Best free and public DNS servers of 2020

[uk666]

Best free and public DNS servers of 2020

What is DNS?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. We access information online through domain names. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.

Each device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address which other machines use to find the device. DNS servers eliminate the need for humans to memorize IP addresses such as 192.168.1.1 (in IPv4), or more complex newer alphanumeric IP addresses such as 2400:cb00:2048:1::c629:d7a2 (in IPv6).

Your ISP will assign you DNS servers whenever you connect to the internet, but these may not always be the best choice. Slow DNS servers can cause a lag before websites start to load, and if your server sometimes goes down, you may not be able to access any sites at all.

Switching to a free public DNS server can make a real difference, with more responsive browsing and lengthy 100% uptime records meaning there's much less chance of technical problems.

Some services can also block access to phishing or infected sites, and a few offer content filtering to keep your kids away from the worst of the web.

Primary DNS servers are sometimes called preferred DNS servers and secondary DNS servers sometimes alternate DNS servers. Primary and secondary DNS servers can be "mixed and matched" from different providers to protect you if the primary provider has problems.

If you're an old hand at swapping DNS, you can get started immediately by reconfiguring your device to use the OpenDNS nameservers.

Best three free and public DNS servers

OpenDNS

Primary, secondary DNS servers: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

Founded in 2005 and now owned by Cisco, OpenDNS is one of the biggest names in public DNS

The free service offers plenty of benefits: high speeds, 100% uptime, phishing sites blocked by default, optional parental controls-type web filtering to block websites by content type, along with free email support if anything goes wrong.

Commercial plans enable viewing a history of your internet activity for up to the last year, and can optionally lock down your system by allowing access to specific websites only. These aren't going to be must-have features for the average user, but if you're interested, they can be yours for around $20 (£14.30) a year.

Just have free DNS without creating an account.

https://welcome.opendns.com/
https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/

Put in the OpenDNS server addresses as your DNS server settings and save/apply.

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Cache Flushing.

In Microsoft Windows, you can flush the local DNS cache using the ipconfig /flushdns command in a Command Prompt.

test your new settings.

https://welcome.opendns.com/

Cloudflare

Primary, secondary DNS servers: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1

Best known for its top-rated content delivery network, Cloudflare has extended its range to include a new public DNS service, the catchily-named 1.1.1.1.

The product doesn't have any of the extras you'll often see elsewhere. There's no anti-phishing, no ad-blocking, no content filtering or other attempts to monitor or control what you can access, and what you can't.

Instead, Cloudflare has focused much more on the fundamentals. These start with performance, and independent testing from sites like DNSPerf shows Cloudflare is the fastest public DNS service around.

Privacy is another major highlight. Cloudflare doesn't just promise that it won't use your browsing data to serve ads; it commits that it will never write the querying IP address (yours) to disk. Any logs that do exist will be deleted within 24 hours. And these claims aren't just reassuring words on a website. Cloudflare has retained KPMG to audit its practices annually and produce a public report to confirm the company is delivering on its promises.

https://1.1.1.1/

Put in the OpenDNS server addresses as your DNS server settings and save/apply.

1.1.1.1

1.0.0.1

Cache Flushing.

In Microsoft Windows, you can flush the local DNS cache using the ipconfig /flushdns command in a Command Prompt.

test your new settings.

https://welcome.opendns.com/

 Google Public DNS

Primary, secondary DNS servers: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Google has its fingers in most web-related pies, and DNS is no exception: it's free Public DNS is a simple and effective replacement for your own ISP's nameservers.

Privacy can't quite match the 'we don't keep anything' promises of Cloudflare, but it's not bad. The service logs the full IP address information of the querying device for around 24 to 48 hours for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes. 'Permanent' logs drop any personally identifiable information and reduce location details to the city level, and all but a small random sample of these are deleted after two weeks.

There's a further benefit for experienced users in Google's detailed description of the service. If you'd like to be able to assess the significance of Google's privacy policy, for instance, you can read up on absolutely everything the service logs contain to find out for yourself.

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/

Put in the OpenDNS server addresses as your DNS server settings and save/apply.

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

Cache Flushing.

In Microsoft Windows, you can flush the local DNS cache using the ipconfig /flushdns command in a Command Prompt.

test your new settings.

https://welcome.opendns.com/

If you're a newbie.

Some site offers only very basic guidance targeted at experienced users, warning that "only users who are proficient with configuring operating system settings [should] make these changes." If you're unsure what you're doing, here are sits that give setup instructions for PCs, Macs, mobile devices, routers.

Check the tutorials:

https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/
https://www.howtogeek.com/167533/the-ultimate-guide-to-changing-your-dns-server/
https://www.dignited.com/33627/change-your-phone-dns-server/

https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/ is really good.

 

[micro22]

Thanks. With a VPN, which DNS are used? Mine or the DNS provided by the 'VPN service' ?

[BamSec1]

5 hours ago, micro22 said:

Thanks. With a VPN, which DNS are used? Mine or the DNS provided by the 'VPN service' ?

If your VPN service is not slowing down too much your internet speed, you could keep that.

However, switching and trying doesn't harm your PC, you can always set it back to what it was.

After changing DNS, test your speed with SPEEDTEST_1 or/and SPEEDTEST_2

[uk666]

Depending on how your VPN is configured, your VPN company might or might not use the same DNS.

You can find out if your DNS is being changed, by your VPN company when it connected.

On windows:
Go to Start > Run and type cmd. (administrator privileges) On Windows 10, press Windows key + X.

At a command prompt, type nslookup and then press Enter. 

This will show:

Default Server: Your DNS server
Address: Your IP address

Note the numbers of the Default Server.

If you do this before and after connecting to a VPN and if the DNS server listed doesn't change, then your DNS isn't being assigned by your VPN.

Note, your IP address should change if the VPN is working properly.

Edited February 3, 2020 by uk666

[bluescope]

Note that if your VPN provider allows, entering their DNS server numbers into your network via Internet and Network settings (uk666 provides good links to tutorials above), as a permanent change, you will be able to use the VPN's DNS servers even when you are not connected to the VPN's network. That is, your ISP will NOT be able to see where you go, what you look at, etc. because the ISP cannot read the connection information of the VPN's DNS servers. All your ISP will see is outgoing connection from you to the VPN's DNS server(s) and what happens after is not seen by your ISP. This, of course, also applies to the free DNS servers or, in fact any DNS servers other than the ISP's own servers. All IP lookups must go through a DNS server of course but, as noted above about free DNS servers, that doesn't have to be your ISP (assuming your particular ISP's network doesn't stop working if you change it's dedicated DNS servers).

@BamSec1 Correct me if I'm wrong, but DNS servers should have no or little impact on computer connection speed per se , since all they do is work like a telephone directory, connecting IP requests, translating HTTP and other URL protocols into numbers, and 'dialling' - waiting for a 'Hello'. It is the tunneling and the other aspects of creating and running the networks - including the number of users connected to a particular server in the VPN network, that server's speed, and related hits on speed that occur, just as with one's own ISP network and the node one is connected to and all the other many factors that affect network speed.

I am very lucky to have broadband cable to the home, and because the cabling length to the nearest junction node is less than 200 metres, I get download speeds on average of around 210 mbs - 26 and a bit MB/s (sometimes soaring to as much as  280 mbs - 35 MB/s - depending on time of night - late is best). Because of this, granted I may not notice a hit anyway. My VPN is NordVPN and I most often use their Onion-Over-VPN service and have NordVPN's DNS servers permanently setup in network settings (as mentioned above). I long for the day when we will all have gigabit connections - up and down. I'll ask Santa ?

 

Maz (bluescope)

I am woman, hear me giggle!