My Internet Provider decided to capture data that I entered in a browser’s address bar that could not be resolved to an Internet address and provide me with their own search interface instead of the default one that I enabled in the browsers. This is one of those sneaky moves that makes me want to run away from the provider as fast as I can even though I’m perfectly happy otherwise.
They did provide a switch in the user control panel to disable that feature again but this is again a company that is forcing the user to take action for something that they changed.
Open DNS has been covered before on this website and I just want to remind everyone that Open DNS can be used to get rid of search boxes from your provider. Setup of Open DNS takes a few minutes at most and should be doable for everyone.
By using the service you start using the Open DNS servers instead of the ones from the Internet Provider. DNS meaning Domain Name System which is responsible for “translating” domain names into IP addresses.
Open DNS provides additional advantages such as phishing protection (that is not slowing down your computer), parental controls, typo corrections and shortcuts. Shortcuts work like Firefox keywords, you basically assign a phrase to an url and can use the phrase to open the website.
Related posts:
Why it might be a good idea to use Open DNSWhy you should not run an Open Wi-Fi
Monitoring Internet Reachability in Real-Time
Mozilla Open Web Tools Directory
Change Address Bar Search Behavior In Firefox
Force Firefox To Open Links In Same Tab
Make Firefox Search For Terms With Periods In The Location Bar
Search For Selected Text In Search Engines
I prefer Dns Advatage = http://www.dnsadvantage.com
Every time I have problems with my internet connection it is a DNS error. So I have moved to Open DNS now and haven’t had any problems until so far. So thanks for pointing us at this service.
Make sure you understand OpenDNS actually spoofs Google’s address and they might be doing the same as your ISP.
http://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=226
I noticed my ISP was doing the same thing yesterday. I had tried OpenDNS before, but I didn’t feel the need to use it’s features. But, now I’m definitely using the service. Thanks for this post.
I used to use OpenDNS when it was a simple service that was supposedly faster than the ISP DSN servers.
Then they started adding new “features”.
Maybe 6 months ago or so, I began having problems where I couldn’t get to certain pages, where they were blocking some pages outright and other stuff.
I dumped them and went back to the ISP DNS servers (AT&T) and haven’t had any problems since.
>> Bohemian
Thanks for the info!
>> SkepticFella
You can disable that feature from OpenDNS settings. Of course, it is enable by default.
Saludos!
>> Jojo
No problems since 2 years ago, so far…
Saludos!
I’ve been using OpenDNS for about a year, because my ISP apparently has issues keeping their DNS servers functioning.
I did notice it was a little slow lately, so I stood up my own DNS server locally with forwarders to the OpenDNS servers.
I didn’t notice any improvements in speed while using OpenDNS. But I did notice when the service redirected my Google searches and Yahoo email whenever I tried to read a new message. My advice, pass on OpenDNS.
First, I think ghacks.net is somehow affiliated with OpenDNS, all comments about it are about how great it is without recognizing their obvious problems.
Second, as SkepticFella said before OpenDNS is doing exactly the same (”capture data that I entered in a browser’s address bar that could not be resolved to an Internet address and provide me with their own search interface”). As xdmv points out it can be disabled but only after you register an account with them.
Finally I’d like to share an alternative: Level3 / AT&T DNS servers. The (very easy to remember) addresses are:
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6
They are a little bit faster than OpenDNS, at least as stable and won’t redirect your DNS queries to their own search engine.