Free and public DNS servers offer an alternative way to connect safely online with the added bonus of potentially accelerating your internet speed. DNS (Domain Name System) is a system (or protocol) which translates the domain names you enter in a browser to the IP addresses required to access those sites. (View Highlight)
Your ISP will assign you DNS servers whenever you connect to the internet, but these may not always be the best DNS server choice around. Slow DNS servers can cause a lag before websites start to load, and if your server sometimes goes down, you may not be able to access any sites at all.
Switching to a free public DNS server can make a real difference, with more responsive browsing and lengthy 100% uptime records meaning there’s much less chance of technical problems. (View Highlight)
What is DNS?
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a phonebook for the internet, a framework which translates domain names, like facebook.com or twitter.com, into the IP addresses necessary for devices to load those internet resources (e.g. 126.125.4.4). In geek terms, that’s called Resolution. (View Highlight)
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The mechanics of DNS can be quite complicated, as information isn’t held in a single database, but rather distributed in a worldwide directory including a vast number of DNS servers. (View Highlight)
DNS speed depends on many factors, including your location, the distance to your nearest server, and that server having enough power and bandwidth to handle all the queries it receives. (View Highlight)
DNS Jumper is a portable freeware tool which tests multiple public DNS services to find out which delivers the best performance for you.
The program has a lot of options, but isn’t difficult to use. Launch it, click Fastest DNS > Start DNS Test, and within a few seconds you’ll be looking at a list of DNS services sorted by speed.
DNS Jumper can be useful, in particular because it’s checking how servers perform from your location, but it doesn’t run enough tests over a long enough period to give you a definitive answer. (View Highlight)