New DNS service

I have tried this service today and it seems faster, if any of you like to try give it a shot.
https://blog.cloudflare.com/announcing-1111/
https://1.1.1.1/

 

Nice. I was going to post about this but forgot.

 

Testing.

 

Let us know what you find! I'm curious to hear your results.

 

I'm using it for almost 11 hours, and it seems good and fast to me. I'll keep using it, I was using Google DNS 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4 before.

 

I've been using the 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 for several days.

 

I'm finding this service to be faster than OpenDNS or Google and certainly more so than the standard Comcast servers. Using 1.1.1.1 also seems to have resolved the occasional lag and slow downloads/streaming that would occur when connected to a VPN. I thought it was the VPN service itself, but I think now I can confidently blame Comcast.

 

Domain Name Speed Benchmark
New Release adds nameservers 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 9.9.9.9
Are your DNS nameservers impeding your Internet experience?
https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

DNS Benchmark Software: Find The Fastest DNS
1st Dec, 2017 Ashish Mundhra
https://www.shoutmeloud.com/dns-benchmark-find-the-fastest-dns.html

"Most of the internet users do not pay attention to the DNS server they use to connect to the internet and use the default DNS server provided by their I.S.P. Some of us who know something about these stuffs are intelligent enough to choose form Wide list of DNS Providers. For long time OpenDNS ruled the market and now Google Public DNS.

There were too many choices for the user leaving them to wonder which one is efficient and fast form another. So, how do we know which DNS server is the fastest and more reliable? We can’t rely on other users benchmarks, since the results often depend upon geographic location. Now there is a simple way to find your DNS server’s speed by using DNS Benchmark tool released by GRC.

How to use DNS Benchmark?
DNS Benchmark bundled with a list of all popular public DNS servers and automatically includes the DNS servers that are being used by host system. In addition host also has the option of manually adding any DNS server benchmark. You can use it for DNS speed test.

After you run the small program just click on Run Benchmark. It will automatically test all the name servers present in the list for performance. It also offers a helpful summary and list of recommendations based on the result of the benchmark.

GRC has built a reputation for developing high quality freeware. DNSBenchmark is no different. Like all GRC freeware, DNS Benchmark is a tiny download which doesn’t require any installation.

Use it, if you want to find out which DNS server is fastest for you. My results are shown above. Did you get similar results? Or were they completely different? Don’t forget to let us know.

• Download DNS Benchmark (150 KB)
• License: Freeware
• Operating System: Windows all (Linux and Mac through Wine)

Do let us know if you are using any other DNS bench-marking tool to find the fastest DNS for your ISP? Which DNS worked the best for your internet connection?"

A bit more step by step "How to":

How to Choose the Best (and Fastest) Alternative DNS Server
by Chris Hoffman on February 19th, 2018
https://www.howtogeek.com/342330/how-to-choose-the-best-and-fastest-alternative-dns-server/

 

Great tool, thanks.
This is my results:

 

As it turns out the new nameservers under discussion aren't the fastest for my locations. I thought others might want to run the benchmark, make the custom resolver list, test again and figure out what really is the fastest for their location.

namebench is another helpful tool, but a bit dated (2010):
https://code.google.com/archive/p/namebench/

 

Yes, in my location OpenDNS wins.

 

I created the custom top 50 Nameservers list then ran the DNS Benchmark 3 times.
The 1.1.1.1 was #1 while 1.0.0.1 was #2 in testing but the difference in the top 10 scores was separated only by 2 MS MAX response times.
In a 4th test the 1.0.0.1 bested the 1.1.1.1 that was on top after the first 3 runs.
I'll run the DNS Benchmark on my other PCs later today.

I'm still a bit uncomfortable today after MOHS yesterday on a Basil Cell spot at my right temple region.Had 3 others removed late last year on face and legs.

 

Going to give these DNS Servers a chance. Thanks! Yeah, you can confidently blame Comcast. As you prob. know or tried, SSL or SSH via your VPN helps with Comcast throttling or shaping. But if you have your own equipment, and beg a kind Tier II, they'll let you set your gateway up with a static IP. Then I bridged that 3in1 gateway w/ a static IP to another router -which really helped my speeds. YMMV. Thanks again!

 

DNS won't affect speed/consistency of downloads/streaming. It's more for initial lockups, once a connection is initiated it won't help with streaming, downloads etc.

You stream/download issues are probably due to a peering issue between Comcast and source of content or due to congestion, which is where having more DL channels helps on (cable) modems even if you don't have high speed plans. Comcast and CenturyLink usually expect YouTube, Netflix etc to pay for improved capacity between each other and the latter expect Comcast to pay and you end up in a situation like you have.

 

Personally, my speeds were only slower during peak hours (as u mentioned congestion) and when connected to a VPN. No VPN, speeds were fine. Friend with same VPN but in a nearby but generally different area had strong speeds with same VPN proxy/IP (so it wasn’t VPN). Using SSL and having more control over my gateway and router’s settings (including DNS servers) helped (so yeah, not a DNS issue entirely, more so the last hops). I just wanted to mention to the one person who had Comcast issues what worked for me. Good point, and thank you!

 

Just wanted to mention try upgrading if you have an SB6141 which only has 8 Downlink channels to an SB6183 (16) or SB8200 (32 + DOCSIS 3.1 Support), even if your ISP speeds are only 60-70 Mbps like mine but more so if you are at the modem's limit, it will spread the load better when certain channels are congested. In my area DOCSIS3.1 is enabled for downlink. Just make sure not to get the SB6190 (32 Channels DOCSIS3.0) it uses the Intel Puma 6 Chipset which has major latency/jitter issues which are still not fixed after like 2 years which may mean its a hardware issue, they managed to mask it in a recent update but its not solved from what I hear. I ended up buying the SB8200 since they have DOCSIS3.1 in my area anyway.

 

Good stuff! Comcast really limits the use of compatible 3rd party equipment (I don’t want to rent their stuff)... esp. if you need a 3in1 gateway for VOIP (which I do). I shall check into this... again, great feedback, thank you!!

 

That's great, always good to verify what you hope is true.

You might also try running the test / benchmark, then right click and sort by uncached performance, to see which is closest to the root dns servers. Cached performance shows who's closest to you, uncached is who's closest to the root servers.

I hope that DNS update helps your performance overall. I notice a difference from the default DNS through the provider and between OpenDNS servers.

 

One of the fastest for me is 9.9.9.9. Hadn't heard of it, but it seems a new service (aug. 2016) by IBM and a few other big players:

Code:

Details on IP address 9.9.9.9
#
# ARIN WHOIS data and services are subject to the Terms of Use
# available at: https://www.arin.net/whois_tou.html
#
# If you see inaccuracies in the results, please report at
# https://www.arin.net/public/whoisinaccuracy/index.xhtml
#

#
# The following results may also be obtained via:
# https://whois.arin.net
#

NetRange:       9.9.9.0 - 9.9.9.255
CIDR:           9.9.9.0/24
NetName:        CLEAN-97
NetHandle:      NET-9-9-9-0-1
Parent:         NET9 (NET-9-0-0-0-0)
NetType:        Direct Assignment
OriginAS:     
Organization:   Quad9 (CLEAN-97)
RegDate:        2017-09-13
Updated:        2017-09-13
Ref:            https://whois.arin.net

OrgName:        Quad9
OrgId:          CLEAN-97
Address:        1600 Shattuck Ave Ste 212
City:           Berkeley
StateProv:      CA
PostalCode:     94709
Country:        US
RegDate:        2017-09-07
Updated:        2017-09-21
Comment:        https://9.9.9.9
Comment:        Global Public Recursive DNS Resolver

About Quad9:

Will add it as primary DNS and the ISP's as secondary. Don't tend to click on mail links myself, but a dozen others use this router as well and not all of them are tech-savvy.

 

I wanna try this but in my router, shall I put 9.9.9.9 as DNS 1? what about DNS 2?

 

Use DNS Bench: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm, enter the DNS's you want to test in manual settings and it will add them to the overall compare list which has many more DNS. This way you don't need to test each one individually.

 

You should run the DNS Benchmark first, then ok creating the custom list, then run the DNS Benchmark once more, and pick 2 of the top responders (uncached and cached) for DNS 1 and DNS 2 in your router, and I also set them on my individual devices, rather than going through the router.

There are 2 entries, DNS1 and DNS2 so that if the DNS1 server goes down or becomes unreachable then the router / device can use DNS2 as an alternative. I usually use two completely different providers for DNS1/DNS2, that way in case the DNS1 Provider's BGP routes go wonky the DNS2 points to a whole different network, not just a different server on the same providers network mesh.

That way you *know* and use DNS servers that respond the quickest. I run it every few months just for fun, to see if anything has changed, which it often does, then I update my router and network devices again.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/new-dns-service.815123/#post-10710562

 

I used OpenDNS for the longest time, then they seemed to get slow. Google's public DNS never worked well for me. Then I moved and changed modems/routers and simply forgot about testing new services because Comcast's seemed to be fine. Upon checking again, 1.1.1.1 is indeed the most responsive for me, and I like that they have IPv6 compatibility that 9.9.9.9 doesn't (at least not that I can find, someone post a link correcting me).

 

If you want to use this DNS (or any other) then set it to DNS #1, the secondary is a fallback option in case the primary is down. If it's essential to be certain that your devices always use the same DNS then leave the second blank or, if that is not permitted, set it to the same ip as the primary.

Mind that checking speed first is important. It just happens to be a very fast one for my location, so the additional layer of security is a nice bonus.

Why would you do that? Risk of viruses hi-jacking the device settings?

 

It's a good way to visit each configuration and make any tweaks needed / discovered over time. Rather than assume, I know how things are set, because I set them.

 

Cloudflares seems to be fastest for me from Comcast (Seattle) on 1.1.1.1 and from Spectrum (Tampa) 1.0.0.1 obviously ISP DNS shows as faster but...from both locations its faster than Google on my end. Never really gave OpenDNS a shot though...just set these in router since April 1st and have had no downtime as of yet! only when closest node decided to kick the bucket for 18 hours.

 

If you take the extra step of making the Custom list offered after the first benchmark run, it takes about 15-30minutes, you will also be shown infrastructure DNS's that allow public use - and those are faster for uncached requests because they are "closer" to the root DNS servers.

After you make the Custom list, run the benchmark again, note the top cached response DNS servers, then right click on the list and sort by uncached performance to see those fastest servers, and pick 2 to try.

For me the infrastructure DNS servers are faster for sites I haven't gone to, and I already have a local cached DNS list, so for the most part sorting by uncached performance and using those top servers gives me the best performance.

The Open DNS are much slower, and the Cloudflare servers aren't even in the first page of fastest servers for me.

 

Guess theres always Yandex DNS

 

Put in your current DNS address or leave it blank it to use Etisalat Default DNS.

 

@t456 Quad9 is very snappy than Google DNS. I just typed DNS 1 and DNS 2 was left blank. +reps added.
I will try CloudFare as well.

 

You don't want to leave DNS2 blank, you need DNS2 filled in with an alternative server IP to DNS1 - don't put in the same IP in both blanks. Do this in case DNS1 stops working, amazingly servers go down at times, or routes to those servers go down, even DNS servers. I usually use a completely different route / service provider for the DNS2 from the DNS1.

 

The DNS Benchmark has almost 4000 DNS servers programmed in to it, so there are plenty of other alternatives.

 

I tried Cloudfare as DNS2 but it was slowing things down. Now, if it fails I might go to Cloudfare. For now I am quite happy with Quad9 Thanks to wizard @t456 . t456 do you actually teach at Hogwarts?

 

DNS2 is only used if DNS1 fails to respond...although it can be used in other situations depending on the coding of the device; the reason for DNS2 is as a backup for DNS1.

@Vasudev - if you only have 1 *favorite* DNS server to put in DNS1, and haven't an idea what to put in DNS2, then download and run that DNS Benchmark program, and read my posts for the suggestions on how to run and find the top uncached performance and cached performance DNS servers, and pick the top one for DNS2. Annnnd, you may find that there is several faster DNS server from another service you could put in as DNS1/DNS2 pairings.

 

Hopefully not too off-topic. But if you use an iphone there's a cool App called DNSOverride. You can set it up to disable ipv6 and it will also help prevent leaks.
https://www.dnsoverride.com/
I'm back to strictly OpenDNS (and my VPNs DNS). Cloudfare seemed like it might have been re-directing.
If you aren't already try throwing the OpenDNS alternatives into your Adapter (so for e.g., router I'll use the main 208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220, then for my machines adapters I'll plug in the 208.67.222.220 / 208.67.220.222 ).

 

Good suggestions. I also disable all the Windows subdrivers for devices except for ipv4 - with all the holes in SMB and other discovery protocols it's best disabled completely as possible.

If you want detailed info on redirects and other shenanigans DNS servers pull, download that old Google hosted DNS app namebench I posted earlier, it will give lots (like wow) info about what a DNS server is pulling.

Note: the default 250 count setting for namebench is good, but I found 50 is enough for the meat of the testing. The 250 count is good to see more results deeper into slower servers.

 

Cloudflare's DoH Public DNS servers

dnscrypt-proxy

Running a DNS over HTTPS Client

Spoiler: VPN + DoH

 

Running DNS Benchmark, its kind of cool to see the company that I work for show up in the list

 

NTT or OpenDNS?
@Dr. AMK Try sorting DNS speed based on uncached test. I too got OpenDNS as faster alternative to Google/Quad9/CF DNS acc. to DNS bench tool from GRC.

 

Thank you for sharing this awesome DNS benchmarking tool. I was under the impression anyone who goes out of their way to use a VPN would never use stock ISP-provided DNS's due to security concerns / injections in the first place. In fact, my VPN provides their own DNS which I happily use because I trust them and their services I subscribe to (can't wait to see how they compare to others).

FWIW I find my connection faster and more stable by setting it up as a built-in Windows IKEv2 VPN connection rather than using my VPN's provided application to connect for me. The drawbacks however, are that I can't use their built-in ad filtering and extra security protections as well as their auto-kill features... but Windows at least offers a cutoff in the event it loses connection which is better than nothing.

I always disable my ipv6 for my devices based on my VPN's suggestion. I also run the following Chrome extensions: HTTPS Everywhere, AdGuard or UBlock Origin (only one or the other at a time depending on the day or week), Privacy Badger, and WebRTC Network Limiter.

I find ipleak.net to be the most comprehensive leak tester for me that brought things such as RTC leaks to my attention.

 

That is all good stuff, and I do about the same myself, extensions or plugin's vary by browser, and I have added to Chrome the ScriptSafe and the Adblocker for Youtube and Facebook - I used to use NoScript - still do actually in some profiles, but ScriptSafe has been interesting to use - I also load a whole bunch of block lists for crypto coin among many other things.

The idea behind using different DNS servers than ISP, VPN, or other services providers (Google) is that you spread the data points around - outside the purview of all one entity - think of it as making them "work for it" if they want it all

Plus, it's good to change things up and keep yourself sharp and in focus - humans forget things easily and the most important thing you can do to stay sharp is stay connected to everything that counts - refreshing as often as necessary.

Plus it's fun stuff. Have fun

 

I totally agree with your thinking of "not all in one place". I just figured most/all public DNS servers carry risks of collecting information on you since nothing is truly free really and I don't trust Google NOT to collect information on me.

If you or others think CloudFlare or Quad9 are safe to use from a security standpoint, I am definitely excited to use them.

I've just been more comfortable with my VPN's provided DNS servers since I do in fact pay for their services. I have just been dealing with the slight performance hit since it is all a package deal and easy to set and forget. I forgot, I also run the YouTube adblocker too on my Chrome.

I hope to go to school for Networking & Security at some point... I've already got all my gen-eds and electives out of the way in addition to some comp sci credits, but I've also long been interested in Mechatronics (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Computer, Systems & Controls, Robotics, etc) engineering and was even accepted as a transfer student for Mechatronics Engineering at CSU Chico (although I am unable to attend due to life logistics).

At this point I would be happy just landing a Help Desk job to get me started down the path.

 

Forgive my stupidity, but what do these results mean exactly?

 

I don't think any of us can guarantee any of these providers are "safe", there are too many variables and over time they change. People come and go, responsibilities and focus change, and there are enough "holes" unknown that noone can cover what they aren't aware of

That's why I change it up from time to time, "spread the pain around", and it averages out over time. It's a good way to provide some level of exposure averaging.

It's not that big of deal, and if you are comfortable with the response time and coverage, check them out with namebench see how they are redirecting and spoofing DNS responses (it's enlightening), being forewarned is forearmed.

There's nothing wrong with school, I've done a lot of it, but I've learned 100x more outside of school on my own, and in fact I used to do tutoring in classes I was taking and higher level courses I hadn't taken yet, due to all of my work experience and independent application of technology, years ahead of school.

And, that's really not a big deal, as I think anyone can do this themselves. Push your boundries and you'll find the structure of school is there for their ease, not your's, and you can balance both - good experience when you have to work with people of all ranges of experience. Respect them and they will accept and respect you.

You have to start somewhere, and when you are ready to level up, you'll know, sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes there are other skills besides technical ones to focus on to reach the next rung on the ladder.

Again, it's supposed to be fun, not work, that's the great thing about doing what you enjoy and are good at doing, you make everyone else happy and at the same time put a smile on your face. Noone else will or can work as hard as you can to make life work for you.

 

I personally greatly dislike school in the traditional sense- it makes me feel so trapped and confined. I really prefer first hand experience and learning by doing- I think it is more valuable and practical. I've been going back and forth over the years, hence my lack of degree, lol. Yet I still seem to know far more practical things than 95% of my friends. I know I will get where I want to eventually but it is unfortunate more companies/people don't value experience over schooling. When I used to work industrial construction, everybody hated the idiots in clean white hardhats and safety vests walking around with their degrees and clipboards barking orders that they think they know best because it looks good on paper, yet fail to realize they are extremely impractical when forcing us to actually implement them.

 

Does it matter if all my DNS settings are already using my VPN's DNS when performing this test or should I switch them back to my default ISP's DNS before performing the benchmark?

Here are my results with my current DNS set to my VPN's (looks like my VPN's DNS tanked):



NOTE: the first two (left two) are sorted uncached and the last two (right two) are sorted cached

 

Exactly, that's why I what I was alluding to when getting along with different kinds of people with different perspectives in the work place. You have to put yourself in their shoes, their insecurities and strengths, and meet them halfway, if you show them respect and step up with good intent and follow through with good work and commitment, it all flows easily and moves forward - which is what everyone needs and wants in a work situation.

School is a work situation, and has it's own rules from the perspective of all involved. Getting along there, finding a good center and breadth of experience playing those roles goes a long way to finding the same in a paying workplace.

Hands on is the key, putting parts together, configuring things so that they interact correctly, efficiently, and complete to a goal is something that most book students don't have a perspective with until they start working.

That's why I recommend people try to find work in their field during school. Either at the same time - what I did - or during summers and breaks. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Just as taking different disciplines in school gives valuable perspective for cross experience that helps pull things together, so does application of theory to practical experience.

More than anything, when I interview for a job or position, they want to see my work experience, not my school work or grades.

If you can't get paid work, do volunteer work, or work on open source projects - as that applies to your interests. Anything that shows you can start something and finish it within a work schedule for delivery as promised, and that in itself is rare among students.

Even if you have work in unrelated fields, or non-technical work. There is so much to learn just to be able to show up to a job on time, and have enough consistency to show you can apply yourself as a reliable person.

It's all interconnected, and as you grow through learning, gain expertise, and become knowledgeable in your field - becoming a specialty expert in various focuses within your area of work, it's almost like you wish you could go back to school to apply that discipline to learning - you'd get more out of it - it's a brief feeling, and it passes, but there it is.

Anyway, put together a nice network of computers, configure router software, dns software, set up source control, and build OS's or do development as you are interested, and just become a good OS user first, then grow from there.

Help Desk is fun, you get to help people, and that's what it's really all about, we are here to help each other.

 

That's a good question, and the answer is you can run the test as your current configuration is, and then when you find "better" servers to use set those up and run the tests again.

 

Neustar Inc

 

I think it had worse response time pinging from India. Sorry about that!