How to Change DNS on a TELUS WiFi Hub

Changing DNS on a TELUS WiFi Hub is straightforward once you know which model you have — but TELUS ships at least four different hardware platforms under the same marketing name, each with its own admin URL and menu path. Get that wrong and you will be clicking through menus on the wrong screen for twenty minutes. This guide covers every current model with the exact steps, the right admin address, CLI verification commands, and a 2026-specific section on IPv6 DNS that almost every other guide skips entirely.

Why Change DNS on Your TELUS WiFi Hub

TELUS assigns its own recursive DNS resolvers to every residential and business gateway by default. Those resolvers work adequately most of the time, but there are concrete reasons to replace them:

• Speed: Third-party resolvers like Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and Google (8.8.8.8) consistently benchmark faster than ISP resolvers for users in Metro Vancouver and other BC cities. DNS latency affects how fast sites feel on first visit, before any caching kicks in.
• Privacy: TELUS's resolvers log queries and may use them for analytics or comply with CRTC data-retention requirements. Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 maintains a no-logging commitment that has been independently audited by KPMG.
• Content filtering: Cloudflare for Families (1.1.1.3 primary, 1.0.0.3 secondary) blocks malware and adult content across every device on your network without installing software on any individual machine.
• Redundancy: TELUS DNS outages do happen. When they do, your entire household loses DNS resolution even though the fiber link itself is perfectly healthy. A secondary resolver from a different provider adds a meaningful fallback.
• Business needs: Some SMBs need a specific forwarder for internal hostnames, or want to run their own resolver on a local server. TELUS defaults block this without a manual override.

Which TELUS WiFi Hub Model Do You Have

TELUS has deployed at least four distinct hardware platforms under the WiFi Hub name. Identifying yours before you log in saves significant time:

• ActionTec T3200M / T3200: The most widely deployed unit for TELUS PureFibre customers from 2018 to present. White rectangular slab, four gigabit LAN ports, "TELUS" on the front panel. Admin URL: http://192.168.1.1
• Sagemcom FAST 5370e (WiFi Hub+): Larger unit with a glossy curved top and five LAN ports, commonly shipped with gigabit and 2.5G PureFibre tiers. Admin URL: http://192.168.1.254
• Arcadyan CGA4234: Smaller white unit with a vertical orientation, often issued to Optik TV subscribers on older VDSL lines. Admin URL: http://192.168.1.1
• TELUS Smart Hub (LTE / 5G gateway): Fixed wireless unit for rural Alberta and BC with no fiber connection. Admin URL: http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 depending on firmware generation.

Check the label on the bottom of the device for the model number. If you cannot identify it, try 192.168.1.1 first; if the login page does not appear within a few seconds, try 192.168.1.254.

Before You Touch the Admin Panel

Three things to sort out before logging in:

1. Record your current DNS servers. On Windows, open Command Prompt and run nslookup example.com — the "Server:" line shows the resolver currently in use. On macOS or Linux, run dig example.com and check the SERVER line at the bottom of the output. Write this down in case you need to revert.
2. Choose your replacement resolvers. For pure speed in BC, Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 primary, 1.0.0.1 secondary) is the strongest default. For compatibility with corporate VPNs and split-horizon setups, Google (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) has broader tolerance. For family filtering, use Cloudflare for Families (1.1.1.3 / 1.0.0.3). Always configure both a primary and secondary — using only one resolver is a single point of failure.
3. Admin credentials. Default credentials are printed on the device label. ActionTec T3200M units typically use admin / admin or the device's WPA2 key as the password. Sagemcom units shipped after 2022 often have a unique admin password on the label rather than the generic default. If you have changed the password and forgotten it, the only recovery is a factory reset — which also wipes your Wi-Fi password and any other custom settings.

Changing DNS on the ActionTec T3200M

The T3200M is the unit most TELUS PureFibre customers have. TELUS's custom firmware buries the WAN DNS settings in a location that is easy to miss on first visit.

1. Connect your computer to the TELUS network. Wired is preferred for admin work — Wi-Fi works but the session can drop mid-save on some firmware versions.
2. Open a browser and go to http://192.168.1.1. Use HTTP, not HTTPS. The T3200M admin interface does not present a valid TLS certificate and HTTPS attempts will fail or produce a certificate warning that confuses the session.
3. Log in with your admin credentials.
4. In the left sidebar, click Advanced Setup.
5. Click WAN. On older firmware versions this is labeled WAN Settings.
6. Scroll down to the DNS Server section. Look for a checkbox labeled Obtain DNS server address automatically.
7. Uncheck that box. Two fields will appear: Primary DNS and Secondary DNS.
8. Enter your resolvers. For Cloudflare: Primary 1.1.1.1, Secondary 1.0.0.1.
9. Click Apply.

Critical second step — the DHCP DNS list: The T3200M maintains a separate DNS configuration that it distributes to client devices via DHCP. If this list still contains TELUS's resolvers, your devices will use those regardless of what you set in the WAN section. Navigate to Advanced Setup → LAN → DHCP Server and update the DNS server fields there as well. Both the WAN DNS and the DHCP DNS entries must match for the change to apply across all devices on your network.

After saving, connected devices will not immediately pick up the new DNS — they continue using their cached DHCP lease, which defaults to a 24-hour renewal cycle on TELUS. To force an immediate update on a specific device: on Windows run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew; on macOS toggle Wi-Fi off and back on; on Linux restart the NetworkManager service.

Changing DNS on the Sagemcom FAST 5370e (WiFi Hub+)

The Sagemcom unit has a cleaner interface than the T3200M, but the DNS setting is still not on the main dashboard:

1. Navigate to http://192.168.1.254.
2. Log in. If you have a post-2022 unit, look for the unique admin password on the device label. Older units default to admin / admin.
3. Click Advanced in the top navigation bar.
4. Select WAN from the left sidebar.
5. Find your active WAN connection — usually labeled INTERNET or PPPoE — and click the pencil icon to edit it.
6. Scroll to DNS Settings. Toggle off Automatic DNS.
7. Enter primary and secondary addresses.
8. Click Save. The unit performs a brief WAN reconnect lasting 5 to 10 seconds — this is normal.

As with the T3200M, also check Advanced → LAN → DHCP. The Sagemcom unit can maintain a separate DHCP-distributed DNS list that takes precedence for local clients. Update it to match your WAN DNS entries.

Changing DNS on the TELUS Smart Hub (LTE and 5G)

Smart Hub firmware varies more across units than the fiber gateways. Use this path:

1. Go to http://192.168.1.1. If no page loads within 10 seconds, try http://192.168.0.1.
2. Log in. Defaults are admin / admin on most units; try telus / telus on pre-2021 firmware if admin/admin fails.
3. Navigate to Settings → Network → WAN. On older firmware the equivalent path is Advanced → DNS.
4. Disable automatic DNS and enter your resolver addresses.
5. Save. The hub drops and re-establishes its LTE or 5G connection — expect 15 to 30 seconds of downtime while it reconnects.

After saving WAN settings, check Settings → Network → DHCP and confirm the DHCP-distributed DNS matches what you set at the WAN level.

Setting DNS Per-Device When You Cannot Access the Router

If the admin panel is inaccessible — locked by TELUS firmware, a rented unit, or a landlord-controlled network — you can override DNS on individual devices. The router continues using TELUS's resolvers for its own lookups, but your specific device bypasses the DHCP-assigned resolver.

Windows 11

Settings → Network and Internet → select your active connection → Hardware properties → DNS server assignment → Edit → Manual. Enter your IPv4 resolver addresses. Windows 11 also supports DNS over HTTPS natively at this screen — selecting On (automatic template) for 1.1.1.1 enables DoH without any additional configuration.

macOS Sonoma and Later

System Settings → Network → click your active connection → Details → DNS tab → click the + button to add resolver IPs. Remove any existing entries you want to replace. Changes take effect immediately without a restart.

Linux (systemd-resolved)

iOS

Settings → Wi-Fi → tap the (i) next to your network name → Configure DNS → Manual → add your resolver IPs. This applies only to the selected network, not system-wide.

Android 9 and Later

Settings → Network and Internet → Private DNS → Private DNS provider hostname. Enter one.one.one.one for Cloudflare or dns.google for Google. This setting uses DNS-over-TLS on port 853 and applies across all networks, completely bypassing your router's DNS assignment regardless of which network you connect to.

Verifying the Change Worked

Never trust the admin panel confirmation alone. Verify at the OS level after reconnecting to the network.

Windows

macOS

Linux

Quick Verification on Any Platform

You can also use the DNS Lookup tool to query a domain from multiple global vantage points simultaneously and confirm resolution is working correctly through your new resolver.

Why Chrome and Firefox May Ignore Your Router DNS

Since 2023, both Chrome and Firefox enable DNS-over-HTTPS by default for Canadian users. This means the browsers send DNS queries directly to a cloud resolver — bypassing your OS settings, your router, and any DHCP-assigned DNS entirely. Changing router DNS has no effect on these browser queries.

• Firefox: Settings → Privacy and Security → scroll to DNS over HTTPS → choose your preferred mode and resolver, or disable it to fall back to the system resolver.
• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Security → Use secure DNS → select your provider or turn the feature off.

This is also why nslookup may correctly show your new resolver while a freshly loaded site still feels identical in speed — the browser's DoH resolver may be a different provider with different cache state and network routing. Set them consistently for a clean result.

2026: IPv6 DNS, Router-Level DoH, and DNSSEC on TELUS

TELUS has deployed full dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 across its PureFibre network. This creates a common and frustrating situation: you correctly set IPv4 DNS to 1.1.1.1, but forget that your device also has an IPv6 DNS server assigned via DHCPv6 or SLAAC. That IPv6 resolver still points to TELUS. Devices that resolve AAAA records via the IPv6 resolver bypass your change entirely, and the behaviour is inconsistent and hard to diagnose.

Check whether an IPv6 DNS server is being assigned to your device:

On the ActionTec T3200M, IPv6 DNS is configured in a completely separate section from IPv4. Navigate to Advanced Setup → IPv6 and update the DNS fields there. Cloudflare's IPv6 resolvers are 2606:4700:4700::1111 (primary) and 2606:4700:4700::1001 (secondary). Google's IPv6 resolvers are 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844. The Sagemcom unit has an equivalent section under Advanced → WAN → IPv6 Settings.

For DNSSEC: TELUS's default resolvers perform DNSSEC validation. Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8 both do as well, so switching resolvers does not reduce your security posture. Confirm that DNSSEC validation is active on your chosen resolver:

For DNS-over-HTTPS at the router level: as of mid-2026, TELUS firmware on the T3200M and Sagemcom units does not natively support DoH or DoT. The only way to get encrypted DNS from all devices simultaneously — without configuring each device individually — is to run a local DoH proxy (such as cloudflared in proxy-dns mode) on a device like a Raspberry Pi, then point the router's DNS setting to that local IP. This is more involved but is the cleanest architecture for privacy-conscious households.

Common Misdiagnoses

These failure modes look identical to "DNS change did not work" but each has a different root cause:

• DHCP lease not renewed. The router now distributes the new DNS addresses to new DHCP clients, but existing devices hold their old lease for up to 24 hours. Force renewal by disconnecting and reconnecting to Wi-Fi, or run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew on Windows.
• Only the WAN DNS was updated, not the DHCP DNS. Both the T3200M and Sagemcom maintain separate DNS fields for WAN-level resolution and DHCP distribution to clients. If you only changed the WAN field, client devices still receive TELUS's addresses via DHCP. Check and update both locations.
• Browser DoH override. Chrome and Firefox use their own DoH resolver regardless of router or OS configuration. The nslookup command may show 1.1.1.1 while the browser is querying a different provider. Match the browser DoH provider to your router's DNS setting for consistent behavior across all tools.
• Mesh system installed in front of the TELUS gateway. If you have an Eero, Google Nest WiFi, or similar mesh system plugged into the TELUS modem, your devices get DNS from the mesh system's internal DHCP, not from the TELUS unit. The mesh forwards queries internally. Change DNS within the mesh system's app rather than in the TELUS admin panel.
• VPN client active. Most VPN clients push their own DNS resolver and routing rules that override router and OS settings for the duration of the connection. Test your DNS after disconnecting the VPN to isolate whether the VPN is the source of the discrepancy.
• Locked or rental Smart Hub firmware. Some TELUS-rented Smart Hubs ship with advanced WAN settings greyed out. If the DNS fields are not editable, configure DNS per-device as described above, or contact TELUS and request the DNS fields be unlocked at the account level.

Preventing the Change from Being Reverted

Several events can silently reset your custom DNS settings back to TELUS defaults without warning:

• Automatic firmware updates: TELUS pushes firmware updates to its gateways, often overnight. These occasionally reset advanced settings to factory defaults. After any unscheduled router reboot, re-check your DNS configuration before assuming the network is behaving correctly.
• Factory reset: Anyone pressing the recessed reset button on the unit wipes all customizations. Document your DNS settings in a password manager entry alongside your Wi-Fi credentials so you can restore them in under two minutes.
• Technician visits: TELUS technicians sometimes perform a factory reset as a first troubleshooting step. Re-apply your DNS settings after any on-site service call and confirm with nslookup before the technician leaves.

According to Cloudflare's DNS reference documentation, a typical device makes thousands of DNS lookups per day. Every one of those queries passes through the resolver you configure here — getting it right once, and knowing how to verify it stayed right, is one of the highest-leverage network changes you can make at no ongoing cost.