Google DNS vs OpenDNS vs Verizon DNS

The number one complaint people have with computers, no matter what operating system, is speed. And part of the problem with the internet is all the outside variables that affect your system speed.

One of the ways you can increase your browsing speed is to change your DNS settings. DNS is what translates timlinden.com into an IP address so your browser can load the site. If your DNS is slow everything will be slow.

The problem is that DNS depends on the website you are going to. If your internet provider has a lot of customers going to facebook.com for example, they’ll already know the IP address to send to you. So it loads fast.

Well I just found a neat tool that lets you compare DNS providers based on your history. That’s right, they see how long it would take the providers to return the DNS for sites you actually go to.

What I learned is COX (the cable company around here I’d never go back to) is 6.4% slower than my own ISP Verizon. But interestingly enough OpenDNS (which I thought was faster) is also slower at -3.4%. Google Public DNS came in at a slight 1.6% faster speed.

So if I switch to Google’s DNS (I’m using OpenDNS right now) in theory websites should load about 4% faster. I’m going to try it and give it a whirl.. Maybe it’ll make arriving at sites faster so I can win the next tournament.. hahahahaaa

4 thoughts to “Google DNS vs OpenDNS vs Verizon DNS”

  1. Tim, I believe I had changed to Open DNS when I read a post from you last year, seemed to be a good idea to copy what you did. Would be interested in seeing your results and if you decide to change permanently. Thanks.

    1. Yes with this new tool I’m going to test it periodically. Before I was going on a “hunch” that it would be faster. And it was for many sites, but apparently not for a lot of sites! Will be interesting to hear your results as well, since it all depends on how close you are to each of the DNS providers.

  2. Ja Tim, es mag sein das du recht hast, kann ich derzeit aus eigner Erfahrung noch nicht nachvollziehen, ich denke aber, wenn man die vielen Transusen auf seiner Webseite abschaltet, dann bekommt die Webseite einen ordentlichen WOO! Taifun verpasst von mehreren Prozenten. Sicherlich kann man an anderen Stellen auch noch einpaar Promille Prozente heraus kitzeln.

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