When I change DNS records on domains registered through DirectNIC.com, the updates propagate pretty quickly. My friends and I can see the change through our ISPs in a day or two at most.

When I change DNS records on domains registered through Stargateinc.com, it seems to take forever compared to DirectNIC.

I've always thought that once you made a DNS change in the registrar's control panel, the rate at which the change propagates is the same regardless of which registrar you're with. But I guess not?

In theory, it should be the same, but in practice, it is often different. This isn't because one registrar is better than the other. Rather, the propagation for each registrar follows a different path.

This idea is valid at both ends of the wire. I've had some of my sites available from my office computer, while my home computer wasn't able to access the sites for another full day - and the opposite. My office and home Internet accounts are with different ISPs, so while the DNS propagated to one, the other ISP still hadn't been updated.

As far as registrars goes, I haven't noticed any significant differences between the various registrars that I use (register.com, directNIC, enom, namecheap, stargate). To be honest though, I didn't really try to make any comparisons.

My pet wish is for a registrar that will give me instant dns propagation.

Originally posted by queensoul
My pet wish is for a registrar that will give me instant dns propagation. Sorry, but it's impossible. It isn't something that the registrar can give. Rather it's a function of the network. Information about a domain found on a DNS server times out after a while, forcing the DNS server to go searching for the latest information. Until it times out, the old DNS information remains the current DNS information.

Life ain't fair. First we have to suffer with DNS propagation, and then we die.