As a webmaster, I am regularly dealing with domains and modifying their DNS settings. For years and years I have been a happy user of OpenDNS, which has super reliable and provided me near instant propagation of DNS record changes.
However, during this winter there has been several occasions where OpenDNS has been super slow in DNS propagation. This is an issue to webmasters, as when one points a domain name (cd-rw.org) to the server’s IP address (123.123.123.123), you have to wait for the update to propagate across the Internet until you can access your site via the domain.
Today I was forced to move away from OpenDNS. I was working on a web project and made domain DNS changes in the morning, but even now 8 hours later OpenDNS resolved the domain incorrectly. Instead of loading mywebsite, I kept seeing a domain parking page. The site worked fine on my mobile, using the mobile operator’s DNS, but not on my PC as my router is configured to use OpenDNS.
There are a ton of good DNS providers out there. One is Google Public DNS, which benefits from their huge infrastructure, but also gives tools to spy on every move you make on the web. Their IPs are easy to remember, making them the number one choice for many:
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
Instead I opted for Neustar’s UltraDNS. I did a bit of benchmarking, and it appeared to be the fastest public DNS provider from my location. They also offer content filtering / security enhancements of various levels, blocking spyware, phishing and optionally pornographic and gambling sites. Parents may appreciate these features.
They have 10 different IP adresses to use, so check the list from their website.
And there are many others out there. Here is a list of 10 popular alternatives: Lifewire.com
Have you recently experienced these issues with OpenDNS? What is your favorite public & free DNS provider and why?