Secure Your Internet Connection with OpenDNS

Bandwidth is not the only thing that can limit the level of internet experience. The ability to query the Domain Name Server to resolve the URL and fetch the data is equally important too. Inspite of having a broadband or fiber optic connection, a spotty DNS server at your local ISP could hamper your work online. That is when OpenDNS comes into focus.

OpenDNS operates datacenters at the most strategically connected intersections of the internet around the world. When you enter a URL in your browser and hit enter, OpenDNS routes your DNS queries to the closest datacenter near your geographical location automatically, making your internet requests faster and more reliable than before.

Overview

OpenDNS claims to be the world’s leading provider of internet navigation and security, with a fast growing userbase of millions of people all over the globe. Without having to deploy costly infrastructure to speed up and protect your internet connection, OpenDNS is the safer, faster, smarter and more reliable way to secure your network.

OpenDNS has a pretty simple sign up form that apart from asking you to confirm your email address & password wants to know how you came to know about the service and where you will be using it. You will have to activate your account via email and OpenDNS gave me grief for having a password that is more than 20 characters long.

Pricing

OpenDNS is free for home use and this OpenDNS Basic account comes with most of the salient features of the paid plans. As for the paid subscriptions, there are two plans – OpenDNS Deluxe and OpenDNS Enterprise.

The major differences in the plans are in the number of domains that can be white listed, getting email reports, delegating administrator activities to others, audit log and a few more features.

Dashboard

OpenDNS dashboard looks more like a blog with all the links to the articles and thumbnails of the authors. To kick start the process, click on the Add a Network button. OpenDNS will take you to the where you will have your IP address auto populated and if there is no change needed, hit Add this Network.

Once the network is added to your account, you can name it to identify it easily if you any new networks in the future. Also, ensure to check whether your Internet connection uses a static or dynamic IP address. If you are unsure call your ISP to confirm.

Now navigate to the Network Settings page in your desktop to change the DNS addresses to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. That’s all you have to do. All your DNS requests from now on will be routed through the ultra fast OpenDNS servers and not through the creaky servers of your ISP.

Web Content Filtering

OpenDNS has a cloud-based, award-winning web content filter system that blocks content from more than 50 categories. All the hard work of finding content are done for you and they are all neatly tucked away in respective categories.

There are three preset filters – High, medium and Low, each with this it’s pre assigned categories that need to be blocked. The filters are effective proxies, P2P, chat, adult content and more.

You can view the categories listed in each filter and can also add or remove some if needed on a case by case basis. It is also possible to block only individual websites you specify instead or in addition to the broader categories.

Online Security Settings

OpenDNS offers comprehensive malware / botnet protection and phising protection. When there is a botnet attack of significance or when there is a malware outbreak, OpenDNS protects you from those threats. As of today, the famous Conficker virus and Internet Explorer Zero day exploits are covered by this feature.

Similarly, OpenDNS protects from visiting sites known for shady practices like distributing malware or identity theft. When you click a link that is potentially harmful and a bait, OpenDNS alerts you that this could be a phising expedition by hackers. Although all the modern browsers do the same task, it is an added level of security nonetheless.

Reports

With the help of the web based dashboard, you can remotely access and manage of all your networks over the Web. As a perk, you can now have access to your DNS and Web traffic data delivered in detailed charts and statistics in your OpenDNS account. If you are system administrator or a geek like me, you compare data over time to spot trends and browsing habits and refer back to historical traffic data.

Final Thoughts

OpenDNS made my browsing experience smoother than ever. I was totally relieved to see that all my URL’s opened in the first attempt instead of refreshing the depressing “Page cannot found” a few times, every single time.Thought personally I don’t have much use for parental controls, it is a welcome addition to an already wonderful service.

One thing OpenDNS could rush to change is the way the dashboard looks. It looks like a news aggregator and I was pretty baffled at first as to where to begin in the first place. Even though the articles are helpful resources, nobody wants to read through hundreds of words before they can start using the service.

Also, the flow of help is chopped. After registering and before email validation, we are taken to the OpenDNS Store page which comprehensively lets us know how to set the service in our PC, Router or server. However, if you use the activation link, it opens up to the dashboard and I had a hard time finding a way to set my server up. Brushing aside these petty issues, OpenDNS is a like a genie in the bottle when it comes online security and does most of what you wish for.