DNS servers.

I have not really noticed before, but Zzoomm uses Cloudflare and Google DNS servers, as soon as I noticed I changed them to Open DNS, but are there anything better than OpenDNS?

Personal decision but I use Quad9.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I have not really noticed before, but Zzoomm uses Cloudflare and Google DNS servers, as soon as I noticed I changed them to Open DNS, but are there anything better than OpenDNS?

Bit difficult to answer if we don't know what criteria you use to define "better".

What problem is there with Google and Cloudfare that you want to solve? They are generally regarded as amongst the best public DNS servers. And, considering all the unknown routers that Internet requests pass through, privacy worries about these particular servers are unreasonable.

I'd have a little experiment with one of the quads. Take your pick. They're all fine really.

Edited by Pheasant (Thu 28-Dec-23 16:59:17)

There is a utility you can download to benchmark your access to DNS servers. Released years ago it still works.
https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Bit difficult to answer if we don't know what criteria you use to define "better".

Exactly, with some services if you use your ISP hosted DNS you get faster performance.

Who I use depends on the ISP I am with.

My minimum ping with Talktalk over Openreach FTTP was 16ms.
All the big DNS providers would respond in 16ms except cloudflare, who were only 11ms. So I used cloudflare DNS.

Some DNS providers work better with certain networks, or can even have caches within their network.

I trust all of the big 4 mentioned, Google, cloudflare, quad9 and opendns. I'll use the 1 that supports my preferred dns settings with the lowest latency.

Thanks peeps, yes it is a bit difficult to answer. I have been using Google and Cloudflare since June, and it has been ok, but then I did not look at the DNS servers before. I thought Zzoomm used their own. I know I use Google for my phone as it is Android, but not sure if I want to go through their servers for everything and Cloudflare, not sure what to think of them.

I used to use Open DNS a few years ago, for some reason and that is what I have changed to now, seems to be working ok

Thanks Moto, I did not think Gibson research was still around, windows only, so I will have to turn the PC on, but thanks anyway.

and TinyMongomery, maybe you are right.

I will stay with Open DNS I think.

Once again, thanks peeps.

Edited by zyborg47 (Thu 28-Dec-23 22:24:11)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Exactly, with some services if you use your ISP hosted DNS you get faster performance.

Which is fine if you do not mind them harvesting your browsing habits and selling the data on.

Unbound is best for privacy but not so easy to setup for people with a consumer type router.

I use Adgard home with a few downstream DNS providers and there is little difference in speed between the major ones with Adgard's own being a bit faster for me.

Edited by smouty (Fri 29-Dec-23 08:25:39)