Google DNS starts today

[Hammock Parties]

Sweet.

http://lifehacker.com/5418211/google...yline=true&s=x

Google today launched a new, free DNS service—called Google Public DNS—aimed at making your web browsing experience even faster. Here's how it works:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with DNS (and it's cool if you are—as long as DNS is working, most people never need to know what's going on), Google offers an explanation:

Most of us aren't familiar with DNS because it's often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names - e.g., www.google.com - into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers - e.g., 74.125.45.100 - that computers use to communicate with one another.

Google Public DNS, then, aims to replace your ISP's default DNS with a (hopefully) faster, safer, and more reliable alternative. Google Public DNS isn't the first freely available alternate DNS we've seen. Previously mentioned OpenDNS is an excellent DNS alternative (it boasts keyboard shortcuts, parental filters, and more), but—for better or worse—we're guessing that even more people may be interested in Google's offering.

To set up your computer or router to use Google Public DNS, hit up Google's instructions (they've got specific instructions for Windows, Mac, Linux, or your router).

I swapped my DNS to Google's service earlier today and so far my page loading seems to have a spring it its step, but you know how these things go. If you give it a try, let's hear whether things are feeling snappier for you in the comments.

Update: Reader Manu writes in to share the results of his Google Public DNS testing, and Google's DNS looks pretty blazing—particularly for international users. For folks in the U.S., OpenDNS looks like it may still be a touch faster—at least according to Manu's results.

[RippedmyFlesh]

Originally Posted by Guru

How will it be better than opendns though. Does it have tracking tools and allow you to block websites?

Seems like someone should have made that a browser function that works.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

It's supposed to be faster.

?

For folks in the U.S., OpenDNS looks like it may still be a touch faster—at least according to Manu's results.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

It's supposed to be faster.

BS. All this does is give Google another way to datamine and track tendencies on the internet.

[RippedmyFlesh]

They changed the linux instructions from yesterday.
I did it the way the updated instructions said before they changed it.
They had
Changing DNS server settings on a Debian server
as the general linux instructions.
On my ubuntu box it was a couple of clicks and put in DNS.
They had people going into terminal yesterday to change it wonder how many noobs f'ed up their linux boxes yesterday.

[Royal Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

try working with those dumbasses in a corporate production environment. It's like talking to Union Labor...

The only thing worse than the "dumbasses" in a corporate production environment are the users who think that since they know how to turn on a PC, move a mouse, and maybe even click on the "install" button, they know more about computers and operating systems and networking and security than the people who actually do that for a living.

I can't tell you how many times the dumbasses I work with bitch and complain because we protect our network with a firewall, and then they STILL manage to infect their laptops with malware because they take them home and surf the porn sites.

My guess is that your corporate I/T guys have a pretty good reason for not letting you screw around with your network settings.