OpenDNS benefits

[handscombmp]

I've seen a numerous number of people say that they use OpenDNS over their ISP's one's but i was wondering what are the actual benefits.

[Jay]

OpenDNS can log internet use etc but unless your ISP is really poor I doubt there are any benefits to OpenDNS

[PeteSmith]

OpenDNS does much more than allowing you to log internet use, it allows you to filter websites, specific web content you do not want available over your LAN. This means you can stop your kids from looking at things they shouldn't, or prevent banner/ads' for adult, gambling or phishing sites. (That is until they figure how to change the DNS settings back)

Also many people use it becauses it's faster than their ISP's DNS servers, i originally started using it when i was with Virgin, since moving to ADSL24 it's less of a problem, but i still use them for the filtering.

In a nutshell it allows you a greater degree of control over your internet content filtering.

[jimbouk]

Bethere DNS was really slow for me so it just made things faster. Stuck it on the router and forgot about it, everything is a bit faster

[Splash]

I set my parents' connection up and have it block sites that are likely to cause me to need to go and repeatedly fix their PC.

Me? I use it because it's speedy (far quicker than Be's) and it saves me the hassle of running my own local DNS server.

[Blastuk]

I'm running my own dns server, but before that I used to use opendns as it was a lot more reliable and faster than isp dns servers.
They have several features that you can use.. like custom url shortcuts that you create yourself for all comps that use the service (like a simple word for a url; type "mail" and it'll take you to yahoomail.com or something)
I can't remember why but the method they used to identify who it is doesn't work for my set up so I never used it.

[blackbirds]

Personally, I thought OpenDNS was rubbish just because it stole all my nonsence URL requests, which totally broke the main reason that I fell in love with Firefox, which is its ability to turn me typing "bbc weather" into taking me direct to the BBC weather website. The problem's that when normally the DNS lookup fails, Firefox will try what you typed in the address bar with Google, and if it finds a strong enough result, it'll forward you straight to that page. With OpenDNS in control, if a DNS lookup fails, it refers you on to its own search engine (which is probably based off Google's, but whatever) adding an annoying extra click and a mouse movement to the process of accessing a website. As someone who is incredibly lazy, that's just too much activity for me to tolerate. I like things done for me with as little mental and physical effort and as little delay as possible, so no OpenDNS for me, even despite its advantages that've been described by the more energetic contributors to this thread.

[jimbouk]

With OpenDNS in control, if a DNS lookup fails, it refers you on to its own search engine

I'm sure this was previously discussed on Hexus and can be turned off...

[blackbirds]

I'm sure this was previously discussed on Hexus and can be turned off...

Ah - that could be interesting, then. I'll have to have a ganders at that.

[latrosicarius]

My ISP (verizon) DNS can't just give me a nice 404 error when a site is not found. Instead, it redirects me to a verizon.com page that says "did you mean blah blah blah ?"

That page is not only incredibly inaccurate at guessing what I actually did mean, but it also provides me the added annoyance of now having to completely retype my URL in the addressbar, since it is now "verizon.com/xxxxxxxxxxxx" instead of "gooogle.com", where otherwise I could just take out an "o" and hit Enter.

I wonder if OpenDNS does this same crap, or it will just allow the default 404 page to show ?

[jimbouk]

I wonder if OpenDNS does this same crap, or it will just allow the default 404 page to show ?

By default it shows the annoying crap...

[RADCOM]

I've found OpenDNS a tad faster than VirginMedia's default DNS. try it and see if you like it you can always switch back.

[watercooled]

VM started doing something similar with DNS lookup errors but you can opt-out by following the instructions on this page: https://my.virginmedia.com/advancederrorsearch/settings

[kalniel]

Because O2's DNS server falls over about once a month

[PatK]

Some speed tests I did between Virgin and OpenDNS seemed to suggest Virgin was much faster for me. Having said that, if you want an effective web filtering solution it's hard to beat OpenDNS.. Ideal for blocking out a lot of sites likely to install malware etc

[narz]

is there any equivalent to openDNS ?