You can use this to test for yourself: GRC's | DNS Nameserver Performance Benchmark
Here are a few other benchmark comparisons:
http://blog.gadodia.net/performance-comparison-of-opendns-and-google-dns/
http://www.manu-j.com/blog/opendns-alternative-google-dns-rocks/403/
The bigger targets these days aren’t really the browsers but the browser plugins (Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, etc) which IE does a better job than Firefox or Safari at containing the damage from when there are bugs thanks to protected mode. Chrome’s sandbox is pretty good for this too.
But yeah, I do see your point.
This is a good little program to benchmark and compare your DNS speeds. I’m using Google’s Public DNS, and UltraDNS came up as a little faster. Check it out:
I’m in, so long OpenDNS. You were a whole lot better than my isp’s dns, but the default search page seriously got in the way of my setting up a server on one of my work machines. As can happen, the setup wasn’t right at first, and that crap polluted my dns caches with your ad/search page server. Thus giving me all sorts of confusing results until I figured that out.
It helped that I could remember the ip addresses based on one short test session a few weeks ago.
I suppose poking OpenDNS’s control panel to disable that “default search page” was too difficult for you then?
Yeah, I’m using Google’s DNS service because it’s terribly easy to remember and quick to type in.
Even in hindsight, it sure looks that way, checkers.
Option one: Connect to router settings page. Type “8.8.8.8, tab, 8.8.4.4”. Click Save
Option two: research overriding default opendns behavior
Part of the problem obviously is that I had no idea there was an option related to this. Or a control panel. How is that managed for my requests - do I have to set up an account with opendns? My isp changes my ip address from time to time, doesn’t seem like it would work.
Maybe there is a simple way it can work, but even with your helpful hint, there is more work for me to figure out how to make it work for my use, and if that is even a maintenance-free option.
It’s good to know there might be something workable in case the google service ever fails, so thanks.
I didn’t know whether to necro this thread or start a new one… there was some good historical information above, so…
Cloudflare now offers an alternative DNS service that promises to be more private than using your default ISP or Google’s. YMMV.
There’s quite a few now with different focus on parental controls, privacy vs malware etc. IBM has that Quad 9, OpenDNS and others too.
I use Google DNS for secondary and an in-home pi-hole setup.
Tell me about pi-hole? How reliable is it, does it work, do you have to mess with it and update it etc?
I already aggressively adblock (ublock origin/adguard paid lifetime subscription) so it’s not blocking as many ads as it would if the client machines were running free.
It’s a Pi2 running Home Assistant + PiHole. HomeAssistant to aggregate all my HomeKit + Alexa + Cortana + Google Home IOT crap.
here’s a snapshot of the pihole dashboard.
i use the pi to have a sinkholed wireless AP for the IOT things that have no authentication (looking at you shitty Belkin Wemo and phoning-home-to-China webcams!) that would normally allow anyone on the same wifi to control my IOT power sockets.
I set it and forget it, as Ronco says.
I don’t put on the more aggressive option blocklists. Only thing I had to do once was whitelist Spotify since the default list broke the Spotify iOS app.
