This is a rehash of a Facebook conversation from earlier today….
Originally, I posted a link to “Google Public DNS offers speed, few features” in which I made the comments that this could get interesting, and ended up doing a quick DNS description:
“DNS is a foundation level services that helps run the internet. Every device on the internet has a unique IP number that usually takes the form of [74.125.53.100]. Since humans are not that good with remembering numbers, we add names, such as google.com… What DNS does is translate backwards and forwards of IP Numbers [74.125.53.100] to Human Name [google.com]. Think of DNS as a Yellow & White pages phonebook for the internet.”
“When one connects to the internet from home or at work, that device uses DNS to find “stuff” for you. If you have an ISP (Comcast, Verizon, etc.) they give you their DNS Server addresses, which is fine for most folks, but with a little bit of techo-tink, one can access Open Public DNS servers that are usually faster then an ISPs, so your access is a bit faster.”
“Setting up your account is primary, but once done, the basics are that you need to access your router/firewall and change the DNS servers that they are “pointed to”. Some routers offer away to add more the two (2) entries. If this is possible, make your Open Public DNS servers the Top priority in the list.”
As a reference:
OpenDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Google Public DNS
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4