How to Change DNS on a TP-Link Router (Archer)

Why change DNS on a TP-Link router

Setting DNS on your TP-Link router changes it once for the whole network. Every phone, laptop, tablet, smart TV, and console that connects picks up the new resolver automatically over DHCP, so you skip configuring each device by hand — and you cover gadgets that have no DNS setting of their own.

A faster resolver shortens the lookup delay that happens before a page or app starts loading. That is all it does: it does not raise your internet plan’s bandwidth or make downloads finish faster. What you get is a snappier first response when you open a site, which is most noticeable across a busy household of devices.

Before you start, decide which resolver to use. Run the DNS speed test on a device connected to this TP-Link network to see which one answers fastest from your line, then use its two addresses in the steps above. The public DNS servers page lists the common options with their privacy and filtering notes if you want to weigh those too. The steps use Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1 as an example — swap in whichever won your test.

Two places DNS lives on an Archer

TP-Link splits DNS across two pages, and the difference matters:

• DHCP Server (Advanced → Network → DHCP Server). This is the DNS the router hands out to your devices. Setting it here is what makes phones, laptops, and consoles actually use your chosen resolver. For most people this is the only change needed.
• Internet / WAN (Advanced → Network → Internet). This is the DNS the router itself uses. Changing it does not automatically change what devices receive unless the DHCP Server DNS is left at the 0.0.0.0 “use the router’s DNS” default. Setting real addresses on the DHCP Server page is the more predictable approach.

Model and firmware differences

TP-Link’s interface has shifted over the years, so the exact labels depend on your model and firmware version:

• Current Archer firmware (the blue/teal web UI) keeps DNS under Advanced → Network, as described in the steps.
• Older Archer and legacy TP-Link firmware (the older green interface) may label the menus Network → WAN and DHCP → DHCP Settings instead, but the Primary/Secondary DNS fields work the same way.
• Admin address. Most Archer routers answer at tplinkwifi.net or 192.168.0.1; some models and ISP-customized units use 192.168.1.1. If none load, check the label on the underside of the router.
• Connection type. On the Internet page, a Dynamic IP (cable) setup and a PPPoE (DSL) setup expose the manual DNS toggle in slightly different spots. If your ISP setup does not offer a manual DNS field there at all, rely on the DHCP Server page.

The Tether app

The TP-Link Tether mobile app manages most of an Archer router’s settings, but on standard Archer models custom DNS-server fields are generally only exposed in the browser admin page — so use tplinkwifi.net for this change rather than the app. (If you have a TP-Link Deco mesh system instead of an Archer, its DNS option does live in the Deco app under More → Advanced → IPv4 (the custom DNS fields sit on that IPv4 page), which is a different product line from this guide.)

Encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT)

Be honest with your expectations here: TP-Link’s stock Archer firmware handles plain DNS only. There is no built-in DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT) toggle to encrypt your lookups at the router — the Primary/Secondary DNS fields send unencrypted queries. Do not go looking for an “encrypted DNS” menu on a stock Archer; it isn’t there, and no legitimate guide can point you to one.

Faster plain DNS at the router is still worthwhile, but if you want the queries encrypted, do it per device instead. Generate the exact settings for your phones and computers with our encrypted DNS setup tool, which gives you the DoH/DoT endpoint to paste into each device’s private-DNS setting. (Router-level encryption is realistically only an option if you replace the firmware with something like OpenWrt, which is beyond a normal setup.)

Verify it worked

On a device connected to the TP-Link network, check which DNS server it actually received. On Windows:

ipconfig /all

On macOS or Linux:

scutil --dns

resolvectl status

Look for the address you entered on the DHCP Server page — that confirms devices are inheriting your resolver from the router rather than an old per-device setting. Then reload this site and run the DNS speed test again from a couple of devices; your new resolver should appear as the one in use, and ideally the fastest.

Troubleshooting

• Devices still show the old DNS after saving. DHCP DNS only applies to new leases. Reboot the device, or turn Wi-Fi off and back on, to force it to request a fresh lease from the router.
• The DHCP Server DNS won’t stick / shows 0.0.0.0. That value is TP-Link’s “hand out the router’s own DNS” default. Type the actual addresses (1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1) over it and save again.
• You changed the Internet/WAN DNS but nothing improved for devices. WAN DNS only affects the router itself. Set the DNS on the DHCP Server page so it reaches your devices.
• A single device ignores the router’s DNS. That device likely has its own manual DNS configured — a per-device setting always overrides what the router hands out. Clear it in that device’s network settings.
• Some sites won’t load after the change. Revert to automatic DNS and retry with a different resolver from the public DNS servers page. Site breakage is rarely a DNS-specific problem.
• The admin page won’t open. Make sure you’re on this router’s Wi-Fi (not a guest network or a neighbor’s), and confirm the address on the router’s label.

Revert to your old settings

Go back to Advanced → Network → DHCP Server and clear the Primary/Secondary DNS fields (setting them back to 0.0.0.0, or to your ISP’s addresses if you prefer), then Save. If you also changed the Network → Internet page, switch its DNS option back to “Get dynamically from the ISP.” Reboot the router if it prompts you, and reconnect your devices so they pick up a fresh lease. Any device with its own manual DNS keeps using that until you revert it separately.