# Open DNS. Is Pogue right?



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

David Pogue appears to be making a good case at nyt.com for using Open DNS's servers, instead of our ISP's DNS servers. Curious what others think. TIA.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/technology/personaltech/19pogue.html


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

OpenDNS is very good overall and has some nice features. I use them for a few clients and have them as my backup DNS.

At home though, my ISPs DNS servers are extremely quick to resolve and have been very accurate over the years. So they are still my primary.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

I've been using OpenDNS for several years. I have ATT (was Bellsouth) DSL and they have some pretty flaky (slow and go down a fair amount) name servers, so I switched to OpenDNS as soon as I heard about them. IT is funny to read at DSLReports or some other tech site that ATT southeast dsl is down and never even have noticed it.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

OpenDNS also offers web site filtering, so you can block certain domain names for being AdWare, Spyware, Gaming, or such.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Mark Holtz said:


> OpenDNS also offers web site filtering, so you can block certain domain names for being AdWare, Spyware, Gaming, or such.


Ya, I noticed that from the article. Awesome feature for parents, IMHO. Pogue's take:

_"PARENTAL CONTROLS The latest OpenDNS feature is site-blocking. Here again, having an account means that you can create a setting that applies to every computer in the house - and block your choice of 57 categories of Web sites, including Pornography, Nudity, Lingerie, Instant Messaging, File Sharing, Game and Humor. (Honestly. What kind of parent would block humor?)

How can OpenDNS possibly track every Web site on earth and put it into the right 57 categories? It doesn't. Its fans do. Anyone can submit a site to the master database of categorized sites, whereupon other people vote on its placement. *This Wikipedia-style crowdsourcing is ingenious, and, as far as my testing was concerned, bulletproof.*"_


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I use it and recommend it. Some power features, I can type dbs<enter> into a web browser into any system on my network, and it goes to dbstalk. No setup needed, as all systems get the DNS servers from my router, which uses OpenDNS. I don't use the filtering much, but do have antiphishing on, and block things like parked domains.

For the best usage of it, you need to have a system that keeps track of your external IP and updates your OpenDNS dashboard. They have a little utility that does that for you.

Maybe a year or so ago, there was a major DNS vulnerability that ISPs and such had to fix. OpenDNS was one of the first to fix it for their servers.

Should have read the article, the stuff I mentioned that I liked, Pogue mentioned as well. His use of D.N.S. instead of DNS annoyed me though


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## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

Another endorsement from me.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

I use it at home - the wife doesn't even know what I setup - as long as it works


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## csgo (Oct 15, 2006)

One of the issues with OpenDNS and other public DNS services is that they often fail to honor the TTL of a record. This can result in getting stale results from their resolvers.

-Joe


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

csgo said:


> One of the issues with OpenDNS and other public DNS services is that they often fail to honor the TTL of a record. This can result in getting stale results from their resolvers.
> 
> -Joe


Their Cachecheck may help with some of those issues.
http://www.opendns.com/support/cache/


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

I've also been using Open DNS As my primary for years at home, I also use my ISP as a back up but I haven't had any issues with them. I like the filtering and they resolve just as fast as the best on the net.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

I'm an IT professional (IT security to be exact), and I use Open DNS at home. It's fast and, as far as I can see, secure.


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## ronton3 (Mar 15, 2006)

After reading the article, I changed over last night, it does seem faster, and I have learned some stuff. In the process I discovered that my Actiontec router had a firmware update available, and since i did not read the instructions closely enough, a nice lady from India put me on the right track after only a 45 minute wait. I do get the message that I am now using DNS, but a check of the web page test says I am not, when I click on the test sites they come up as using DNS. ron


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

ronton3 said:


> After reading the article, I changed over last night, it does seem faster, and I have learned some stuff. In the process I discovered that my Actiontec router had a firmware update available, and since i did not read the instructions closely enough, a nice lady from India put me on the right track after only a 45 minute wait. I do get the message that I am now using DNS, but a check of the web page test says I am not, when I click on the test sites they come up as using DNS. ron


Choose your Actiontec from this page and make sure everything is set right.

https://store.opendns.com/setup/router/Actiontec


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## ronton3 (Mar 15, 2006)

Mine isnt one of those shown, I believe I will go back over the general instructions.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Thanks for the post. Just added this to my home network, and the extra security features and speed make it a good choice. Will try it a week or so and see how it works.


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

+1 in the "I'm an IT professional and I use it at home."


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> Thanks for the post. Just added this to my home network, and the extra security features and speed make it a good choice. Will try it a week or so and see how it works.


I've been running it since I read the article and it seems to work very well.

From the comments in this thread, sounds like Mr. Pogue is right about OpenDNS!


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I always enjoy Pogue's articles.

I haven't had any problems with my FiOS IP but switched to OpenDNS just to give it a try.

What I really like are the shortcut URL's. I should be able to cut way down on my bookmarks list on Firefox. And these work on all the machines hooked up to my home network.

The directions for my Verizon router at the OpenDNS site do not directly correspond to my onscreen settings but they were close enough to get the servers connected.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

billsharpe said:


> The directions for my Verizon router at the OpenDNS site do not directly correspond to my onscreen settings but they were close enough to get the servers connected.


Ya. I actually have a couple of Actiontecs from my Verizon days, and it's pretty easy to configure Actiontec's DHCP to use the OpenDNS server #'s instead of the ISP's. I'm just using them as wireless switches right now, tho.

My gateway Vonage/Motorola 4212 router (and DHCP server) won't let me do that, so I had to manually configure my PC's TCP/IP properties to use them instead.


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## ronton3 (Mar 15, 2006)

I see now that there is an OpenDNS icon in the menu bar on OSX, apparently my Actiontec router is properly configured, because the pull down menu says I am using Open DNS. I use Twonky to stream to an OPPO-83,(from a G5 Mac) and it is connected to the internet through the router and both are still working. ron


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Last week was a very successful week for them, and they apparently also added some Fortune 100 companies.

http://blog.opendns.com/2010/08/25/the-biggest-growth-week-in-opendns-history/


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dpeters11 said:


> Last week was a very successful week for them, and they apparently also added some Fortune 100 companies.
> 
> http://blog.opendns.com/2010/08/25/the-biggest-growth-week-in-opendns-history/


Ya. That Times article was one of their "most e-mailed" in the last 7 days.


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