Open DNS

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jimti

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I have just had a look at a site that recommends using open DNS to speed up Internet connection, trying it I found a big improvement on download speed.
The question I want to know is, can this cause any problems and is it safe taking into account I am not 100% PC literate?



-------------Download-----------upload-----------
Today 10:37 3011 kbps (376kB/s) 508 kbps (63.5kB/s) ISP
Today 10:35 4808 kbps (601kB/s) 509 kbps (63.6kB/s) Open DNS
 
It is safe.

DNS is (at it's simplest) an address book for the internet - it translates IP address (computer addresses) into something easy for us simple humans can remember.

As an example.... www.google.com or 66.249.93.147 ? - You can put either into a web Browser.

It may be worth keeping your ISP DNS server (under the advanced tab you can have more than 2) as a third option.
 
would I be right in guessing that my isp dns server is my IP address?
 
It shouldnt effect download speed at all. After all its only providing names resolution.

It will only effect reliability and possibly speed up surfing a little if it resolves names quicker than your current ISP's DNS server. In theory your ISP should be faster at doing this since your ISP's DNS servers are most likely closer to your subnet. (assuming they loadbalance DNS servers reasonably well)

The only real justification for open DNS is reliability if you have outages from your ISP. Virgin for instance seems to have regular DNS issues and open DNS is a godsend in this instance.

would I be right in guessing that my isp dns server is my IP address?

No, open a dos box and type ipconfig /all then enter and your DNS info will be displayed (assuming you havnt manually applied the open DNS enty yet.
 
Last edited:
-------------Download-----------upload-----------
Today 10:37 3011 kbps (376kB/s) 508 kbps (63.5kB/s) ISP
Today 10:35 4808 kbps (601kB/s) 509 kbps (63.6kB/s) Open DNS

I had a 60% speed increase when I tried mine with open DNS
 
Quite possibly but Open DNS is just an address book pointing you at the source of the download.

Once the download is initiated it plays no part in downloading the data. Basically, your increase in speeds are influenced by something else other than changing your DNS server settings. (it also might just be coincidence)
 
Un the dos window it shows my router address as my DNS IE 192.168.1.2
I am guessing that I would have to go to the main pc to find my isp dns?
 
No, you probably need to go and check the settings in your router by logging into that to see what its entry is. :D

I must say, thats not the usual configuration that I've experienced - what router is it?
 
No, you probably need to go and check the settings in your router by logging into that to see what its entry is. :D

I must say, thats not the usual configuration that I've experienced - what router is it?

BT router is the same, 192.168.1 rather than 192.168.0 - confused the hell out of me until I read the manual.
 
I had a 60% speed increase when I tried mine with open DNS

OpenDNS will ensure you get an 'honest' answer to a name to IP address resolution request.

Some ISP's DNS servers are overloaded and slow, and will reduce performance, and may even force you through caching proxies etc..

Alternatively you have to go with a less mainstream ISP like Zen, who have no traffic shaping or proxies etc....
 
If you make the DNS change on your router, go to your PC and do a "repair" on your LAN port.

This will refresh the DNS information on the PC.
 
I installed OpenDNS on Friday before I read this thread. My reason for this was not download speed but to protect my network from less dubious sites. If you have kids in the house you will know what I mean.

Open DNS provides the ability to block sites based on categories, like gambling,drugs,pornography,etc etc. Once installed on your router all machines are protected. I have tested this and it works. Another advantage is that they keep track of 600,000 sites and keep this list up to date. There are of course other ways of doing the same thing. however I always found they were either too restrictive or too liberal, OpenDNS seems to strike the right balance.... so far anyway.

Would be interested to hear if anyone has used OpenDNS for this purpose or indeed if they have a similar technique for providing a safe internet experience for the kids.
 
Some feedback..................

Been using OpenDNS and it works a treat. If you want to add some protection to your network then read up about it here ...........

http://www.opendns.com/how/dns/turning-names-into-numbers

Sorry, but I wouldn't call it protection.
It just BLOCKS sites by name. Try this 216.163.137.3 [NSFW]
Very easy to overcome.

Anyway, as someone has said DNS is a huge address book to translate names into numbers.
The problem with OpenDNS is that it is .COM and somehow they must make some money!

see this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDNS#Privacy_issues_and_covert_redirection

and form openDNS site:

http://www.opendns.com/how/free/how-can-opendns-be-free/

OpenDNS makes money the same way Google and Yahoo do — by showing relevant ads when we show you search results.

Cheers
Chris
IT Engineer
 
Why must a .com make money??


Do you really think that someone has donated:

- huge infrastructure across the world
- huge badwith
- developers/administrators/HR/PR/etc teams
- bills
- time
- etc, etc

and all this for nothing? With .com domain?


We are talking about multimillion business here!

Cheers
Chris
 
Sorry, but I wouldn't call it protection.
It just BLOCKS sites by name. Try this 216.163.137.3 [NSFW]
Very easy to overcome.

Anyway, as someone has said DNS is a huge address book to translate names into numbers.
The problem with OpenDNS is that it is .COM and somehow they must make some money!

see this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDNS#Privacy_issues_and_covert_redirection

and form openDNS site:

http://www.opendns.com/how/free/how-can-opendns-be-free/

OpenDNS makes money the same way Google and Yahoo do — by showing relevant ads when we show you search results.

Cheers
Chris
IT Engineer


Im not being argumentative, but Im not sure what your point is?
.coms do not need to make money, fair enough this one does - so what? I watch ITV and SKY One - they both have adverts too.
- By blocking site names, it does gives you a level of protection; certainly would stop my son. It might not stop you but youre not 8! and probably have a discipline in IT?
 
I'm not argumentative either. :)
From security point of view you have to make sure that you are using correct DNS servers. Hacking DNS and taking over them might cost you LOTS of money!

Plus: as they know WHAT exactly you are doing online, they can serve you targeted ads. It is your privacy.

Cheers
Chris.
 
I'm not argumentative either. :)
From security point of view you have to make sure that you are using correct DNS servers. Hacking DNS and taking over them might cost you LOTS of money!

Plus: as they know WHAT exactly you are doing online, they can serve you targeted ads. It is your privacy.

Cheers
Chris.

I do see where youre coming from now, however I think Id be naive to think that SKY ( my provider ) would not do exactly that too. In fact I would suggest most providers running their own DNS would be doing something along those lines too.
 

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