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Is it worth swapping to openDNS

God
Grafter
Posts: 1,112
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I have been reading about open DNS and wondered if any forum users who have used it noticed any distinct disadvantages (or major advantages) over using the regular plusnet DNS. Also does plusnet itself have an opinion on the use of openDNS over its own server?
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dvorak
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I use OpenDNS, found it to be more reliable than the PN ones (see on going thread in community support), you can always set one DNS server to be openDNS and the other to be PN for some redundancy.
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Oldjim
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I have now switched permanently to OpenDNS as I have given up on the Plusnet servers which are obviously classed as a value added product  Grin
jelv
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Does OpenDNS still give you sponsored sites when you mistype a URL?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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dvorak
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

yup.
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Oldjim
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I don't think so although I am not sure about the "do you mean" site as clicking on it reported it as not loading and a load more searches for pds.net
dvorak
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Here is a screen shot of sponsored links
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Oldjim
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Yup - it looks as though you get the sponsored links when the search engine can't find anything remotely near what you typed
bobpullen
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I personally use a PN server as my primary and an OpenDNS one as my secondary. I hard code these in the TCP/IP properties of my network adapter and it offers a bit of redundancy in case there's problems with our servers (or OpenDNS's). Our servers will always be faster (when we're not having problems of course!) due to their location.
I also use OpenDNS as secondary for when I'm not connected to the PN network e.g. a wireless hotspot (the PN servers can't be used if you're not connecting through our network).

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God
Grafter
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Thanks for the responses folks. I will do a little experimenting!
jelv
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Quote from: Oldjim
I don't think so although I am not sure about the "do you mean" site as clicking on it reported it as not loading and a load more searches for pds.net

The correct Firefox screen response to to URL you tried is attached.
So OpenDNS intercepts your request and serves you up sponsored links instead. I bet they keep loads of history on your browsing.
I wonder how many people who use OpenDNS would opt in to Phorm? I don't see an awful lot difference between them and wouldn't touch either with a barge pole.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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MrC
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

Quote from: jelv
So OpenDNS intercepts your request and serves you up sponsored links instead. I bet they keep loads of history on your browsing.
I wonder how many people who use OpenDNS would opt in to Phorm? I don't see an awful lot difference between them and wouldn't touch either with a barge pole.

That's a wee bit paranoid, especially as there's nothing stopping any upstream DNS provider keeping and analysing traffic stats.
OpenDNS only stick their oar in when a domain can't be resolved so it's hardly intrusive, otherwise you don't see any difference from any other resolver. And it's your choice if you use it or not - unlike the opt-in/out shenanigans of Phorm. At least it's obvious what's happening and can be ignored.
Plus OpenDNS give you some really useful addons - anyone worried about young kids or other vulnerable groups accessing dodgy websites should have a look at their free domain blocking service (which also blocks known malware/phishing/etc sites).
Mike
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

I'd agree with Bob point about PNs DNS being faster when it works.
Reliable and known performance are probably more valuable than fast/non-existent/fast/slow transitions.
I'll no doubt move back to PNs at some point in the future, but at the minute I have my DNS forwarders pointing elsewhere.
Oldjim
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

@jelv
As I blocked all OpenDNS cookies I am not too worried
jelv
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Re: Is it worth swapping to openDNS

The primary DNS on my Windows XP PC is 127.0.0.1 as I'm running my own caching DNS server. All requests start from the TLD and will get the answers from the relevant auth servers.
I'm totally immune to problems like the current ones. I'm also better protected from the "up to 48 hours" delays waiting for DNS updates to propagate to the PN servers!
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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