Just wanted to say after a few days I Was finally successful. No matter what I did my android phone (Nexus 6p) would not change the DNS. I used the dns changer app, did manually, restarted...it would just not work and I kept seeing the original server and not Alex's.
I then used my Mac along with my iPad. While getting the older file was a little rough (FOLLOW THE video tutorial for downloading old aps), the changing of the DNS was SUPER easy, just goto wifi settings, delete old one and hit save, worked first try unlike my android...
Anyways back to 1.17 and am excited to give it a try!
Moral of the story...android sucked for this purpose but the Mac worked perfectly. Thanks for the guide!