Broadband but not as fast as you thought? I fixed mine!

GhengisKhan

GhengisKhan

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
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I just thought I'd drop a note here for anyone who doesn't know, (and yes, I did a search for it) If it's taking you a while to load different web pages, and you can't quite figure out why, it may not be your fault. Your ISP's DNS server could be (and probably is) overloaded. I was having this issue for the longest time, until I was listening to some of the old In the Trenches podcasts that I have (sys admin podcast) and they mentioned a website, http://www.opendns.com
All I did was to go there and open up my router admin page and entered in the IP's for the DNS servers that they have listed on opendns then restarted my PC (which now that I think about it, I probably didn't have to do, but I had updates to push anyway), and it HALVED the load times on nearly every site I visit. Again, this is mainly if you notice a lag between when you click a link and when the page starts to load up, it's not a web accelerator or software of any kind, it's just using an off-site dns server instead of the ones that your ISP connects you to by default, which are normally overloaded and using old hardware anyway.
The difference blew my mind, and I just had to share this with the rest of you.
 
I don't think my isp's dns is overloaded but open dns is nice. I set it up in my router
as well and I love the features it has. I recommend it to anyone.
 
oh yea, I forgot all the built in filtering it has the ability to do. phishing filtering, adult content filtering (for those of us with children just old enough to get into trouble ;)), and logging of all accesses from your computers too, so you can keep tabs on the little punks.
 
Oh wow. it worked nice for my download speed :D but not my upload it lowed upload by 300kb :(
 
um... pretty sure this should have absolutely nothing to do with download/upload speeds... all DNS effects is the resolution of a name....

For example... you type www.google.com it resolves that to the correct IP... so it can definitely help in loading webpages, only because it resolves the name faster. but it shouldn't affect your download speed.
 
TheCreator said:
um... pretty sure this should have absolutely nothing to do with download/upload speeds... all DNS effects is the resolution of a name....

For example... you type www.google.com it resolves that to the correct IP... so it can definitely help in loading webpages, only because it resolves the name faster. but it shouldn't affect your download speed.
Click to expand...



100% correct... it won't affect download speeds, just webpage name resolution.
 
TheCreator said:
um... pretty sure this should have absolutely nothing to do with download/upload speeds... all DNS effects is the resolution of a name....
Click to expand...
Bingo.

What's odd to me is we get a few of these threads a year, and it's always someone claiming they're getting better speeds through DNS manipulation. It's just odd that it's always people touting OpenDNS.

Speaking of OpenDNS, I can't say I'd be overly comfortable with a 3rd party controlling my dns information and selling what they learn. Further, after all this time I can't say I trust that 3rd party at all. But if it floats your boat, more power to you and all that.
 
You're not going to see improvements in your download speeds....that's not related to DNS.

OpenDNS "can" help some people...if their ISPs have crappy DNS servers. However...if your ISP has at least a decent DNS server....you'll find using OpenDNS is slower.

You may notice web pages will open/fill faster...if they have heavy advertising...all those ad-links require DNS resolution first. So if your ISP has crappy DNS servers..and you try OpenDNS...not only will the page initially be found and start loading quicker...but it will complete loading faster in your browser..because all those ads will be located quicker. So since your browser fills the page quicker...it gives you the illusion of your connection working faster.

I've fiddled with OpenDNS for years....but my prior 2x ISPs...one "business grade only" quality DSL provider, and after that...Comcast....OpenDNS was noticably slower. Only moving to where I am now...the cable provider is horrible...OpenDNS is a little quicker in resolution.
 
thanks a lot for the link! I have been looking to find a different DNS actually but never got around to it. This helped tremendously!
 
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