Even with a high-speed Internet connection, you might find that getting to certain Web sites takes a lot longer than you want it to. There are a lot of reasons for this, but one of the bottlenecks is the DNS server that your Internet service provider runs.
You can get around this bottleneck, though, by using a Web-based service called OpenDNS.
OpenDNS maintains a network of DNS servers, which are distributed in various locations, including New York, Chicago, Seattle, and London. Your request to the OpenDNS servers are routed to the server nearest you. That generally means you don’t have to wait as long as you would with your Internet server provider’s often busy DNS server.
On top of that, OpenDNS has options for different kinds of networks – home, school, small or medium business, or larger companies. The basic features – like phishing protection and content filters – are the same, but there are also features specific to each kind of network. Like what? For example, a school using OpenDNS has the option to counter anonymizers, while a small business can take advantage of a reliable network that supposedly has no network downtime.
Setting up
Setting up OpenDNS is fairly simple. If you’re a home user (which this TechTip is going to focus on), you can set OpenDNS for a desktop computer or a laptop computer, or a router.
The process involves three step:
- Changing the DNS settings on your computer or on your router
- Create an account with OpenDNS (this step is free)
- Tweak your settings at the OpenDNS Web site
How you change the DNS settings on your computer varies by the operating system that you’re using. You can get the instructions for the operating system that OpenDNS supports here. And, as you probably guessed, the instructions also vary by the brand of router that you’re using. If your router isn’t in the list, there are generic instructions that you can try.
After using OpenDNS for a while, you might find that some or all of the sites that you frequent don’t load as fast as they did when you started using the service. This is because your computer saves DNS information in a cache. It uses the cached information whenever you try to hit one of those sites. The easy way around this is to clear your computer’s DNS cache. How?
To do that, open a command prompt. In Windows, type the command ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter. In MacOS 10.5, type dscacheutil -flushcache and press Enter. In Linux, /etc/rc.d/init.d/nscd restart (you may have to do this as root).