Skip to main content
Submit a request

How to point a domain registered elsewhere to your hosting

Maxim Tsitsejev
Updated

Applies to: All plans.

Before you start: You will need login access to your domain's current registrar (where you bought or manage the domain) and access to your Maxinodes client area at my.maxinodes.com.

You can keep your domain registered wherever it is now and still host your website with Maxinodes. There are two ways to do it. Setting our nameservers is the recommended route. Pointing a single A record is the advanced route for when you must leave the domain's other DNS at your current provider.

Option 1: Set our nameservers (recommended)

This hands all DNS for the domain to Maxinodes, so your website, and any records you add later, are managed in your client area.

  1. Log in to your domain's current registrar (not Maxinodes).
  2. Find the setting for the domain's nameservers — usually under the option labelled Nameservers, DNS, or DNS settings.
  3. Switch from the registrar's default to custom or third-party nameservers.
  4. Replace the existing nameservers with both of ours:
    • ns1.maxinodes.com
    • ns2.maxinodes.com
  5. Save the change.

Result: Once the change propagates (often under an hour, but it can take up to 24–48 hours worldwide), your domain loads your Maxinodes site. From then on you manage all DNS records in your client area for that domain — see How to manage DNS records in your client area.

For a fuller walkthrough, see How to point your domain to Maxinodes (set your nameservers).

Option 2: Point an A record (advanced)

Use this only if you need to keep the domain's DNS at your current provider — for example, the registrar runs your DNS and you do not want to move it. You will then edit DNS records at that provider, not in your Maxinodes client area.

  1. Log in to wherever the domain's DNS is currently managed (your registrar or DNS host).
  2. Open the option labelled DNS records or Zone editor.
  3. Edit the records for the root domain (the host is usually shown as @ or the bare domain) and set an A record to 185.185.49.198. If you want IPv6 visitors to reach your site directly, also add an AAAA record to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10.
  4. To make www work too, set the www host as a CNAME to your root domain, or a second A record pointing to the same 185.185.49.198 (plus a matching AAAA to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10 if you added one at the root).
  5. Save.

Result: Your website resolves to our server. DNS for this domain stays with your current provider, so you must add or change any future records (including email records) there.

Important: Our hosting node is reachable over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack). The A record is what your site needs; add an AAAA record to our IPv6 address 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10 alongside it only if you want IPv6 visitors to reach your site directly. AutoSSL covers both addresses once they exist.

A note on email

Every hosting plan includes mailboxes on your own domain, and Professional Email (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) is there if you need shared calendars, Teams or shared drives. What happens to your email depends on the option you chose:

  • Option 1 (our nameservers): if your domain's mail is with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or another email provider, we copy its mail records into your new zone and your mail stays where it is. If your old web host runs your email, tell us before you switch nameservers or cancel the old hosting. Depending on how that host set up your mail, the switch either moves incoming mail to us at once (so the mailboxes must exist here first) or leaves it arriving at the old host until you cancel it. We check which case applies and move your mailboxes and mail with you, free. See How to move your existing email to Maxinodes.
  • Option 2 (an A record): pointing your website does not move your email. To use the mailboxes on your plan, ask us for our mail records (they include a DKIM key made for your domain) and add them at your current DNS provider; for Professional Email, add that provider's records there. See The DNS records your email needs.

Troubleshooting this task

  • Site still shows the old host: DNS changes take time to propagate worldwide. Wait, then clear your browser cache or try a different network.
  • You see a security warning or the wrong site: Give AutoSSL a little time to issue a certificate once the domain points to us, then reload over HTTPS. See Free SSL (AutoSSL) and how to force HTTPS.
  • You changed records in cPanel and nothing happened: The cPanel zone editor does not control live DNS on our platform. Use your client area (Option 1) or your current DNS provider (Option 2) instead.
  • Email stopped working after switching nameservers: If your old web host ran your email, incoming mail now arrives here, so create the same mailboxes on your plan and copy your old mail across, or ask us to do it for you, free. If your mail is with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or another provider, check that its MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are in your zone in the client area, and add any that are missing.

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.