Recently, I’ve been reading a bit about Open DNS, an alternative to your ISP-provided Domain Name System.
Now, you may ask “why not use my ISP-provided DNS servers?” and you’d be asking a good question.
There are a few reasons that make sense to me, and are better explained by quoting OpenDNS:
OpenDNS makes your Internet connection blazing fast, blocks phishing sites, and corrects your typos on the fly. If you try to visit a website that’s broken or not resolving, we don’t give up on you and send you to an error page. We show you OpenDNS Guide and keep working to get you where you want to go.
OpenDNS requires no software to install. And best of all, it’s free.
Ok, Free, autocorrect, blocks phishing, and fast. Those are enough real reasons for me to try it out…and I have.
Over the last month all my computers have used OpenDNS as primary and secondary DNS. As far as I can tell, it’s worked well and not caused any problems. It even works for wireless devices on my network like my Nintendo DS systems.
Oh, one more reason for considering OpenDNS; do you manage tech-support for your less-tech-savvy friends or relatives? The anti-phishing technology provided by OpenDNS partner PhishTank.
Technorati Tags: DNS, OpenDNS, phishing, Home Computing, ISP
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Interesting, but my wireless LinkSys WEF11 is so old I can’t change that setting. May be time for an upgrade.
Wow, yeah, sounds like upgrade time. New WiFi are pretty cheap too…or you could get a ‘free’ one from fon.com — and you can share with the ‘neighbours’ too
I have one on order…we’ll see how it does.
ScrubIT is like the same thing, but its free and block porn site, phishing, and other malicious websites.
Go to ScrubIT.com and download your utility to change your DNS automatically or you can change it manually:
67.138.54.100
207.225.209.66
“ScrubIT is a FREE recursive DNS server that regulates what comes into your home or business. ScrubIT scrubs the internet so you don’t have to be concerned about what your family members or employees will be confronted with.”
I love this idea. I went to the site and it was sooo easy to put on my computer. I looked in the “Faqs” (Frequently Asked Questions), and it can be taken off just as easily as it was put on. Plus its free!
I just graduated college, and when I had to do research for my papers I would somehow misspell a web address or look up pics for a presentation and run into filth.
I’m not a mom yet, but I do have nieces and nephews who have been on the internet since they were 5. There are some good content blockers out there, but they cost money and you always have to update or change your firewall settings. ScrubIT isn’t software which means no constant updating on your pc. So you install it once and forget about it. It’s a great deterrent because as a parent, you can setup your computer so your kids have to log into the computer and not have administration access. This means they can’t download any programs or change any settings like the DNS. Just a thought.
I was able to set the new DNS settings in Linux under networks settings. Great for surfing, but when it came time to check my POP3 email… ouch.. no could find ‘shawmail’ SMTP servers.
Still it was pretty fast when I did try it out.
hgirl2000: interesting…will have to check it out, thanks!
RB: yeah, I forgot that shaw has its SMTP servers internally — though you may be able to get it through these (found at askmarvin.ca):
Calgary
shawmail.cg.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.cg.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.cg.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Edmonton
shawmail.ed.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.ed.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.ed.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Ft. McMurray
shawmail.fm.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.fm.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.fm.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Hinton
shawmail.hn.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.hn.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.hn.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Lethbridge
shawmail.lb.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.lb.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.lb.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Lloydminister
shawmail.lm.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.lm.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.lm.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)
Red Deer
shawmail.rd.shawcable.net (Mail Server)
shawnews.rd.shawcable.net (News Server)
proxy.rd.shawcable.net (Proxy Server on Port 8080)