putting in this DNS server will increase your DNS look up time with no cost

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › putting in this DNS server will increase your DNS look up time with no cost

stacey1122

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#11224 10-Jan-2007 14:00

saw this posted in another forum>>>>>>
http://www.opendns.com
it says it is totaly free and increases your broadband speed.

(Moderator edit (BG) - Edited topic)

cyril7

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#57467 10-Jan-2007 14:23

I changed to these servers a few weeks back when Xtra's DNS servers were on holiday, I am well pleased with the results. A couple of days ago I switched back to Xtra's just to see the dif, I could not get over the long wait time for DNS service, with regular timeouts and retrys needed to get a response.

Cyril

barf

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#57468 10-Jan-2007 14:45

How does OpenDNS make money?

OpenDNS makes money by offering clearly labeled advertisements alongside organic search results when the domain entered is not valid and not a typo we can fix.

this sounds like domain camping to me

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somewhat

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#57476 10-Jan-2007 15:03

I would be quite wary, for one if you are using (from their page) 208.67.222.222 as your DNS servers, they are located overseas, so every dns query you do needs to travel internationally. Typically using your ISP's DNS servers should give you the best performance as they will be located pretty close to the NAS servers your connected too. I presume they will make money out of the stats they gain from your DNS queries, basically they are spying on you!

cokemaster

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#57477 10-Jan-2007 15:08

barf:
How does OpenDNS make money?
OpenDNS makes money by offering clearly labeled advertisements alongside organic search results when the domain entered is not valid and not a typo we can fix.

this sounds like domain camping to me

Can anyone remember 'site finder'

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sbiddle

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#57478 10-Jan-2007 15:09

It would definately work better if their DNS servers were located in the same country. Using these in NZ would probably result in quite a significant speed decrease when performing DNS lookups compared to your NZ ISP's DNS servers and of course you're being subjected to advertising and have a company who knows every site you visit. If you don't have a problem with either of these issues then it's a great idea.

cyril7

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#57482 10-Jan-2007 15:23

I hear what you guys are saying, I fully appreciate the fact that using an offshore DNS server must be slower, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and sorry to say Xtra's servers are just downright slow or not available. Just as a test I pinged both Xtras servers just a minute ago, 1/3 to 1/2 of attempts timed out, and when I got a response it was 180mS on average. The openDNS servers came back everytime at an average 210mS......... which would you use?

Can you recommend a suitable NZ DNS server?, as for advertising, cant say Ive seen any advertising in the couple of weeks I used it.

Cyril

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somewhat

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#57486 10-Jan-2007 15:42

Sending ICMP pings does not really say much, as its the lowest priority protocol, performing a NSLOOKUP is probably the best way to gauge it, Xtra may also be filtering ICMP on their network. Technically using the name servers closet to you should give you the best results. You might want to try using another ISP's name servers in NZ that allow recursive lookups. also a hell of a lot of requests will be cached, which means all reply’s can be sent back speedily and locally. It would be interesting to see some stats.

Also in my opinion using a DNS server, say in the US wont give you better results for US based queries, the data still needs to get back from the US to the end user connection, and its got a better chance when its replying to a local server connected via a huge pipe (as Xtra's and other ISP's will be) whats more if your lucky that query will already be cached.

muppet

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#57489 10-Jan-2007 15:45

Your Windows XP PC will cache a domain name once it's been looked up. Unless you're opening hundreds of different pages every few minutes, you will notice no speed increase/decrease by changing your DNS servers.

Don't believe me? Open up a windows command prompt and type in "ipconfig /displaydns"

You won't find many/any "open" DNS servers, most have been locked down due to a DoS amplification attack that could be used to servers open to the world.

If you really need super-bleeding-edge DNS speed, run a local copy of the Squid Proxy. It includes a nice DNS cache and it'll cache images and other things your browser might not. Way overkill though really.

juha

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#57491 10-Jan-2007 15:46

This is a bogus tip. Always use your ISP's server, or the nearest one to you that is well-connected. Xtra does indeed filter ICMP so pinging doesn't tell you anything.

Why would a DNS server in the US that you reach via overloaded international links be faster than one in NZ?

If you want to bump up the speed of DNS look ups, run a cacheing DNS server on your network. Many routers already offer such a feature though.

Juha

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#57493 10-Jan-2007 15:52

Also you might want to consider using an ISP that peers at WIX or APE, as I'm sure that they have some DNS root servers there (F or I from memory) which although probably only means milliseconds on DNS requests, its still nice to utilise them.

cokemaster

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#57494 10-Jan-2007 15:53

cyril7: I Just as a test I pinged both Xtras servers just a minute ago, 1/3 to 1/2 of attempts timed out,

Xtra DNS servers are not supposed to respond to pings. Hence why pings may time out.

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cyril7

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#57495 10-Jan-2007 15:58

I will point my router back to Xtra and see how it goes. I simply changed to openDNS when the xtra routers went awol a couple of weeks ago, after a few days I set them back to xtra and was amazed at the number of times I had to repeat requests due to DNS timeouts, normally the second request came back straight away indicating that the server is just damn slow or overloaded.

Cyril

Fraktul

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#57496 10-Jan-2007 16:02

somewhat:
Sending ICMP pings does not really say much, as its the lowest priority protocol

If anything ICMP is lower priority or blocked by network admins with no clue. Some routers will prioritise ICMP if its destined for itself.

weblordpepe

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#57547 11-Jan-2007 02:08

Might be agood idea for a backup, but seriously, - its a nasty way of spying. I think the mods might wanna think about renaming the topic.

Really though having a spare DNS ip is a good idea. If you're on an ISP with goofy problems, anyway.