Pointing your domain at Fast Hive is what connects the name people type to the server holding your website. There are two ways to do it: change the nameservers, which hands all DNS management to Fast Hive, or change individual DNS records, which keeps DNS where it is. This guide explains which to choose, how to do each one, and how to tell when the change has taken effect.
ns1.fasthive.com
ns2.fasthive.comWhich method should you use?
| Change nameservers | Change A record only | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Most customers. Website and email both hosted with us. | Keeping email or other services with a third party. |
| Where you manage DNS | In cPanel, on Fast Hive. | Wherever it is now. |
| Effort | One change, everything follows. | You maintain each record yourself. |
| Risk of breaking email | Higher if your mail is elsewhere and MX records are not recreated first. | Very low. Nothing else moves. |
Method 1 - Change the nameservers
If the domain is registered with Fast Hive
- Sign in at my.fasthive.com.
- Go to Domains → My Domains.
- Click the domain, then Nameservers in the left-hand menu.
- Select Use default nameservers, or choose Use custom nameservers and enter:
Nameserver 1: ns1.fasthive.com Nameserver 2: ns2.fasthive.com - Click Change Nameservers.
If the domain is registered elsewhere
- Log in to your current registrar's control panel.
- Find the domain's Nameservers, DNS or Name Server Settings section. The label varies by registrar.
- Choose the custom or third-party nameserver option.
- Remove the existing nameservers and enter
ns1.fasthive.comandns2.fasthive.com. Leaving old ones in place causes intermittent, hard-to-diagnose failures. - Save.
Method 2 - Point an A record instead
Use this to move only the website while leaving email and everything else untouched.
- Find your server's IP address: in the client area open your hosting service, or check the Shared IP Address shown in the right-hand panel of cPanel's home screen.
- In your current DNS provider's control panel, edit the DNS zone for the domain.
- Set the root record:
Type: A Name: @ Value: your.server.ip.address TTL: 3600 - Point the
wwwsubdomain at the same place:Type: CNAME Name: www Value: yourdomain.com TTL: 3600 - Save. Leave MX and TXT records exactly as they are.
Verifying the change
DNS does not update instantly. Registrars publish nameserver changes within a few hours, and resolvers around the world pick them up as their cached copies expire - usually within a few hours, occasionally up to 48.
To check from your own machine:
# Which nameservers is the domain using?
nslookup -type=NS yourdomain.com 8.8.8.8
# Where does the domain resolve to?
nslookup yourdomain.com 8.8.8.8Querying 8.8.8.8 asks a public resolver rather than your own ISP's cache, so you see the change sooner. Online "DNS propagation checker" tools show the same thing from several countries at once.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Still showing the old site after 48 hours | Confirm the nameserver change actually saved at the registrar, then flush your local DNS cache: ipconfig /flushdns on Windows, sudo dscacheutil -flushcache on macOS. |
| Email stopped after switching nameservers | The MX records did not come with you. Add your mail provider's MX and SPF records in cPanel → Zone Editor, and set Email Routing to Remote Mail Exchanger. |
Site loads on www but not the bare domain (or vice versa) |
One of the two records is missing. You need both an A record for @ and a CNAME for www. |
| Registrar rejects the nameservers | Usually a typo, or the domain is locked. Check for a trailing space and confirm the domain is not in a registrar-lock state that blocks edits. |
| Browser warns the certificate does not match | Normal immediately after pointing a domain. The free SSL certificate is issued once DNS resolves to us; allow a short while and reload. |
| Works for some people, not others | Mid-propagation, which is expected. It resolves itself as caches expire. |
| Domain shows a registrar parking page | The nameserver change was not saved, or a parking or forwarding service is overriding it. Disable forwarding at the registrar. |
Frequently asked questions
Will my website go offline while DNS propagates?
Not if you upload your site to Fast Hive before changing DNS. Visitors are then served either the old copy or the new one, and both work. Never point the domain at an empty account.
Do I have to transfer the domain to Fast Hive to host here?
No. Registration and hosting are independent. You can keep the domain at any registrar and simply point it at us.
How long does propagation really take?
Most people see the change within a few hours. The commonly quoted 48 hours is the worst case, driven by resolvers holding a long-lived cached copy.
Can I test the site before switching DNS?
Yes. Log in to cPanel through the client area and use the temporary URL, or edit your local hosts file to map the domain to your Fast Hive IP for your machine only.
What if I use Cloudflare?
Keep your Cloudflare nameservers and change the A record inside Cloudflare to your Fast Hive IP instead. Do not point the domain at both.
