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OpenDNS - Fast, Feature Rich and FREE
DNS issues are something that isn’t discussed widely, but when they affect you - you’ll know it. When your browser says “Looking up www.xxx.xxx…” and then says it can’t find anything - the reason is generally because your DNS servers provided by the ISP aren’t responding quickly enough.
Comcast has had troubles with their DNS servers off and on, as well as AT&T - and once it happened to me with my BellSouth (now AT&T) DSL - I was freaking out.
That is when I learned about OpenDNS. It’s a public project that is FREE and provides you with a super fast DNS service as well as other great features - especially for families. You are able to block certain website categories, suspected phishing sites and much more - and it is all done by people. People utilize OpenDNS tools to assist in the categorization and tagging of domains so that the consensus answer is utilized to protect others as appropriate.
Rich Features from OpenDNS
You can get full statistics of your traffic and DNS usage (and the # of individual websites you visit in a single day may surprise you!) and much more for protecting your family. What better than a FREE service to block specific websites, types of websites including those about hatred, pornography or other risque topics from your children? Plus, you can update it from any web connection anywhere without installing any software or changing anything in your home network. It’s all in the service provided by OpenDNS by simply updating your DNS servers in your home router. Stop it at the door, not in your childs bedroom.
If a website can’t be loaded or found, you can even have a custom search page to assist you in finding what you are looking for - with your logo and all - maybe even your family photo!
I have found their service to be extremely useful, reliable and beneficial. You can use it too - and they’ll step you through the setup of your network (I stuck their server IPs in my router to bypass the ISP) in just a few minutes.
Here’s some additional information from OpenDNS regarding their Domain Tagging project:
Domain Tagging is the People-Powered Security System that uses the intelligence of the community to perform a security function. Community members submit domains into the system and tag them with a category such as “gambling,” “hate,” “video sharing” or “social networking.” Other community members vote on the accuracy of the submitter’s tag. There is a trust metric built into the system so the more a community member votes and the more accurate their votes are the more weight they carry.
Once a tagged domain crosses a threshold of accurate votes, it is added into that category in the OpenDNS system and blocked across the OpenDNS service in real-time, instead of requiring a weekly or nightly update like other filtering tools. The service also provides network administrators the flexibility to block individual domains if they don’t desire to block access to an entire category.
“This is an awesome milestone for Domain Tagging and a testament and credit to all the hard work being done by the tens of thousands of OpenDNS community members,” said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. “This system is directly benefitting thousands of homes, schools and businesses around the world by liberating them from paying top dollar to security companies simply for filtering access to unsafe or otherwise inappropriate Web sites. OpenDNS provides an invaluable service for network administrators that is a true game-changer for the Internet security industry.”
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS is free to use and makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. Based in San Francisco, the company operates a large distributed network that powers a new kind of recursive DNS (Domain Name System) service that provides all Internet users increased security, reliability and performance. OpenDNS is thoroughly committed to building and operating the best DNS platform in the world and to improving the Internet. For more information about OpenDNS, please visit: http://www.opendns.com.
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