Free: Speed Up Your Internet, Block Adult Sites, and Stop Phishing

How do you find a Web site? Sure, from a user's point of view you enter www.associatedcontent.com or www.google.com into the address bar. But the truth is, that doesn't really find the actual computer that hosts the Web site. Each computer on the Internet (even yours) has an IP address that is currently four numbers each ranging from 0 to 255. You can think of this as sort of an Internet phone number.

If you want to call someone you've met, you might not know their phone number. You'd use a phone book or directory assistance to look up the person's number from their name. The Internet has a form of automatic directory service called DNS or Domain Name Service. Your Internet supplier automatically tells your computer where to find their DNS server. So when you look up, Google, for example, it tells you the "phone number" you need to locate the Google server.

The problem is there are many computers on the Internet. Sure, the chance that you are the first person to look up Google lately is slim. But it would be very hard for your Internet provider to have the correct number for every computer on the Internet. What does your provider do? If it doesn't know the number it calls another DNS server! That server may have to call another server, and so on up the chain until you get to the mysterious "root" servers that are part of the Internet infrastructure. Each DNS server will remember the number -- at least for some period of time -- to reduce the load on the root DNS servers.

Naturally, every time you have to make several DNS lookups to find a server, it takes longer to load that page. Subsequent loads should be fast, but that first page can crawl while your PC finds the right number to call. In addition, it is easy to form fake names that look like a trusted Web site (a bank, for example) but are resolved by DNS to be a crook's computer. The crook will impersonate the real Web site hoping to harvest account numbers, passwords, and other confidential information they can use to steal your identity. This practice is called "phishing." Phishing is one reason most people want some sort of Internet security software to protect them while online.

There is a free service, OpenDNS, that can help you with these problems and more. OpenDNS runs a network of DNS servers that remember many "phone numbers." It is a good chance that using their DNS server will result in faster page loads then using your normal DNS server. The OpenDNS network of servers is also redundant so it is highly reliable -- something not every Internet provider can claim.

OpenDNS has several key features that make it attractive. Some are simply handy, while others provide increased Internet security. Still other features can block pornography (and there are several levels of porn that OpenDNS distinguishes) and other undesirable sites.

First, if you slightly mistype a URL and there is no site with that name, OpenDNS will try to correct it for you. For example, entering www.google.cm will take you to the normal Google site even though it is misspelled. If OpenDNS can't figure out what you meant, it will show you a friendly error page with suggestions (and advertisements which is how OpenDNS stays in business). You can define shortcuts as well. For example, you might define "ac" to take you to the Associated Content site, or "mail" to take you to Gmail. On the Internet security front, OpenDNS also keeps a database of phishing sites (remember, the sites trying to steal your identity) and automatically blocks them.

If you sign up for a free OpenDNS account you can exercise more control over your DNS. For example, you can ask OpenDNS to filter adult sites at different levels. At the low end, you can block "bikini" sites all the way up hardcore pornography. There is even an option for blocking tasteless sites (defined as "Sites that contain information on such subjects as mutilation, torture, horror, or the grotesque"). You can also select specific sites to block (for example, MySpace or FaceBook, or eBay) if you don't want your employees or children visiting them. This is harder to override than typical Internet security software that runs on your PC.

If you are using OpenDNS with a business you can select your company logo and other custom elements to show on error pages. However, OpenDNS is perfectly suited for home use as well. It can easily replace expensive childproofing applications to keep kids safe on the Internet.

Installing OpenDNS is a snap, although the details vary depending on your exact setup. For example, if you have a broadband router, you'll need to enter its setup and replace the DNS addresses with the OpenDNS addresses. If you don't use a router, you'll have to change a configuration item on your PC or Mac. The OpenDNS site has detailed instructions for just about every situation. You don't even need an OpenDNS account unless you want to block or allow certain sites that OpenDNS doesn't handle by default.

A home router is particularly good if you are trying to protect your kids from finding adult sites and other Internet problems. Nearly all of them allow you to protect their setup with a password. If you set up the router to use OpenDNS, password protect it, and then use an OpenDNS account to block adult sites, it will be very difficult for kids to bypass your blocking without the password. Granted, if they are savvy enough they can program in another DNS server address (if they know one), but that's unlikely. They can also use an "anonymous" surf page, but you can block those if you think that's likely.

If you have an account, you can also optionally create a log of all the Web sites your computers have requested (you can turn this off and also clear it at any time). That's another good way to keep an eye on what your kids are up to online. However, you don't have to worry about OpenDNS reading your Internet traffic. Remember, they are just like a phone book or directory assistance. The directory assistance operator knows you asked for your Bank's phone number, but doesn't know what you said to the bank after you placed the call.

So in review, OpenDNS is free, it can speed up your Internet, protect you from identity theft, and block adult, pornographic, or just undesirable Web sites. At the same time, it can record where your kids are visiting for you to review. What's not to like? The setup is easy enough (and you only have to do it once). If you decide you don't like it, it takes just seconds to reverse the steps and go back to using your normal DNS servers. Why not give it a try?