Tech

Telstra Internet Outage cripples connectivity: Fix it yourself with DNS changes

There couldn’t be a worse time for Telstra’s home internet services to go down with millions of Victorians in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreaks we’ve never been more reliant on the internet.

Hundreds of reports on Social Media triggered by the outage led Telstra to respond saying they are aware of the problem:

The problem is related to Telstra’s DNS servers, the computers that help route your requests for content and ensure the message gets through.

When you type EFTM.com into a browser, your DNS servers see that, and work out that you want to go to 172.67.72.185 – but advertising those numbers wouldn’t be the easiest thing for us now would it?

So without DNS, your requests for all websites, your streaming apps on your TV and pretty much every part of your home internet simply won’t work.

Fortunately the outage appears limited to Telstra’s home broadband network, including their NBN connections, but not any Telstra Mobile services.

There’s no estimate as to when it will be restored, in the meantime, many users have reported success with updating their DNS servers locally on their home network, to bypass Telstra’s faulty servers.

UPDATE: Telstra has identified the issue as a cyber attack or Denial of Service on their DNS servers, a spokesperson telling EFTM “We’ve identified a cyber security attack which is seeking to attack some of our services.

We’re blocking that malicious traffic and, as a consequence, that’s having an impact on nbn services.

When we’re comfortable that we’ve blocked all of the malicious traffic, we’ll get services back up and running.

It’s important to note no customer information is at risk.”

Open and free DNS is available from DNS and other providers, EFTM’s recommendation is to use the Cloudflare DNS servers, ranked among the fastest online.

The Primary DNS is 1.1.1.1 and the Secondary DNS is 1.0.0.1.

You can change these in your router/modem if you know how to access the router admin page, or you can make this change manually within your device itself.

This is a great guide to making those DNS changes on various devices.

Recent Posts

  • Tech

2026 will be the battle of “RGB” in TV technology – what. the. heck. is. that?

If you're still catching up on Quantum Dots, OLED, Mini LED and are thinking that…

4 hours ago
  • Tech

NBN gets set for the final roll out of Fibre upgrades to another 600,000 homes

The NBN is getting ready to lock in the final stage of the Fibre to…

10 hours ago
  • Motoring

The stunning new BMW iX3 is a vision for the future realised as Neue Klasse comes to market

BMW has revealed the first new model to be designed and engineered under their 2025…

13 hours ago
  • Tech

Best in Smart Home – The SwannBuddy 4K Video Doorbell with AI wins at the IFA Innovation Awards

The SwannBuddy4K Video Doorbell with SwannShield™AI Voice Assistant has been given an Honouree accolade for…

20 hours ago
  • Tech

360 degree security camera coverage and smart AI capabilities come to Reolink security lineup at IFA 2025

Reolink is a bit of an upstart when it comes to home security but having…

23 hours ago
  • Lifestyle

LG unveil its AI plans for your home appliances at IFA 2025

LG has announced its vision for AI-powered living at IFA 2025 under the moniker “LG…

1 day ago