I just got a new Wi-Fi 6 router to replace my aging setup, hoping for smoother streaming on my smart TV and laptop. At first, things seemed great, but now I’m noticing random lag spikes during Netflix and YouTube, especially in the evenings when my roommate is gaming. I tried rebooting the router, switching streaming devices to 5GHz, and even updating the firmware. No dice. I’ve read that DNS settings can sometimes cause weird delays. Right now, I’m using the router’s default DNS, but I haven’t tried switching to something like Google or Cloudflare DNS yet. Also wondering if QoS settings could help prioritize streaming traffic? Has anyone experienced similar lag with a new router that looked fine at first? How do you figure out if it’s DNS, QoS, or something else? Would switching DNS servers be my best next step, or is there another angle I’m missing?

On 01/23/2026 at 4:35 AM, ChuckleNoodle said:

I just got a new Wi-Fi 6 router to replace my aging setup, hoping for smoother streaming on my smart TV and laptop. At first, things seemed great, but now I’m noticing random lag spikes during Netflix and YouTube, especially in the evenings when my roommate is gaming. I tried rebooting the router, switching streaming devices to 5GHz, and even updating the firmware. No dice. I’ve read that DNS settings can sometimes cause weird delays. Right now, I’m using the router’s default DNS, but I haven’t tried switching to something like Google or Cloudflare DNS yet. Also wondering if QoS settings could help prioritize streaming traffic? Has anyone experienced similar lag with a new router that looked fine at first? How do you figure out if it’s DNS, QoS, or something else? Would switching DNS servers be my best next step, or is there another angle I’m missing?

Sounds like you’re on the right track with checking DNS and QoS. Switching to a public DNS like Google (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) can sometimes help with those random delays, especially if your ISP’s DNS is slow or unreliable during peak hours. It’s a quick test that won’t hurt to try.

Also, QoS can definitely make a difference if your roommate’s gaming traffic is hogging bandwidth. Prioritizing streaming devices in the QoS settings could smooth out those lag spikes. Just keep in mind that some routers have better QoS implementations than others, so it might take a bit of tweaking.

If you’ve ruled out firmware and frequency bands, another angle could be interference or channel congestion in your area. Running a Wi-Fi analyzer app to see if your channel is crowded might help you pick a less busy one. Sometimes the “new router” honeymoon phase just