DNS Propagation Checker: Global DNS Lookup

A real lookup, start to finish

Here is an actual query this tool ran against epochcalc.com for its A records, captured on 2026-09-05 00:45:46 UTC. Nothing below is illustrative: it is one real answer from each of 14 public resolvers, recorded at build time so you can see what the tool produces before running one yourself.

Resolver Location Status DNSSEC Latency Answer
Cloudflare global ok not validated 23 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
Quad9 switzerland ok not validated 69 ms 104.21.21.46, 172.67.196.103
OpenDNS usa ok not validated 69 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
Google usa ok not validated 84 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
CleanBrowsing usa ok not validated 176 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
NextDNS usa ok not validated 181 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
ControlD canada ok not validated 209 ms 104.21.21.46, 172.67.196.103
Hurricane Electric global ok not validated 249 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
AdGuard cyprus ok not validated 310 ms 104.21.21.46, 172.67.196.103
DNSPod china ok not validated 384 ms 104.21.21.46, 172.67.196.103
Mullvad sweden ok not validated 544 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
AliDNS china ok not validated 954 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
DNS4EU eu ok not validated 1254 ms 172.67.196.103, 104.21.21.46
Yandex russia ok not validated 1607 ms 104.21.21.46, 172.67.196.103

What to notice

All 14 resolvers returned the same 2 addresses. That is what a fully propagated record looks like: no disagreement anywhere in the set. When you change a record, this is the state you are waiting to reach — and the reason to check more than one resolver is that the disagreement, while it lasts, is invisible from any single one.

The addresses come back in different orders. Look at the answer column: the same 2 addresses appear, but not always in the same sequence. That is DNS round-robin — authoritative servers rotate the order to spread load across them. It reads like a mismatch and is not one. A comparison tool that sorted the answers before displaying them would hide this; we do not.

The fastest and slowest answers were 23 ms and 1607 ms — Cloudflare and Yandex respectively. Both are correct; speed and correctness are separate questions, and the slow one here is mostly just distant from our sampling point. Treat this as one query rather than a verdict: it is a single sample, where the resolver speed report tracks the same resolvers over months.

Run the same query yourself with the form above, or read what each record type means.

What is DNS propagation?

DNS propagation is the time it takes for a DNS record change to become visible to resolvers around the world. Every recursive resolver caches records for the duration of the record's TTL (time to live). Until each cache expires, resolvers keep returning the old answer: which is why a freshly-updated record can be live at one resolver and stale at another for minutes, hours, or even days.

WhereIsDNS queries 14 public DNS resolvers in parallel and shows you exactly which ones see the new record and which still have the old one cached. It's the fastest way to confirm a domain change has gone global.

Resolvers we check

Every lookup hits all 14 of these public DNS resolvers simultaneously over DNS-over-HTTPS:

OperatorNominal location
Cloudflare (1.1.1.1)Global anycast
Google (8.8.8.8)USA
Quad9Switzerland
OpenDNSUSA
AdGuard DNSCyprus
NextDNSUSA
Yandex DNSRussia
AliDNSChina
DNSPodChina
CleanBrowsingUSA
Mullvad DNSSweden
ControlDCanada
Hurricane ElectricGlobal anycast
DNS4EUEU (anycast)

Supported record types

WhereIsDNS supports the most common DNS record types: A (IPv4), AAAA (IPv6), CNAME (alias), MX (mail servers), NS (nameservers), TXT (text records, including SPF and DMARC), SOA (start of authority), CAA (certificate authority authorization), and PTR (reverse DNS).

Frequently asked questions

How long does DNS propagation take?

Most propagation completes within minutes to a few hours. The upper bound is the record's TTL: commonly 300 seconds (5 minutes) to 86400 seconds (24 hours). Some ISP resolvers ignore short TTLs and cache for longer, which is why a small number of resolvers can lag for a day or more after a change.

Why do different DNS resolvers show different results?

Each resolver caches independently. When you change a DNS record, resolvers that already had the old record cached keep serving it until their TTL expires. Resolvers that had no cached entry fetch the new record immediately. Geo-aware DNS (GeoDNS) can also legitimately return different answers to resolvers in different regions: that's by design, not a propagation problem.

What is a TTL in DNS?

TTL (time to live) is the number of seconds a resolver is allowed to cache a DNS record before re-fetching it from the authoritative nameserver. Lower TTLs mean faster propagation but more queries against your nameservers; higher TTLs mean slower propagation but better performance and lower load. A common pattern is to lower the TTL to 300 seconds 24 hours before a planned change, then raise it back afterward.

What does NXDOMAIN mean?

NXDOMAIN ("non-existent domain") is the DNS response code that says the queried name does not exist. If WhereIsDNS shows NXDOMAIN across most resolvers, either the domain is not registered, the record type you searched for doesn't exist on that name, or you're checking a subdomain that hasn't been published.

How do I speed up DNS propagation?

You can't force someone else's resolver to drop its cache, but you can shorten the window before a change by lowering the record's TTL well in advance. End users can flush their local DNS cache (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows, sudo dscacheutil -flushcache on macOS) but that only clears their own machine.

Is WhereIsDNS free?

Yes. No signup, no rate limits for normal use. Supported by AdSense.

How WhereIsDNS works

A request from your browser hits a Cloudflare Worker, which fans out 14 DNS-over-HTTPS queries: one to each public resolver: in parallel. Each resolver's answer is streamed back to your browser via Server-Sent Events the moment it arrives, so the slowest resolver doesn't hold up the rest. Total round trip is typically 200–500 ms.

Caveat on geography: the location labels reflect each resolver operator's nominal jurisdiction, not a multi-vantage probe: the query itself originates from the Cloudflare edge nearest the user. For most propagation troubleshooting this is enough; if you need physical-location vantage points, look for a tool that runs probes from rented servers in different cities.

Common DNS problems

If you arrived because something changed and still looks wrong, start with the failure pattern instead of the record type.

All record-type lookups

WhereIsDNS has dedicated pages for each common DNS record type. Each one defaults the tool to that record type and includes background on what the record means and what to look for.