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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

Whoa!

Thak’s very much Chris (1st comment yay!)

I noticed a massive speed difference immediately!!

Looking forward to more tips!

wow you have 3 videos in less then 2 or 3 hours

that program sounds rlly great. Blocking sites and especially TYPO correctors :) they come in useful :)

OVER 90000000000000000000000000

but…..but…..i like porn

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!

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 :)

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

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

Whoa!

Thak’s very much Chris (1st comment yay!)

I noticed a massive speed difference immediately!!

Looking forward to more tips!

wow you have 3 videos in less then 2 or 3 hours

that program sounds rlly great. Blocking sites and especially TYPO correctors :) they come in useful :)

OVER 90000000000000000000000000

but…..but…..i like porn

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!

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 :)

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

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

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

Thanks! I can tell my speed is a bit faster…:)

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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.

Thanks! I can tell my speed is a bit faster…:)

Thanks - I learned soooooooo much - Thanks

Kind of reminds me of how I’m making air conditioning tutorials in the nude.

Thanks - I learned soooooooo much - Thanks

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

dns made my intenet faster thanks

This is very good information about networking. thanks

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