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I’ve talked before about OpenDNS. It’s an excellent free program that will speed up your online experience. However, there are many other features that allow you to enhance your browsing and network management.
OpenDNS is a completely free service. There are no programs to install. It’s easy to use, and easy to make changes to. Not only can it boost your internet speed by remembering the DNS of a site, there are also several other things you can do with it.
You can use OpenDNS to block domain names, Phishing sites, proxy or anonymizer sites, and even adult sites. They give you that control by providing the tools to block any website or DNS zone on the Internet, all through an easy-to-use interface.
There is also a Whitelist option. This allows you to choose which sites will never be blocked, regardless of content filtering. This can come in handy if a site you frequent accidentally has a post or picture that would normally be blocked on your network.
Another excellent feature is the typo redirector. How often have you typed .cm instead of .com? What about typing .ogr instead of .org? With the typo redirector, you can set up automatic redirects and corrections to your common typos.
Ponzi’s favorite feature of OpenDNS is the network shortcut. Let’s say you frequent a website about your dog. You can create a shortcut that will automatically redirect you to the website you choose any time you type the keyword into your browser.
Not only is this free, it works on any operating system and with any browser.
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34 Comments
RoshanPatel1990
October 17th, 2007
at 7:27am
Whoa!
Thak’s very much Chris (1st comment yay!)
I noticed a massive speed difference immediately!!
Looking forward to more tips!
oostrpwnu
October 17th, 2007
at 7:34am
wow you have 3 videos in less then 2 or 3 hours
supahman14
October 17th, 2007
at 7:37am
that program sounds rlly great. Blocking sites and especially TYPO correctors :) they come in useful :)
SilverDragon90
October 17th, 2007
at 7:42am
OVER 90000000000000000000000000
DavidDude96
October 17th, 2007
at 8:03am
but…..but…..i like porn
Alas777
October 17th, 2007
at 8:09am
it doesn’t block all adult sites!!! i’ve tried it. it does block some but some I tried my self and it didn’t block them!
nickdford
October 17th, 2007
at 8:14am
i use squid-cache as a dns-cache/proxy server :P
it’s an open source tool with loads of add-ons for things like parental control :)
Nikiaf
October 17th, 2007
at 8:16am
i’ve been using it for a while now and it’s great! i haven’t personally noticed a speed difference but maybe that’s just because i’ve been using it for so long :P
11spiderpig11
October 17th, 2007
at 8:31am
if i had that DNS my mom would block youtube and that would be bad…. to bad my mom doesn’t know how to work a computer
mikemoreno1375
October 17th, 2007
at 9:36am
Poor Doggie….
RoshanPatel1990
October 17th, 2007
at 2:27pm
Whoa!
Thak’s very much Chris (1st comment yay!)
I noticed a massive speed difference immediately!!
Looking forward to more tips!
oostrpwnu
October 17th, 2007
at 2:34pm
wow you have 3 videos in less then 2 or 3 hours
supahman14
October 17th, 2007
at 2:37pm
that program sounds rlly great. Blocking sites and especially TYPO correctors :) they come in useful :)
SilverDragon90
October 17th, 2007
at 2:42pm
OVER 90000000000000000000000000
DavidDude96
October 17th, 2007
at 3:03pm
but…..but…..i like porn
Alas777
October 17th, 2007
at 3:09pm
it doesn’t block all adult sites!!! i’ve tried it. it does block some but some I tried my self and it didn’t block them!
KillerClam73
October 17th, 2007
at 3:10pm
**** you i like porn
nickdford
October 17th, 2007
at 3:14pm
i use squid-cache as a dns-cache/proxy server :P
it’s an open source tool with loads of add-ons for things like parental control :)
Nikiaf
October 17th, 2007
at 3:16pm
i’ve been using it for a while now and it’s great! i haven’t personally noticed a speed difference but maybe that’s just because i’ve been using it for so long :P
11spiderpig11
October 17th, 2007
at 3:31pm
if i had that DNS my mom would block youtube and that would be bad…. to bad my mom doesn’t know how to work a computer
mikemoreno1375
October 17th, 2007
at 4:36pm
Poor Doggie….
Susan
October 17th, 2007
at 6:17pm
I like using my ISP’s or other physically close/routed DNS servers that are less likely to suffer attack than large-scale, and currently free, services. I don’t see any performance increase from using OpenDNS, nor do I appreciate every domain name becoming pingable/resolving in order for them to offer search suggestions or typo correction. The type correction thing bothers me more than some of thier other “features” I mean why even bother teaching english or spelling in school if you never have to learn to spell anything correctly. This is possibly even more troublesome to older people who will keep typing the wrong thing, OpenDNS will keep helping them “make it work out” and then they’ll go to another computer, or the library that isn’t using OpenDNS and they’ll be lost. The porn block thing is cool, but only if you have a static IP and turn it on in your OpenDNS account. You can do allot of what they do yourself, internally on your own network, without the dependancy of an external service provider with Microsoft’s DNS Service, DNS Redirector, or SimpleDNS Plus
cjh6793
October 17th, 2007
at 11:35pm
Thanks! I can tell my speed is a bit faster…:)
Windows Vista Torrent
October 18th, 2007
at 12:18am
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alphaxion
October 18th, 2007
at 5:41am
I have been noticing some isp’s in the UK actually providing “invalid domain name” services where, if you enter any trash into the address bar and it doesn’t exist as a valid domain (either thru typo in the TLD or even just no website with that domain name) it will present a webpage to you saying it couldn’t find it, how about these other addresses (which are 99% sponsored ads, so the ISP is making money out of your typo) instead.
I would much rather get “page cannot be displayed” than “have some ads”, and the really horrible thing is that many of the ISPs that use it (tiscali, I’m looking at you) auto enroll you into it and you have to ask to be removed from it.. the worst thing is that some of the ISP’s will deny that you are even on it (that’s you again tiscali), and with repeated calls will relent and admit to it and then say they will remove you… only for the “service” to return a week or so later (tiscali, you’re at it again!!). That was a true story from a sales guy where I work who had that issue with his isp.
These dodgy practices are on the increase here in the uk, so be careful and if your ISP starts doing stuff like that, ditch them immediately - hitting them in their pocket is the only way they will learn.
cjh6793
October 18th, 2007
at 6:35am
Thanks! I can tell my speed is a bit faster…:)
BeautyBuyNature
October 18th, 2007
at 11:57pm
Thanks - I learned soooooooo much - Thanks
DrZarkloff
October 19th, 2007
at 3:46am
Kind of reminds me of how I’m making air conditioning tutorials in the nude.
BeautyBuyNature
October 19th, 2007
at 6:57am
Thanks - I learned soooooooo much - Thanks
Ipokedu5
October 25th, 2007
at 1:05am
That was so cool
Ipokedu5
October 25th, 2007
at 8:05am
That was so cool
A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way
October 31st, 2007
at 3:36am
OpenDNSwhich I admit seems cool, but the neat shortcutting thing won’t work obviously when I am on some other network. Then there is Lanroamer if you need to operate at a lower level. Of course there is Network Magic
almvideos2
December 10th, 2007
at 11:24am
dns made my intenet faster thanks
samyakonline
December 21st, 2007
at 7:27pm
This is very good information about networking. thanks