Thursday, March 4, 2010

OpenDNS vs Google Public DNS

There are many reasons why sometimes you can’t browse the internet. One of these reasons can be that you have a so-called dirty or noisy DSL line. Another probable reason is that your ISP’s name resolver (DNS server) is so busy that it slows down to the point that it does not respond anymore.

This is a very common problem experienced by PLDT DSL subscribers. Globe Broadband users also suffer from this conundrum.

The solution to this problem is to simply change your computer’s DNS server address manually. Either set it to OpenDNS address or to Google Public DNS address. Either one will work and is SO much better than PLDT’s DNS servers.

But which one is better: OpenDNS or Google Public DNS?

OpenDNS has loads of features (e.g.: adult-filtering, anti-phishing, typo-correcting, and many more). Parents will find these very useful as they can configure settings for each of their children’s PCs from virtually any terminal that has internet access. OpenDNS also redirects you to their search portal if you inadvertently entered a non-existing domain name.

On the other hand, Google Public DNS has absolutely nothing what-so-ever feature. And they are committed, according to them, that they will never add a redirector to those non-existing domain names.

Less is More
In my ping test, Google Public DNS appears to be faster than OpenDNS:

  C:\>ping 208.67.222.222 (OpenDNS)
  Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=204ms
  Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=188ms
  Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=210ms
  Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=208ms
    Minimum = 188ms, Maximum = 218ms, Average = 206ms

  C:\>ping 8.8.8.8 (Google Public DNS)
  Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=53ms
  Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=53ms
  Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=54ms
  Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=57ms
    Minimum = 53ms, Maximum = 60ms, Average = 55ms




As you can see from the chart, Google DNS ping response is 75% faster than that of OpenDNS response. Take note that this is just the Ping test. The DNS recursor response is a different category. I only did this Ping test because it’s the easiest way to test their general performance.

Summary
PLDT's DNS servers (and most local DNS servers) are very unreliable. OpenDNS has no record of downtime since they have gone public years ago. Google Public DNS has just recently been opened to service. It’s new, simple, and most of all, it’s fast.

Contributed by: Emil Baseleres

8 comments:

  1. It's OpenDNS !!! may typo ka sa title !!!

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  2. I have my blog na. Show me the money!

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  3. i'm using Google DNS. hindi talaga reliable yang mga DNS ng local ISPs.

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  4. Embasie just keep on reading the works of the guru Macuha. If I only have plenty of time...

    Guru Macuha maka-Google ka talaga! Naiwan mo daw rubiks mo dito. Ayusing ko sa weekends tapos pakita ko before and after.

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  5. The tests here were done using PING which has almost no relationship with the DNS (as I wrote). I should have used DIG command. But only Linux has DIG command and not Windows.

    With the DIG command, it appears that OpenDNS is faster than GoogleDNS.

    So I'm switching back to OpenDNS again. ^_^

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  6. Your absolutely wrong there! DNS or Domain name server greatly affects the browsing experience as well as the Latency or Ping reply from the default gateway.

    How?
    Its simple!
    DNS like google dns or Open DNS functions like a memory cache. It saves the data that other users had already accessed, and when there's another user would access the same website it will send the same data provided that the website does not contain personal data like emails. It makes sense that Google Public DNS is better because there's a lot of users who browse and search through google compared to OPEN-DNS which is only used by Network Administrators to manage, and Restrict user access to specified websites.

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  7. well said... I agree with you when you say Google Public DNS servers are much simpler and speedier in response when compared to openDNS. But here at our place BSNL Broadband servers are way ahead in response when compared to Google DNS which is why seldom one gets a chance to change them.

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