Posted: 04th Dec, 2009 By: MarkJ
Google has launched
Google Public DNS, a FREE alternative to using your UK broadband ISPs own Domain Name Servers (DNS) to translate IP addresses into human readable form or vice versa. For example, a DNS server can convert an IP number (e.g. 123.56.23.89) into a domain name like
Google.com.
This process is designed to happen seamlessly in the background, thus you will be unaware of its existence. However ISP DNS servers are not always the fastest or most secure and can suffer problems. In some cases they might even be used to restrict access to websites or hijack failed address requests with advertising.
Suffice to say that a lot of more technically minded folk tend to swap their ISP DNS servers for faster free alternatives like the popular
OpenDNS or less well known
Neustar. The change itself is usually extremely simple and both sites offer guides to do it, indeed we ourselves have never once looked back after adopting OpenDNS.
Now we also have Google's new system, which promises faster speed (most people won't notice a difference unless your ISP is extremely rubbish) thanks to its clever caching and better security. However it does not offer the same level of user controls and parental filtering options as OpenDNS. Some early users have also reported problems with slow latency.
Privacy is another concern with Google's system. Your connections IP logs are retained for 24 to 48 hours. Your location data (where in the world you are) and visited websites are also stored, although it is anonymised so that the data cannot be matched to an individual.
Finally, though Google claims its system will not be inserting advertising into your surfing experience, many doubt its honesty. After all, Google makes its money from advertising based search results and it would perhaps be naive to say that they wouldn't like to exploit the new system further.