Why doesn’t the Netflix application work with SmartDNS?

Have you ever experienced what we wrote about in an article yesterday, that the Netflix application will not work with your SmartDNS provider. Everything has been setup correctly, the SmartDNS is working perfectly, but as you start the Netflix application on your Android phone or some other device, it simply says that you are located somewhere where Netflix is unavailable. What is wrong? Should you complain to your SmartDNS provider?

First of all, you do not need to complain, because it is not their fault. The root of the problem is that Netflix has been smart enough to by default add the Google DNS servers into their Netflix application. This is not really an attack on SmartDNS servers, but rather their help to their users so that they can enjoy high speed DNS servers instead of some of the crappy DNS servers provided by ISPs all around. So, a nice move from Netflix, but not helpful for those who want to enjoy Netflix from abroad using the SmartDNS service provided by for example OverPlay or PureVPN.

This is kind of complicated and there is not much you can do about it. There is not much you can do, but there is one thing you can do, and that is for those who feel quite comfortable configuring a router. Because, you will need to tell your router to block all requests sent towards the DNS servers of Google, and as you block the communication between the Netflix application and the Google DNS servers, the DNS servers provided by you will be used instead, and in that way you will still be able to enjoy Netflix from your Android phone with the Netflix application.

remove Google DNS service on routers
Forwarding Google DNS requests to OverPlay DNS servers

How to get Netflix application to work with SmartDNS?

To get this working you will need to modify the settings on your router. There are way to many routers for us to write the descriptions on how to do so for all of them, but we will you some basics and then you can give it a try and at least write down a few ways in which you can fix this, and thus you can watch Netflix using SmartDNS and Chromecast at the same time, and lots of other cool stuff! Be aware that most SmartDNS providers have dedicated support pages for every single router and how to do this, so check up with those if this does not work.

Before continuing make sure that the router and the SmartDNS is working perfectly with all other stuff. If that is true, then you need to make some small modifications in your router, and if you have a DD-WRT router this is what you need to do:

DD-WRT router: Enter Administration and then press Commands. There you should add the following data:

[stbpro id=”grey”]iptables -I PREROUTING -t nat -p udp -d 8.8.4.4 –dport 53 -j DNAT –to-destination (SMARTDNS SERVER 1)
iptables -I PREROUTING -t nat -p udp -d 8.8.8.8 –dport 53 -j DNAT –to-destination (SMARTDNS SERVER 2)[/stbpro]

Make sure to change the text from SmartDNS server 1 and 2 to the actual IP addresses of the SmartDNS servers you want to use. Save the changes and Apply Changes, and hopefully this should start working at once.

TP-Link router: First write down the IP address of your router, and then move on towards Advanced Routing. There you press Add New and add the following data:

[stbpro id=”grey”]Network/Host IP: 8.8.8.8
Netmask: 255.255.255.255
Gateway: IP address of your router[/stbpro]

With this done you add one more instruction and give the following data:

[stbpro id=”grey”]Network/Host IP: 8.8.4.4.
Netmask: 255.255.255.255
Gateway: IP address of your router[/stbpro]

Make sure to save and restart your rooter (and let it stay turned off for 30 seconds).

These were just two examples of how this can be done on two kinds of routers. But, if you have another router, or maybe these instructions do not work for you, make sure to check up with your SmartDNS provider as they for sure have detailed information available on exactly how this works with their product.

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