OpenDNS and why should you care?

[Gena01]

A few days ago I heard our SysAdmins (SAs) talking and one mentioning OpenDNS (http://www.opendns.com). This resulted in a whole Q & A session that went something like this.

Q: What is OpenDNS?
A: OpenDNS is open and free DNS service. Anybody can use it, and they are not required to register.

Q: DNS? What for I already got one from my ISP?
A: This one is a lot better.

Q: How so?
A: Well first of all it's a lot faster. Second it protects you and your family from viruses and phishing attacks. Third it can filter out sites and suggest URLs if you mistype a URL.

The setup of OpenDNS is quite simple and the site has a ton of visual instructions to get you started. You can set it up on your local computer or for your home network so that the rest of the family will transparently enjoy the benefits of this service. If you register an account you can also enable filters and block out a lot of sites that you think that are inappropriate. And your internet will work a bit faster.

These are only some of the great features that it provides and I highly recommend it . There's really not a single reason I can come up with for you not to use it. I started using it myself the same day I heard of it  (and so have millions of others).

Gena01

[Brian D.]

I can come up with a reason! For some reason when I use it some normal websites that SHOULD work (e.g., google.com, flickr.com) randomly decide not to work. Ten minutes later, it works fine, but as you know ten minutes is an eternity in internet-land. This problem happens so often for me that I had to revert back to my ISP's DNS.

I tried to get some support for this issue but no one was able to come up with any reason for this to be occuring. If I could get it fixed, I'd switch back to OpenDNS in a heartbeat.

[Jon]

These are only some of the great features that it provides and I highly recommend it . There's really not a single reason I can come up with for you not to use it. I started using it myself the same day I heard of it  (and so have millions of others).

I wholehartedly agree. I discovered OpenDNS a year ago and I have since used it at many locations without a single *OpenDNS* problem. It's a great and free service to protect both home and corporate users.

I tried to get some support for this issue but no one was able to come up with any reason for this to be occuring. If I could get it fixed, I'd switch back to OpenDNS in a heartbeat.

I find that their support is terrific, and any problems that I have had are from user's computers and routers using cached DNS entries from before the switchover. Flushing the DNS cache cures this. If you are still having problems PM me and I'll help sort you out.


Another great DNS related tip for protecting users can be found here: Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
 (http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm)
This too is free, open and regularly updated. Enjoy!

[guest]

http://www.dnsadvantage.com/

This is a similar free service. It is (seems to be?) a bit faster here.

[Oliver]

There are privacy concerns. Firstly, you are informing a third party (OpenDNS) about your entire browsing habits. And secondly, OpenDNS redirect Google queries through their own servers, presumably to use the information for market research. More details here: http://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=226

[Brian D.]

Oliver, that is very interesting. That would explain why I have always had problems with Google Maps when I'm using OpenDNS (some parts of the map never load, perhaps caused by slow requests?). Thanks for sharing the link.

[Mxx]

i don't think it affects maps.google.com. from what i've seen it's only for www.google.com.
If you have an account with OpenDNS, you can login and disable this redirect.

so basically they are making money on clueless people, but if you know what's going on, you can turn it off 

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