How to Change DNS Settings on AT&T U-verse

AT&T U-verse uses a residential gateway that, by default, assigns AT&T's own DNS servers to every device on your network. Those servers are not always the fastest, and they have been known to serve AT&T's search redirect pages when a domain fails to resolve instead of returning a clean NXDOMAIN response. Whether you want faster lookups, better privacy, or parental-control filtering, swapping in a third-party DNS resolver like Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), Google (8.8.8.8), or Quad9 (9.9.9.9) takes about five minutes once you know where to look inside the AT&T gateway admin interface.

Understanding the AT&T U-verse Gateway

AT&T U-verse homes typically have one of three residential gateway models: the Motorola NVG510, NVG589, NVG599, or the newer BGW210 and BGW320 (also branded as AT&T Smart Wi-Fi). All of them share the same basic web admin interface, accessible at 192.168.1.254 by default. A small number of older installs used 192.168.1.1, but 192.168.1.254 is far more common on U-verse hardware.

There is one important architectural point you need to understand before changing DNS: the AT&T gateway operates in two distinct modes regarding DNS.

• DHCP DNS assignment — The gateway acts as a DHCP server and tells connected devices to use the gateway itself (192.168.1.254) as their DNS resolver. The gateway then forwards queries upstream to AT&T's DNS servers.
• Direct DNS on the gateway — You can configure which upstream DNS servers the gateway itself uses when forwarding those queries. This is the setting you will change.

Changing the DNS forwarder on the gateway affects every device that uses the gateway for DNS resolution, which is typically your entire home network. If you only want to change DNS for a single device, skip to the per-device section below.

Before You Start

Gather the following before you log in:

1. The admin password printed on the sticker on the side or bottom of your gateway. It is labeled Device Access Code or Admin Password.
2. The DNS server addresses you plan to use. Common choices are listed below.
3. A wired Ethernet connection to the gateway is preferred. Changing DNS over Wi-Fi can briefly interrupt your connection, which could cut off the admin session mid-save.

Popular public DNS resolvers:

• Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
• Google Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• Quad9 (security filtering): 9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112
• OpenDNS Family Shield (parental control): 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123

Step-by-Step: Changing DNS on the AT&T U-verse Gateway

Step 1 — Log into the Gateway Admin Panel

Open a browser on any device connected to your AT&T network and go to:

You will see the AT&T gateway home screen. Click Settings in the top navigation bar, then enter your Device Access Code when prompted. This is the password from the sticker on the unit, not your Wi-Fi password.

If 192.168.1.254 does not load, try 192.168.1.1. If neither loads, run this command to find your default gateway address:

The Default Gateway value is the address to type into your browser.

Step 2 — Navigate to the DNS Settings

The exact menu path depends slightly on firmware version, but on all current U-verse gateways it follows this structure:

1. Click Settings (top menu).
2. Click LAN in the left sidebar.
3. Look for a section called DHCP or LAN IP Address Distribution.
4. You will see fields labeled Primary DNS Server and Secondary DNS Server. These are the values the gateway advertises to your devices via DHCP and the values the gateway itself uses for upstream resolution.

On the BGW210 and BGW320 models, the path is slightly different: Settings > Firewall > IP Passthrough is where passthrough lives, but DNS is still under Settings > LAN > DHCP Settings.

Step 3 — Enter Your New DNS Servers

Clear the existing values in the Primary DNS Server field and type in your preferred DNS IP. Repeat for the Secondary DNS Server. Example using Cloudflare:

Click Save at the bottom of the page. The gateway will apply the change immediately. You do not need to reboot the gateway, but connected devices may continue using the old DNS from their local DHCP lease cache for a few minutes until they renew. To force an immediate update on your computer, run:

Step 4 — Verify the Change Took Effect

After flushing the cache, confirm your device is actually using the new DNS servers by running a quick query and checking the response source:

If the server field shows 192.168.1.254 that is normal — it means your device is asking the gateway, and the gateway is forwarding to 1.1.1.1. To confirm the gateway itself is forwarding correctly, you can query Cloudflare's diagnostic endpoint:

Changing DNS for a Single Device Instead

If you do not want to touch the gateway — perhaps because another household member relies on AT&T's default behavior — you can override DNS on a per-device basis. This is also useful on networks where you do not have admin credentials to the gateway.

Windows 10 and 11

1. Open Settings > Network and Internet > Change adapter options.
2. Right-click your active connection (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and select Properties.
3. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
4. Select Use the following DNS server addresses and enter your preferred DNS values.
5. Repeat for Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) if you use IPv6, substituting IPv6-capable DNS addresses (Cloudflare: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001).
6. Click OK to save.

macOS

1. Open System Settings > Network.
2. Click your active connection, then click Details.
3. Select the DNS tab and click the + button to add DNS server addresses.
4. Remove the existing auto-assigned entry if you want a clean override.
5. Click OK, then Apply.

iOS and Android

On mobile devices, the easiest cross-platform method is to install Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 app or use a private DNS profile. On Android 9 and above, go to Settings > Network and Internet > Private DNS and enter one.one.one.one (for Cloudflare) or dns.google (for Google) as the private DNS hostname. This uses DNS-over-TLS, which is more private than plain UDP DNS.

Troubleshooting Common Problems After Changing DNS

Websites Are Not Loading After the Change

First, check that you did not mistype the DNS IP addresses. A single transposed digit will send all your queries into a black hole. Log back into the gateway admin panel and double-check the values. Then run the nslookup or dig commands above to confirm resolution is working.

If sites that were loading before are now broken, the most common cause is that the new DNS server is filtering content you did not expect. Quad9 blocks known malware domains, and OpenDNS Family Shield blocks adult content. Switch to 1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8 if filtering is not what you want.

The DNS Setting Reverts After a Router Reboot

Some older U-verse firmware versions pull DNS configuration from AT&T's provisioning server during boot and overwrite your custom entries. If this happens, the per-device DNS override approach is your most reliable workaround. Alternatively, check if a firmware update is available — newer BGW210 and BGW320 firmware versions respect manually entered DNS values across reboots.

The Admin Panel Does Not Show DNS Fields

On some U-verse installs, AT&T hides the DNS fields if the gateway is in IP Passthrough mode (essentially DMZ mode) or if a downstream router is handling DHCP. In that case, you need to set DNS on the downstream router, not on the AT&T gateway itself. Log into the downstream router (common addresses: 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, or vendor-specific portals like tplinkwifi.net, routerlogin.net, or asusrouter.com) and change DNS there.

Slow DNS Lookups After Switching

Public DNS servers like 8.8.8.8 are globally anycast, but your queries still travel over AT&T's network to reach them. If latency is high, test multiple providers using the DNS Lookup tool to compare response times, or run a local benchmark:

Pick the server with consistently the lowest query time from your location.

How to Prevent DNS Issues on AT&T U-verse Going Forward

Document the DNS values you set. Sounds obvious, but after a factory reset or a technician visit where the gateway gets replaced, all custom settings are wiped. Keep a note of your preferred DNS servers so you can reconfigure quickly.

Set both a primary and a secondary DNS server. If the primary is unreachable for any reason — planned maintenance, a brief outage, or a routing issue between AT&T and the DNS provider — the secondary handles queries automatically. Never leave the secondary field blank.

If you are changing DNS specifically for security reasons, consider pairing Quad9's DNS filtering (9.9.9.9) with DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT) on supported devices. Plain UDP DNS queries are visible to anyone on the path between your gateway and the resolver. DoH and DoT encrypt those queries in transit.

Finally, if AT&T ever replaces your gateway under a service call or during a speed upgrade, the new unit will have the default AT&T DNS settings again. Put a small sticky note on the gateway reminding yourself to re-enter the custom DNS values, or keep the settings in your home network documentation.

Summary

Changing DNS on an AT&T U-verse gateway is a straightforward process: log into http://192.168.1.254, navigate to Settings > LAN > DHCP, replace the Primary and Secondary DNS Server fields with your preferred resolver addresses, and save. Flush your DNS cache on connected devices, then verify with nslookup or dig. If the gateway does not expose the DNS fields, or if you only want to change DNS for specific devices, configure it at the operating system or device level instead. Either approach will get you off AT&T's default resolvers and onto a faster, more private DNS service within minutes.