you to access specific Tor hidden services with the .onion extension. 

The Tor network authenticates websites using public key encryption. These encryption keys are saved in the .onion addresses, which is why they don’t rely on DNS at all. 

Conclusion 

Hopefully, you have learned how to see if you have DNS leaks from this blog. Remember, DNS leaks can havoc with your online privacy. However, you can easily prevent it by using a reliable VPN with proven protection against DNS leaks, just like FastestVPN.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Receive the trending posts of the week and the latest announcements from FastestVPN via our email newsletter.

Email Address