I use SteamOS in Desktop Mode with KDE and, for some time now, certain websites . Reddit and YouTube in particular . had been strangely slow to load.

My connection speed is excellent, though: with fiber, I usually download at between 50 and 70 MB/s, with a similar upload speed. So I’ve always wondered why some pages weren’t able to appear within half a second.

I tended to assume that it was caused by Firefox’s cache, or simply by the time the browser needed to load every element on the page. I also wondered whether extensions such as uBlock Origin, Librezam, Tik Not, Chrome Mask, or YouTube Transcript Copier might be responsible, since they can sometimes make quite a lot of requests on certain websites.

On Reddit, for example, I would often stick to Librezam and uBlock Origin, since the website tends to start treating you like a bot after a while.

But here’s the thing: after changing the DNS in KDE, the difference was insane. I typed “Reddit” and, half a second later, boom, the website was displayed. The same thing happened with YouTube. After seeing how much of a difference it made, I ended up adding the DNS-over-HTTPS address directly to Firefox’s settings.

Basically, I replaced Cloudflare’s DNS (1.1.1.1) with Quad9’s unfiltered DNS (9.9.9.10), which seems to have greatly improved things for me.

Here’s what I did.

In KDE

1. Open System Settings → Connections.
2. Select your connection, then open the IPv4 tab.
3. Choose Automatic (Only addresses) as the method.
4. Enter this DNS server:9.9.9.10
5. Open the IPv6 tab and disable IPv6.
6. Save the changes, then disconnect and reconnect.

Quad9 also provides 149.112.112.10 as a secondary unfiltered DNS server. In the end, however, I only entered 9.9.9.10, and I haven’t tried using 149.112.112.10.

In Firefox

1. Open Settings → Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll down to DNS over HTTPS, then open its advanced settings.
3. Select Custom.
4. Choose a custom provider and enter:https://dns10.quad9.net/dns-query
5. I also enabled the option to warn me if secure DNS is unavailable.

The green confirmation message should then indicate that DNS over HTTPS is using dns10.quad9.net.

A quick explanation of the two Quad9 variants

• 9.9.9.9 is the filtered version. Quad9 can prevent access to domains included in its security lists, such as websites known to distribute malware, fake login pages used to steal credentials, or other domains considered dangerous.
• 9.9.9.10 is the unfiltered version. Quad9 answers the request without blocking the domain based on its security lists. That obviously doesn’t mean the website becomes safe: users still need to remain cautious.
• DNSSEC validation remains enabled on both versions. Put simply, DNSSEC allows Quad9 to verify that the DNS response it receives is authentic and hasn’t been tampered with along the way. It protects against DNS response manipulation, but it doesn’t determine whether the website’s content is trustworthy or dangerous.

I’m not saying this is the ultimate trick that will solve every loading problem. But lately, some pages were taking so long to load . sometimes feeling as though they were endlessly loading nothing . that it was seriously starting to drive me insane.

At the same time, websites faking slow loading to push Chromium-based browsers… we see you.

This could potentially have coincided with an update, but I don’t think that explains it. Whenever I start my Steam Machine, I almost always update my Flatpak applications.

I’ve also forced it to boot permanently into KDE Desktop Mode with this command:

steamos-session-select plasma-wayland-persistent 

I almost never use Gaming Mode and only use Big Picture occasionally, even though I know the experience is much more streamlined in Gaming Mode.

Either way, having a good DNS is still worthwhile, even though it obviously doesn’t replace a VPN.

So, could different DNS providers be starting to put Firefox at a disadvantage? If that’s the case, it would really piss me off. We already have Chromium, with Google calling the shots and its Manifest V2, V3… Can’t wait for V4, by the way!

Users of Chromium-based browsers may eventually realize that they’re trapped inside a golden cage called Chromium. Google is responsible for most of its code, and getting rid of advertising is clearly not part of its plans.

When Manifest V4 arrives, Google will probably tighten the screws on ad blockers in Chromium even further. By then, we’ll probably end up with uBlock Origin Light Light… The regular Light version is already a load of… xD

Basically, it’s already annoying enough as it is. The last thing we need is for DNS providers to get involved too, and to some extent, that has already happened with OpenDNS, which had given up on certain torrent websites in Europe.

Anyway, I just wanted to share what I discovered. Maybe it’s a placebo effect, a SteamOS update, or a quiet Firefox update, but for me, right now, it’s great.

This definitely deserves a bug report, or perhaps some internal testing. But to do it properly, someone would need to investigate it a little further… So, if anyone is motivated… I’m feeling a bit lazy.

Oh, and here’s a subreddit I quite like: r/degoogle.
Oh, and also: I tagged the post as “Discussion” rather than “Solved” because it might just be a placebo effect.