FAQs
What is DNS?
DNS is essentially the phone book of the internet. It’s how names such as leaptel.com.au are converted into a numerical IP address, making it easy for users to find what they’re looking for on the internet.
Why should I use Leaptel DNS servers instead of third-party servers?
Using Leaptel DNS servers rather than third-party DNS servers will provide you with a DNS experience that is optimised for your internet service location and will provide you with consistently fast DNS responses.
Our DNS servers are state based, located in VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, and WA. When you use our dynamically assigned DNS servers, we set your primary DNS to be the server local to you, and the secondary to be the server one state over. This ensures you get assigned the DNS servers that are closest to you.
How does my choice of DNS server impact my internet use?
A common example comes from accessing major websites or apps that are part of large Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
Let’s say that you are accessing youtube.com. Your computer talks to your local DNS server (let’s assume Leaptel). Leaptel then sends a query to Youtube’s DNS server. Eventually, Youtube’s server responds, based on its internal mechanisms, with the IP address it determines is the best for Youtube.
What we have seen is Youtube may use the source IP (which in this case is Leaptel’s DNS server) to determine the closest youtube.com server. Based on Youtube’s algorithm, it should hopefully return the ideal cache for you. If you use a third party, Youtube would optimise the response based on connectivity of that third-party DNS server which may be far from your location. For example, we have seen with a third-party DNS that Youtube would return a Singapore IP address, adding delay to your web request.
Should I statically assign DNS servers?
We generally recommend that you don’t statically assign DNS servers. When your router attempts to make a connection, we provide the best servers during the authentication process, resulting in faster browsing and increased online security.
At Leaptel, we sometimes update our DNS server information. Because of this, if you statically assign DNS servers on your devices, you may receive incorrect information from CDNs that aren’t optimised for them.
What are Leaptel’s DNS server addresses?
| State | IPv4 | IPv6 |
| SA | 45.249.116.52 | 2400:a848::20 |
| VIC | 103.51.112.20 | 2402:2c80::20 |
| QLD | 103.95.114.115 | 2400:a846::20 |
| WA | 103.106.88.20 | 2400:a840::20 |
| NSW | 103.85.36.20 | 2400:a844::20 |
Which Leaptel DNS servers will I be dynamically assigned?
Currently we assign DNS servers based on your internet service location as shown below:
| Your location | Primary server | Secondary server |
| ACT | NSW | VIC |
| NSW | NSW | VIC |
| NT | SA | VIC |
| SA | SA | VIC |
| TAS | VIC | NSW |
| QLD | QLD | NSW |
| VIC | VIC | NSW |
| WA | WA | NSW |
What is a DNS Security Extension and does Leaptel support it?
DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is a group of security protocols that add encrypted digital signatures to internet data, protecting users from unsafe data by verifying its authenticity.
Our DNS servers are set up to verify the DNSSEC values and return the response. We don’t filter out invalid responses at this stage, but we do return to you if it is valid, so you can make the choice if you wish to use that response or not.