Hello world.
I'm living in Greece now, and recently have been an increase in regulations regarding "piracy" websites and a big list have been blocked by the ISPs, one of those sites was opensubtitles.org! Yeah, god knows why... a website that provides subtitles... whatever.
If you running Plex or any media server, that uses opensubtitles API or any other, to get subtitles for your media, you may run in trouble, but fortunately, there is an easy solution, you just need to change the DNS of the machine you are running the Plex Media Server or your own laptop/pc that uses this services to get subtitles. By default, your machine is probably running the Internet Provider DNS to resolve domains, when you try to open a website that is "blocked" by some random legislation the Internet Provider sends you to a random page, saying no no, this page is not for you. But we can change that...
How do I change the DNS server in Raspberry PI?
To change the DNS server you need to edit one file, something like:
sudo vi /etc/dhcpcd.conf
and add something like this to the bottom of the file and save the file:
static domain_name_servers=1.1.1.1
This DNS server is from Cloudflare, and probably the fastest one that you can find, depending on where you live. You can use others, check the bottom page for a list of other DNS. Now you need to restart your machine or the DNS service, with something like:
sudo service dhcpcd restart
How can I change the DNS server in macOS?
- open System Preferences-> Network
- choose your active Connection ex. "Wi-Fi"
- Advanced... -> DNS Tab
- add new + -> 1.1.1.1 -> Ok &Apply
Now that you changed your DNS you shouldn't have problems accessing "blocked" websites.
WiFi Splash page or captive portal doesn't work if you change your DNS.
ATTENTION: If you go to public cafes or hotels and try to connect to the wifi network and is open & protected by some sort of splash page, you wouldn't be able to login/access the internet, you need to delete your DNS record to be able to access the login page. In these cases, you would be better at using a VPN to unblock specific restrictions and for privacy reasons, connection to an open WiFi is never a good option.
What other DNS servers are available?
There are many open DNS servers that you can use, but you would be better off using some from "reliable" sources, here is a list of some you may want to use:
Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
Google: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
Quad9: 9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112
They also have IPv6 public DNS servers:
Cloudflare: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
Google: 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844
OpenDNS: 2620:119:35::35 and 2620:119:53::53
Quad9: 2620:fe::fe and 2620:fe::9
Safe browsing.
peace out