What does this mean? “This network is blocking encrypted DNS traffic”

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me with a question I have. It’s about the privacy warning with my wifi. Mine says that it is blocking encrypted DNS traffic. What does that entail? The weird thing is I’ve noticed my wifi has been weird lately. Do you think it has anything to do with this? Thank you.

Thank you for answering. To my knowledge none of the members of are shared plan set the encrypted DNS up. It took me off guard because I’ve never been given this warning before. Is there a way to get rid of it?

Those are two different subjects. The privacy warning simply means that your router “sees” your real Wi-Fi address; that’s not a problem if the router is yours. That feature is to hide your identity when using public networks. You can ignore it, or go to Settings/Wi-Fi, tap on the i next to the network name, and turn on Private Wi-Fi address to make the message go away.

By default an iPhone does not use encrypted DNS; you (or someone) must have set it up to use encrypted DNS, or you installed a VPN app. Encrypted DNS is a new service that doesn’t have an accepted standard yet, and many networks won’t support it. The easiest solution is to delete your VPN app and VPN profile; you don’t really need VPN unless you have to access a private business or school network, or you live in a country with a repressive government.

Go to Settings/[your name]/iCloud; is Private Relay turned on? If it is, you can turn it off and it will remove that message. However, that means that the warning in your screen shot will be true all the time, as it is for most of the rest of the world.

You can also go to Settings/Wi-Fi and tap on the i next to your Wi-Fi network name. Look at Configure DNS, and if it isn’t set to Automatic make it Automatic.

One more question; have you recently replaced your router?

I’ve started a private discussion with other support volunteers, and we’re looking for any commonality, as your post is not the first we’ve seen about this message.

It means 2 things:

• You have chosen encrypted DNS servers in your settings, possibly by using a VPN connection
• Your ISP doesn’t allow use of encrypted DNS.