DNS Servers - Whats Your Preference?

[V_R]

So i've just been messing about with Namebench. Just seeing how good my ISP's (ADSL24) DNS servers are.

This is one thing i've never really thought about until recently, I've been getting a few pages here and there seem to be slow to load. Bit of digging later, seems ADSL24's DNS servers maybe the issue.

So i decide to test them out with Namebench and low and behold they dont seem to fair too well against the likes fo Googles DNS.

So i am now running Googles own DNS, there is a very obvious difference. Which surprised me.

Try it, just download and run Namebench (no install required) and see what the results are, you may be surprised.

It takes a few minutes to run the tests as it very thorough, I also ticked the censorship option too, which added a bit more to the end.





About Namebench...

Are you a power-user with 5 minutes to spare? Do you want a faster internet experience?

Try out namebench. It hunts down the fastest DNS servers available for your computer to use. namebench runs a fair and thorough benchmark using your web browser history, tcpdump output, or standardized datasets in order to provide an individualized recommendation. namebench is completely free and does not modify your system in any way. This project began as a 20% project at Google.

namebench runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and UNIX, and is available with a graphical user interface as well as a command-line interface.

*not my screenshot​

Namebench Helps You Find the Fastest DNS Server for Your Computer

Windows/Mac/Linux: Last week Google announced a free DNS service designed to speed up your browsing, but just because Google wants to be fast doesn't actually mean they're the best option for you. Namebench finds the fastest DNS server for your connection.
After you download and fire up namebench, just click the Start Benchmark button to test out a handful of free public DNS services, from Google Public DNS to OpenDNS to UltraDNS. Once started, the test took about 12 minutes to complete using the default settings. When it's done, you'll be presented with a handful of handy charts displaying the results of the tests.


You can see the results to my test in the screenshots above and below. From the looks of things, UltraDNS is the DNS that's going to do the most to speed up my connection. In fact, it claims UltraDNS will be 46% faster than Google Public DNS (the DNS server my computer was using when I ran the test)—so it looks like I may just be switching yet again.


Namebench is a free, open-source download, works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. If you give it a try, let's hear what DNS server scores highest for you in the comments.
namebench [Google Code via Smarterware]

 

[EvanDavis]

I used to use OpenDNS, now just what ever TalkTalk use

And after reading through all the info that is scanned and seen some of the links. Me think me will have to have words with a few people in my house

 

[Reefsmoka]

I got BT-6 GB is 83.7% faster but cannot for the life of me be bothered to go through all the agro to change it

 

[alow]

I'll try this at home tonight, but our Sys-admins must do pretty well because our own DNS was the fastest by far among the tested DNS servers Good program and suggestion V_R!

 

[V_R]

I got BT-6 GB is 83.7% faster but cannot for the life of me be bothered to go through all the agro to change it

Ha ha, what agro!? Log into router, change a few numbers, save.

 

[Reefsmoka]

Ha ha, what agro!? Log into router, change a few numbers, save.

Thought there was more to it than that! Like going through control panel network settings n all the advanced tabs and faffing about! Might give it a go if i get 5 mins then!

 

[Reefsmoka]

not changed any settings since last night when i 1st benched, just done another bench to get the new dns settings and it's come back with new results that the fastest for me is only 0.9% faster compared to nearly 90% yesterday. I dont think i'll bother now!

 

[EvanDavis]

Log into router, change a few numbers, save.

Now if only I knew how to do that on my Echolife router

 

[V_R]

@Reef, Its almost that easy....

Change them in the router, then flush your DNS cache. (Win key +R, type cmd. In the command prompt type ipconfig /flushdns. Or just run Ccleaner and make sure DNS cache under System is ticked)

@ED.

What router? Failing that just define them on the PC locally?

 

[floppybootstomp]

not changed any settings since last night when i 1st benched, just done another bench to get the new dns settings and it's come back with new results that the fastest for me is only 0.9% faster compared to nearly 90% yesterday. I dont think i'll bother now!

That makes sense to me. Speeds and conditions will change due to several factors, could be a lot of faffing about to get faster, only to see conditions change daily.

'sides, me happy with how things are as local exchange is kinda throttled on speeds due to it needs an upgrade - old technology - so other factors make little difference to speed as far as I can see (for me personally that is).