Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

Domain Name Service (DNS) (*)

I have NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS and www.example.com works but example.com does not. Why?

Why are my active and authoritative name servers different?

How should I configure my third-party DNS to point to my site?

What name servers should I use with my domain?

How do I add NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS for a new domain name to my existing website?

I already have NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS for www.example.com. Will it cost more to add another.example.com (or example.com)?

I have NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS set up. How do I add a new site using a subdomain?

How do I use a domain I registered elsewhere with NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS?

This is generally very straightforward.

(In order for this to work, you must first have set up NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS for your domain name. If that is not already done, start with this FAQ entry and then return here.)

  1. Go to the Domains tab.
  2. Click "Manage" in the "DNS" column for your domain name.
  3. On the DNS information page, find the "Name Servers" box and copy down the information. (Two server names like ns.xxx0.nearlyfreespeech.net.)
  4. Go to your domain registrar's site and find the option to change name servers.
  5. Replace whatever name server information they currently have with the information you found in the "Name Servers" box.

Since each registrar has a slightly different way of editing name servers, you would need to contact them for specific help with using their system.

Once these steps are complete, you may have to wait awhile for the change to take effect. Changes in most top-level domains take less than 24 hours, and the major ones (.com, .net, and .org) seem to be taking effect often within a few minutes.

If your domain registrar provides DNS service, you can also use that, although it is not recommended. Please see this FAQ entry for more information.

How do I configure NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS to work with my third-party email service?

What are the 3 IP addresses listed for my site used for? Are they name servers?

What is the "SPF Email Protection" option for DNS?

How do I add / remove DNS records for my domain?

How do I change the name servers for a domain registered with NearlyFreeSpeech.NET?

I have a NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS domain already. If I add a second, different NearlyFreeSpeech.NET DNS domain can I safely assume that it will use the same name servers as my existing domain?

Do you support wildcard DNS?

Can I get secondary DNS in another location?

How come I can't remove that DNS record?