The Internet: How to find and change DNS settings

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What’s a DNS and why should you change it? Third-party DNS servers offer speed and security that may be missing on your machine. Lance Whitney takes y
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Morty, Elly

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Even though I’m not a tech, I strongly recommend this article on ars technica for more advances in DNS security:

How to keep your ISP’s nose out of your browser history with encrypted DNS

Thanks to the article, I now have Simple DNSCrypt on two PCs.  Or, to say it more accurately, I have used the app Simple DNSCrypt to install and configure the service dnscrypt-proxy on two PCs, and I have elected to make it point to cloudflare’s new, secure 1.1.1.1 DNS service.

The article also recommends a similar app for iOS devices, and so the DNS queries from my iPad are now also encrypted.

Very nice.

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NetDef

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Here in Venezuela I’ve been using DNS-over-HTTPS on my PCs since Firefox started supporting it in the stable releases and it’s fantastic. I had to set the Cloudflare secondary DNS server (1.0.0.1) because 1.1.1.1 is blocked on Telefónica/Movistar, a mobile carrier. Other carriers and ISPs block or spoof DNS requests to blocked domains (like DolarToday) even when you’re using third party DNS servers.

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Steve

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There are many websites, mostly from VPN providers, that will test and report the DNS servers your computer is using. A list is here

https://www.routersecurity.org/testdns.php

Certainly a good thing to check when traveling.

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

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Lugh, NetDef

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This is something I have investigated recently. In my vista {note use of lower case ‘v’ ;)}, this will be the method large ISPs, including those of cable television corporations in the U.S.A., use to deny access to those World-Wide Web sites they do not really like (for any reason). Subsequently, learning how to change your DNS servers is another aspect of on-line computing we will all have to learn. 😮  A World-Wide Web site I endorse is Public DNS[/url] (WTH? Here is the bare URL. http://www.publicdns.xyz/ ) (Do not freak out at that high-level domain. It is safe. If your anti-virus blares at you for trying to go there; that anti-virus should be dumped.) If you are skeptical of just this link, I encourage you to hit my regular bookmark page[/url], which is suitable for all ages, and upon which I have a rubric of Internet W-WW sites.

EDITED formatting

Important links you can use, without the monetization pitch = https://pqrs-ltd.xyz/bookmark4.html

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DNS Servers we like to use:

1.1.1.1  or 1.0.0.1 = Cloudflare + APNIC at https://1.1.1.1/faq/

Cloudflare supports (a Beta) DoH resolver now.  Info at https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/dns-over-https/request-structure/

Benefits: Very fast

9.9.9.9 or 149.112.112.112 = Quad 9 at https://www.quad9.net/faq/

Additionally Quad 9 now supports direct DoH support for newer devices.

https://www.quad9.net/doh-quad9-dns-servers/ for instructions on setting it up.

Benefits: Fairly fast, plus malware domain blocking.

8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 = Google

Benefits: Very fast

Cons: almost certainly aggregating user data (don’t even tell me they’re not . . .)

 

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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I should note that the new routers to which I’ve been upgrading clients recently also support DoH . . .  finally!  Unsure if okay to name names here, might be construed as shilling.  But hardware is here that can do this.  Now if MS would support it on their DNS service that would be pretty awesome.

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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Please, be my guest… I’m very interested in knowing which routers already support this feature.
I’m the person from Venezuela who commented earlier btw

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Just curious. Why suggest Google DNS rather than OpenDNS?

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

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NetDef

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I used to use OpenDNS quite a lot, but their performance/response was not near as fast as the first two options I listed.  But I like their advanced blocking features (which registered users can toggle on/off on genre segments as per their preference.)

For a direct reference, we used Steve Gibsons DNS tester from multiple client sites in making choices.

 

EDIT:  so just before I posted this, I decided to do another DNS perf run.  And OpenDNS has substantially improved their response latency from the last time I ran a test against them.  So . . .  I think that means they are back in the running for my short list.  😀 What’s shocking is that tonight Quad9 is doing poorly – not generally the case.

Please note that the chart below is relative, these are all performing at what should be considered very acceptable levels.

 

 

 

 

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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Morty, Lugh

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Nice one, NetDef.

As an alternative, I’ve used Sordum’s DNS Jumper for a while. Results from a run just now:

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Lugh …

If I’m not mistaken, in the DNS Jumper listing posted above, Norton DNS & Norton ConnectSafe are no longer in existence – Norton (Symantec) took the service off line in Nov 2018.

Win7 - PRO & Ultimate, x64 & x86
Win8.1 - PRO, x64 & x86
Groups A, B & ABS

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Lugh

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Thanks RDRguy, I looked it up and you’re right. Interesting, I wonder why they returned a result when a few others didn’t…

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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To me, speed is not a reason to pick a DNS provider. I prefer to go by safety. Still, I agree with your short list of DNS providers. All should be better than DNS from an ISP or from a coffee shop or hotel.

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

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