Even with a fiber optic connection, the Internet speed may not rise to blazing speed. One of the key factor is the performance of the DNS servers. Most of the browsing slowness happens when we make a request for a domain name and at that particular time the Domain Name Servers are too busy. So they cannot quickly respond back to our request for resolving the domain name to an IP address. Even though the ISP claims high speed, the speed will be considerably reduced due to the age old DNS servers.

OpenDNS is one of the free Domain Name Service which does not only resolve the domain names but also controls the way you manage the web browsing experience. The features of OpenDNS includes

1) Super Fast Internet Access: OpenDNS quickly helps in routing the requests to a nearby DNS Server which will give a massive performance boost.

2) Secure Internet Access: OpenDNS is associated with PhishTank, which is the Web’s most trusted source in the case of phishing data. PhishTank flags the phishing sites and are kept up-to-date on the phishing sites. When a domain name is entered if it is a phishing Website, OpenDNS warns you about the page.

3) Content Filtering: Filtering process is enabled with the OpenDNS. This allows a control over the content delivered over Internet.

4) Browsing History: If you turn on in this feature, you will get the information about the network browsing history.

5) Custom Page Not Found Messages and Custom Logo: You can set up custom logo and messages in case of non availability of a web page.

6) Automatic Typo Correction: OpenDNS automatically corrects the mistake made while typing a web page.

7) Domain Shortcuts: OpenDNS allows users to create shortcuts for your most visited websites so that they can be reached easily by typing the shortcut name.

The steps for setting up OpenDNS are

 1) Click start button and select Control Panel menu.

 2) Click on the option “View network status and tasks” link which comes under Network and Internet menu.

3) In the Network and Sharing Center dialog box click on the “View Status” link which lies next to the active network connection.

4) Click the button “Properties” of the Local Area Connection Status dialog box.

5) Continue scrolling through the Windows Vista UAC prompt and select the option “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” in the list. Then select the “Properties” button.

6) Windows will display the IPv4 properties of your network and by default the option “Obtain an IP address automatically” and “Obtain DNS server address automatically” will be highlighted. 7) The “Obtain an IP address automatically” option should be kept intact and change the DNS option as “Use the following DNS server addresses”.

8) Input these entries Preferred DNS Server: 208.67.222.222 Alternate DNS Server: 208.67.220.220

9) Click on the OK button on all open tabs to close it.

10) Register a free account in OpenDNS to enjoy the unlimited control features that you have on your network