When you type an address like www.yahoo.com in your browser address bar, the computer doesn't know where yahoo.com points to and it will therefore ask the DNS server. The job of a DNS server is to translate this human-readable web address (like www.yahoo.com) into a computer-readable number also known as an IP address (209.131.36.158). Once your computer knows the IP location of a web domain name, it opens the website in your browser.
DNS is such an integral part of our Internet life working behind the scenes every time we connect to a website. In most situations, our Internet Service Provider specifies the DNS Server address that we key into the browser network settings or the router.
Unfortunately, this can prove to be the weakest link in the entire workflow. For example, if the DNS server of your ISP is slow, the time it takes to resolve the web address adds up to the overall loading time of the website.
To solve this problem, we look at a simple and reliable service called OpenDNS that speeds up your Internet connection and also handles some other very important issues. There are no software to install, it’s very easy to set up and the price is just right - $0.
The whole process takes a few seconds but with this single step alone, you just made your computer safer and increased the overall browsing speed. Here’s why:
Unlike the DNS servers of your less reliable ISP, OpenDNS servers store the IP addresses of millions of websites in their cache so it would take less time to resolve your requests. So if you have asked for an IP address of a website that has been previously requested by another OpenDNS user, you will get the reply instantly.
OpenDNS also takes care of any typos that you commit while typing the name of popular websites. For instance, if you type www.gogle.com omitting the additional “o” by mistake, OpenDNS will open the main www.google.com site automatically.
Power users can assign abbreviations or OpenDNS Shortcuts to access their favourite websites more quickly.
For instance, you can set “mail” as a shortcut for http://mail.google.com/ or something like “a” for www.reallylongname.com - just type the shortcut to access the site. A good alternative for browser based bookmarks and it works across all computers where you have logged in to your OpenDNS account.
And do keep handy the old DNS settings given by your ISP as you may need them in the extreme scenario when OpenDNS system goes down or you want to disable / remove OpenDNS completely from your computer.
www.opendns.com [Piece written for Financial Express newspaper]
OpenDNS is an awesome and smart service. Have been using it for quite sometime. My first change of setting when I setup a new Wi-Fi or any Internet connection is to change the DNS to OpenDNS.
The recent introduction of features like Bandwidth, Data, Traffic usage is awesome.
This can also be one stop solution for offices where selective sites can be blocked or allowed during specific hours. Setup once and you can trasnfer settings between your pre-defined networks.
But i makes no sense if the connection to your ISPs DNS is much faster?!
I’ve got a ping of 25ms to the DNS of my ISP, to the Open-DNS it takes 40ms. So i think it could be slower for me to use Open-DNS…
Is there a tool to check the duration of IP resolving? So we could compare DNS speeds…
I’ve got a ping of 25ms to the DNS of my ISP, to the Open-DNS it takes 40ms. So i think it could be slower for me to use Open-DNS…
Is there a tool to check the duration of IP resolving? So we could compare DNS speeds…
Yes, definitely worth the switch, especially for shortcuts and filtering, we’ve been using it since Summer 2007.
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Thanks for the great write-up.
@Resolver — Ping time isn’t the only measure of speed. Cache, internal response time, connectivity of nameserver, etc also play a role. If you’re 25ms from your ISP and 40ms from us, give us a try. You’ll like what you find.
@Resolver — Ping time isn’t the only measure of speed. Cache, internal response time, connectivity of nameserver, etc also play a role. If you’re 25ms from your ISP and 40ms from us, give us a try. You’ll like what you find.
Yup, have been using it for over an year now, and I highly recommend it.
For the response time, a lot of times its not just the response time from your ISPs DNS server, but also the ability for that server to resolve quickly.
I have noticed that OpenDNS is usually VERY fast to update any changes around public DNS. I have worked with many DNS services and many websites. Whenever I change the DNS Settings somewhere, the fastest to reflect those is OpenDNS.
Like I said, highly recommended.
For the response time, a lot of times its not just the response time from your ISPs DNS server, but also the ability for that server to resolve quickly.
I have noticed that OpenDNS is usually VERY fast to update any changes around public DNS. I have worked with many DNS services and many websites. Whenever I change the DNS Settings somewhere, the fastest to reflect those is OpenDNS.
Like I said, highly recommended.
LIke Resolver, I’d like to test DNS response times myself. Certainly there must be UNIX command to do this. (I’m running OS X.) Can someone help?
I have been using it for some time now – and it has my vote.
I even keep their DNS address on a paper – so that I can put it in my friends system too(I am the linux install guy for my fiends).
I even keep their DNS address on a paper – so that I can put it in my friends system too(I am the linux install guy for my fiends).
I’ve come across this term few weeks back, but didn’t mind it a lot. Now your post gives me a good insight to it. Thanks.
I wrote: “LIke Resolver, I’d like to test DNS response times myself. Certainly there must be UNIX command to do this. (I’m running OS X.) Can someone help?”
Found the answer myself: use dig in Terminal.
Found the answer myself: use dig in Terminal.
I switched to OpenDNS about 3 months ago to get away from Verizon hijacking my error traffic (i.e. ‘typo correction’) and re-directing to a search result full of ads. So a few months later “Open”DNS (OpenDNS is NOT Open Sourced) is now doing the same thing, also providing me with a fat banner whenever a url load times out. A lot of these new ‘features’ like storing your traffic data make me wonder what their end game is. If you need the option to police the internet at home or in the office (i.e. restrict access to specific sites or porn) perhaps OpenDNS is for you, but otherwise I see no advantage for using it over your default ISP DNS. What we need is a real Open DNS provider.
Looks like the alternative DNS server address you noted above may be incorrect. You entered 208.67.222.220. Should be 208.67.220.220.
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What about Torrents ? I am sure OpenDNS wont allow to open traffic for Torrent downloads(even the legal ones)
I get faster page loading using the Verizon DNS server than I do the OpenDNS server.
Being in Australia my iinet one is best. However for when that fails opendns is set as dns server 2.
I discovered opendns last week. I found my husband has a little short coming PORN. I realize since yesterday that I opendns website is not logging as it should. Do anyone have any idea why this is happening. I cannot see the diifernt things I want to blovk or unblock. I spend over twelve hours dealing with this. Please help.
Brenda, web blocking is intended for children and employees on the clock, not for one adult to limit the freedom of another to view what they choose in this free country. Your opinion of pornography or your insecurity about your husband’s sexual desire (or lack thereof) for you does not negate his liberty to enjoy it as a free-thinking adult in a democratic society. Have you considered an open and honest conversation with him about your feelings regarding this topic? Perhaps that would be the place to start. It would probably take far less than 12 hours and you may actually come up with a solution that you could both consentually live with. If not, there’s always divorce… dishonesty, control and desperation are far worse than porn in my book!!!
Well said, Freedm. Could it be that this sort of unhealthy Victorian smothering is why he is looking elsewhere in the first place? Take away his puter porn and he may just have to go outside the house in order to satisfy his unfulfilled needs elsewhere.
OK, I wasn’t going to add to this discussion about OpenDNS since this is not the first time I have gotten a bum steer about “hot” stuff out there from PCPitstop. But since I am here, I will share my experiences with this DNS “server”.
Somebody above mentioned about some ads or banners, which brings me to my first question when I checked out their website: Why is it free and how do they make their money? I mean is this some generous humanitarian gesture from some fat cat who wants to give back to the world, or is there some other angle? Nothing about their company in their website answered this question.
OK, then I followed the instructions and changed my DNS Server in my Actiontec router. In its own control panel it told me the new DNS was just like it was supposed to be. Cmd verification using nslookup on my puter said the same thing: 208.67.219.99. OK, in their example the last two sets of digits may have been a bit different, but not by much. Maybe 102 or something, I think it was. But in the tutorial I could not go on to register because it kept saying “Oops, you are not using OpenDNS yet. Well, yes I am too! :-P
So I go ahead and register and then try to log in and it tells me that I have not verified my registration because I never answered the verifier email. Well, that’s cuz it never came, dummy! You click here and you can re-request a verifier email, but that never came either. I went to my email client to see if it landed in the spam folder, but no email. The PCPitstop original email that I reopened to look at again took longer to load. In fact, I had to hit Refresh just to get the images to load on the email. That’s when I pulled the plug on this marvelous invention and went back to the DNS Server that Verizon had assigned me to and got right back up to speed.
I hadn’t realized how good I had it! LOL I’m taking this as an omen that my reluctance to glom with glee onto anything on the net that is hawked as free is wise practice indeed… and getting wiser all the time.
OK, I wasn’t going to add to this discussion about OpenDNS since this is not the first time I have gotten a bum steer about “hot” stuff out there from PCPitstop. But since I am here, I will share my experiences with this DNS “server”.
Somebody above mentioned about some ads or banners, which brings me to my first question when I checked out their website: Why is it free and how do they make their money? I mean is this some generous humanitarian gesture from some fat cat who wants to give back to the world, or is there some other angle? Nothing about their company in their website answered this question.
OK, then I followed the instructions and changed my DNS Server in my Actiontec router. In its own control panel it told me the new DNS was just like it was supposed to be. Cmd verification using nslookup on my puter said the same thing: 208.67.219.99. OK, in their example the last two sets of digits may have been a bit different, but not by much. Maybe 102 or something, I think it was. But in the tutorial I could not go on to register because it kept saying “Oops, you are not using OpenDNS yet. Well, yes I am too! :-P
So I go ahead and register and then try to log in and it tells me that I have not verified my registration because I never answered the verifier email. Well, that’s cuz it never came, dummy! You click here and you can re-request a verifier email, but that never came either. I went to my email client to see if it landed in the spam folder, but no email. The PCPitstop original email that I reopened to look at again took longer to load. In fact, I had to hit Refresh just to get the images to load on the email. That’s when I pulled the plug on this marvelous invention and went back to the DNS Server that Verizon had assigned me to and got right back up to speed.
I hadn’t realized how good I had it! LOL I’m taking this as an omen that my reluctance to glom with glee onto anything on the net that is hawked as free is wise practice indeed… and getting wiser all the time.
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