Geo-blocking
Restricting access to content based on the country your address appears to be in.
Glossary
Smart DNS
A service that redirects only the DNS lookups used for region detection, without encrypting your traffic.
Why it matters
It is faster than a VPN for streaming because nothing is encrypted or rerouted, and it works on devices that cannot run a VPN client.
What most explanations leave out
It provides no privacy whatsoever. Your traffic goes to the destination directly, over your ordinary connection, fully visible to your ISP. It is a geo-unblocking tool that some providers bundle, and it should never be confused with the VPN itself.
Related terms
VPN detection
Techniques services use to identify and block traffic arriving from known VPN infrastructure.
DNS leak
When name lookups travel to your ISP’s resolver instead of through the tunnel, exposing every domain you visit.
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.