Speed up your web browsing with Google DNS
Does it seem to take forever to web pages to load in your browser? It could be time to change your domain name server (DNS) settings. Most people just use the DNS of their ISP but you can change it to Open DNS or better, Google DNS.
The Google Public DNS IP addresses are as follows:
- 8.8.8.8
- 8.8.4.4
Read Using Google Public DNS if you’re not sure how to change your DNS settings and don’t forget to write down your old settings if things go horribly wrong.
I just update my AirPort router and pages are loading faster than ever before. Thank you Google.
Update: I didn’t mention any of the privacy concerns that come with using Google DNS. You can read Google’s privacy policy if you’re worried that they are going to know everything about you (your surfing habits).
Daring Fireball has this to say about Google DNS:
I totally understand why people are wary of trusting too much to Google. But their DNS privacy policy strikes me as utterly reasonable. It is not in any way tied to your Google web accounts.
I was using Bell Sympatico’s DNS (my ISP). Every website I typed into my browser was taking a whopping 2-10 seconds to find and then load. For the last two weeks I felt like I was using dial-up instead of a 12 Mbps DSL service.
I also tried OpenDNS but it too seemed slow after a while. So far Google DNS has been very quick and I feel like my computer has been turbo-charged.
Posted in Web at 12:47 AM
Comments
Privacy people have pointed out that if you use Google’s DNS not only does google know everything you search for, they now know every web site you visit even if you don’t use their search engine to do it.
Posted by: Ryan on December 8, 2009 6:20 AM
I guess you could say the same of most ISPs or OpenDNS. After reading John Gruber’s comments on Google DNS (which refer to Jason Kottke’s arguments), I decided to switch.
Take a look at what Gruber has to say about the Google DNS privacy policy:
Posted by: jay 
on December 8, 2009 9:51 AM
Google’s privacy policy says all the right things but, like all privacy policies, it’s merely saying ‘trust us’. I can do them one better by taking trust completely out of equation by using a separate service.
Like all corporations in the US Google is subject to the Patriot act which forces them to turn anything and everything over to the authorities when ordered too. I’d rather muddy my online waters a bit by taking a diversification strategy. OpenDNS may know where I go but the don’t know my search terms. Single point of failure is always a bad idea.
Posted by: Ryan on December 8, 2009 2:01 PM
