DNS server alternatives can boost your browsing experience

[Core]

Initially, I switched from my ISP's crappy DNS servers to OpenDNS, because I wanted better performance. Unfortunately OpenDNS has not provided any better performance. The difference was minimal to begin with, and it has really been slow as of late.

I am really happy with the DNS servers I was recommended by http://www.dnsserverlist.org. They've noticeably improved my browsing experience. The site automatically sniffs out the "ideal" DNS servers for you to use based on your IP. I rarely bother to recommend sites such as this one, but in this case I had to make an exception.

 

[TrainableMan]

Is your ISPs DNS server really your fastest option? Try this DNS benchmarking tool (DNSBench.exe) to see the fastest servers available to you.
http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1568&ts=1272290910

 

[clifford_cooley]

Perhaps you guys can explain with further details.

I have never tried changing DNS servers and never knew I had that option. Is it simply changing one address and you are done?

 

[TorrentG]

You can set a static ip for your lan connection on your Windows machine which points to your router.

Then, you can set your router to accept dns requests and forward them to the fastest dns server ip address that the Gibson tool finds.

It's what I do and is as fast as can be. Static ip isn't really necessary though, as long as your router forwards dns requests to where you want.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Static IP's have already been setup. The DNS server is what has never been attempted. I was under the assumption that a specific DNS was required to connect to the ISP.

 

[TorrentG]

Nah, you can use any dns server available on the net. DNS itself has nothing to do with receiving service from your ISP. It's only an add-on service they provide. You can choose to use any and in many cases, others are faster than the ISP's used by default.

 

[TrainableMan]

Two addresses, a primary and a secondary (back-up). But your system is likely set to obtain DNS server automatically.

As most of you probably know, IP addresses are actually made up of 4 nodes of numbers seperated by ".", where each node can be from 0 to 255. Most people can't remember these numbers so we use words (another advantage is that a site can be moved to a different computer with a new IP address but keep the same "words"). A DNS servers purpose is to look up the words and convert it to the number. The longer it takes for this conversion, the longer it takes the browser to get to the site. This can vary by time of day because of higher processing volumes during the workday, "hops" between you and the DNS server, etc.

Also DNS servers may not be public; you can use YOUR ISPs server but most people in the world probably can't. Also some DNS servers take bad addresses and automatically redirect you to there search engines etc instead of returning a 404 Not Found, and you may not like this.

So, if you want to change your DNS server, compare your own and several Open sites at various times of the day. Once you have your choice to try, here is how to change your settings...

http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/cha...+WindowsGuides+(Windows+Tools,+Help+&+Guides)

Note: In step 3 it may be Local Area Connection or Wireless Connection depending what you use (maybe even bluetooth if you connect over your phone)

Note2: Before changing anything in Step 5, see if it is set to "obtain addresses automatically" or not, write down this setting and any IP addresses if present (in case it doesn't work as well as hoped).

 

[clifford_cooley]

The DNS server has been recorded and changed.

I've not noticed a difference in the speed or ping test. The test were taken from http://www.speedtest.net/.

Is there a different test other than the ping and speed test that can be done?

 

[TorrentG]

Changing DNS servers will not alter your ping to locations. It will however, if the correct one is chosen, speed up your computer browsing to websites.

When your computer has to look up aol.com for example, the ip address for it will be returned quicker and then the page in turn, will load quicker on the screen.

 

[clifford_cooley]

When your computer has to look up aol.com for example, the ip address for it will be returned quicker and then the page in turn, will load quicker on the screen.

I do hope so.

Generally it's not bad but there are bad days. Today has not been bad. The last few days have been terrible. Clicking the refresh button just to get the pages to start loading. It's not just one computer either. Three different computers showing signs at the same time.

 

[TorrentG]

Ya, it should.

Here's my router config if interested:

 

[clifford_cooley]

Here's my router config if interested:

Why is the Secondary DNS all 0's?
Does that disable the secondary address?

 

[TorrentG]

Yeah it does disable. I don't have any need for a second one. Never had a single problem in years. I mean, for redundancy, it can be set to any other DNS server but I don't bother.