What is Reddit's opinion of GRCs DNS Benchmark?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

>If you're not, there's a lot more options out there than just Google's free DNS.

This is a great time to optimise which DNS server is fastest - you can do so with one of my favourite bits of freeware:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

I suggest DNS Benchmark to benchmark the DNS servers you have access to, so you can find the fastest one.

It's freeware.

On this computer Cloudflares DNS was indeed very fast - it tied for 1st place with my own ISP's DNS server which of course are much closer to me so I'm impressed.

For me it's fast, but not the fastest. Used this tool to benchmark a number of DNS servers - OpenDNS and Level3 were both faster for me and the google servers were only a few hundredths of a second behind them.

Also good - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220, - the servers for OpenDNS. I often find they are faster than Google's.

Steve Gibson has a tool - https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm - that will let you benchmark DNS response from your location to pick the best, fastest servers.

Would be better to check for yourself (varies between people/location): https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

The program looks more complicated than it really is, in case anyone is worried. Download, open, click nameservers tab, then benchmark and it'll show you the fastest (Cached, Uncached, etc). But of course, this one focuses on Privacy, so maybe fastest doesn't mean as much to you.

You can use a DNS benchmarker like https://www.grc.com/dns/Benchmark.htm to find the best performing DNS servers for any particular location. I don't recall if this particular one tests for these types of non-RFC compliance issues, but that can be done manually once you've found some high-performing candidates.

IMO using any specific DNS server just because it has an easy-to-remember ip is only slightly less lazy than using default ISP ones.

Regarding any organization's "obligations" to provide DNS services, if you aren't paying for it or running your own, you don't really have any reason to complain.

PROTIP: GRC also provides, as a free download, a DNS Benchmarking Tool; https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

This tests a wide range of public DNS servers, and returns a list, sorted by performance.

You can either re-run this test, and select a list of top performers, once a month (because the ranking is rather dynamic, based on day-to-day changes in the internet) - or you can run several tests over the space of a few weeks, and pick the ones you see as consistently best - FOR YOUR LOCATION.

This method has given me the best, and most consistent DNS service I've ever had - and is WAY better than using your ISP's shitty DNS servers.

(the ones /u/freeradicalx posts are good, but sometimes Google's are slow)

Edit: this tool is, unfortunately, Windows-Only, and I wasn't able to get it to run in WINE on Ubuntu 12.10. But YMMV on that. . .

With the default 75.75.75.75 and 75.75.76.76 DNS servers from Comcast, downloads from FileJoker, NovaFile, etc. could take 20 minutes even on 500MB files.

I switched to the 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 Google DNS in my adapter settings, and the same files would now download in under a minute.

Google's not the only option. I ran the DNS Benchmark from GRC to find faster nameservers. Google's is definitely not the fastest.

Run https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm and see what DNS servers are fastest for you. The defaults are pretty good. I don't remember if a few OpenDNS or some other opensource DNS are on there or not. I spent like 20 minutes finding "best DNS servers" online and adding to the test list. I removed all dead servers, and redirecting after running the test.

Then you have to be comfortable with who owns the server and if they log your requests. I have 4 of my favorites for ipv4 and ipv6. It seems pihole whittles down to its favorite 1 or 2, though.

Yes, under almost all circumstances using Cloudflare or Google as your DNS makes your Internet access more responsive.

If you want to test it, use GRC's DNS Benchmark. If not, just switch your DNS to Cloudflare. Here's how to do that:

• Login to your router. For an Orbi, visit orbilogin.com or 10.0.0.1. The default username is admin and the default password is password.

• Click Advanced at the top left, then Setup on the left, then Internet Setup.

• Under Domain Name Server (DNS) Address click Use These Servers then put either the top three from running DNS Benchmark or:

Primary: 1.1.1.1

Secondary: 1.0.0.1

Third: 8.8.8.8

Finally, be sure to click Apply at the top.

I think the best thing would be a program/script that people could run on their local machine to measure which VPN provider performs the best for them (varies by physical location, ISP peering arrangements, etc). Basically, something that does for VPNs what DNS Benchmark and namebench do for DNS.

However, I'm not sure how much can be tested without the user needing to sign up and pay for a bunch of different providers. Maybe just pings to compare latency? Or is there something more that can be done, like one of those speed tests (but one for each VPN server, followed by a ranking)? It should probably also take reliability/consistency into account.

I was actually going to post this in this sub today as its own thread, but then I saw your post.

Edit: A potential problem with my idea is that VPN providers might view it as a type of DDOS, or they might try to game the system like ISPs did with Speedtest.net.

Run https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm and see if any DNS server is faster, or if there are better options than google. Others have similar uptime, but can have better privacy if you want.

There are apps that you can use that will scan your connection to find the best DNS service for you. I use DNS Benchmark app https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm to find the best one.

It all depends on where you live. I'm from Puerto Rico. All routes lead to the west -> enter the US from Miami. Since the difference is in matter of miliseconds, I'm still using both.

If you want to test out which one's faster, you can use this tool:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

I only get around 20 MB/s with my PS3's wi-fi and almost 40 by using ethernet cable. The console's wi-fi adapter only supports "b" and "g" standards and will always be slower than a wired connection even with 100% signal strenght.

Try connecting it via ethernet cable and look at the results. If the problems persist, try to find the best DNS server for you and set the new DNS server in your consoles network options and try to find your ideal MTU value.

Do you use your ISP's DNS servers or do you use your own? If you use your ISP's consider changing them to others. Consider using the DNS benchmark to find the fastest one for you.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

There was a tool I saw a while back for DNS benchmarking. I've played with it a little bit but honestly I've never had any problem setting 3 DNS servers; ISP dns (seems to be the only thing that will resolve some of their shitty web portals I need), Google, OpenDNS. If all 3 of those go down I assume either the internet is out or I should grab my prep bag and get ready to play Fallout IRL.

As well as switching to Google or OpenDNS as others have suggested you can benchmark multiple DNS servers using this utility from Gibson Research to see what is the fastest from your location.

If that were the case then it's your ISP (assuming you're using their dns servers) slowing down the traffic, as dns is only domain name lookup, as is it goes to find the IP address from a domain name then the console connects to that IP

Edit: if dns is the issue which would be odd, you can use tools like this grc dns benchmark tool to look for the best dns server for your area (https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm)

I used DNS Bench (https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm) and test my unbound installation on my pihole with cloudflare, Quad9, Google..etc

The results shows that my unbound is the fastest.

Doesn't matter how fast 8.8.8.8 and 4.2.2.x are, they're not going to beat the <1ms response times I get from my local cache :)

DNS Benchmark gives me 0.000 (cached), 0.005 (uncached), 0.006 (dotcom) at 100% reliability, so I'm pretty happy with that.

In comparison, 4.2.2.1 was 0.014 (95.8%), 0.016 (100%), 0.016 (95.7%).

Sure, nazis were trash, but they were defeated 74 years ago. There is no such thing today. As for Stormfront larping as nazis, I don't really care, i only care that they were taken off the internet by Cloudflare. No one should have that power. You should never, ever condone censorship. CP is the limit to me.

I'd suggest running https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm?data1=v2 locally or checking out https://www.dnsperf.com/ rather than relying on tech bloggers. My local benchmark regards CloudFlare as fastest, particularly so for cached (red), but uncached it's only a tiny bit faster and not worth it as access to archive.is is more important.

Google DNS is pretty good but may not be the fastest for you. GRC has a tool for dns benchmarking including lists of customized DNS servers that are fast for you: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Usar o DNS do google é uma cagada sem tamanho, primeiro use o DNS Benchmark e veja qual é a melhor opção para a sua conexão. A Net/Claro da minha região é o resolvedor de internet mais rápido das top 50, o DNS do Google fica em 5ª ou 6ª posição.

Dos problemas que eu já vi relacionado com isso era uma mistura com problema de configuração de rede, perda de pacotes no wifi dentre outra infinidade de coisas que só um usuário consegue fazer.

Além disso, sem informar se o problema ocorre com computador, celular ou um computador portátil e se estes estão utilizando rede ou wifi a ajuda fica muito complicada.

Either you have general connection problems, network congestion (get a router with QoS, Netgear Nighthawk X5 and setup QoS for congestion issues) or your isp has DNS problems. Which this tool can help you find other DNS servers to setup in your router or set on your network adapters. https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Depends on your needs. The fastest is almost always going to be your ISP, but many people believe their ISP will use the information gathered to sell your browsing history. Google is going to be in that boat more-so.

If that’s not a concern, go for one of those two. If it is a concern, try something like DNS Watch or Fusl’s DNS CDN.

Also consider benchmarking your different options to ensure you’ve got the fastest one that suits your needs.

This is a decent suggestion in general for optimizing network efficiency.

I don't think it will help this issue though, at least not for my region. When I do a detailed network analysis on my console it displays 255 down, 16 up, and a 40 latency. The loading times for my party app easily exceed 10x what OP displayed in that gif. My console is in a well ventilated area, low humidity, recent full factory reset.

<strong>Guide</strong> to optimize your DNS. For those curious.

<strong>DNS Benchmark</strong>

<strong>namebench</strong>

I'll just leave this here. Make sure to generate a custom list. You will be blown away by some of the fast nameservers available, and how much better they are than your ISP.

Anytime a non-cached DNS name needs to be matched to an IP, the DNS host needs to be queried, so latency will have an effect.

Check out DNS Benchmark, it can help you find the fastest/closest/whatever DNS server for your connection.

In pfBNG, you can create an IPv4 Whitelist that contains Cloudflare DNS IPs and place it above your IPv4 Blocklists. Alternatively, there's Quad9. Or run Gibson Research's DNS Benchmark to find the fastest Public DNS servers for you.

Firstly the DNS thing: DNS servers (“Domain Name Servers”) convert web URLs like www.google.com to whatever Google’s IP address is so that you can actually connect to the webpage. Some DNS servers perform this connection faster than others, but it’s often service provider and region-dependent, and can even change during peak usage hours, if a lot of users are on the DNS server hitting it with requests. There’s a free utility from Gibson Research that can measure the actual speeds of the various DNS Servers from your location To help you find the best one for you:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

As for port-forwarding: You’re basically telling your router (and your software firewall as well) to funnel certain traffic directly to/from a specific local device’s address on your LAN, and to specific ports of that device’s connection, by-passing any filtering or fancy traffic steering the router would otherwise employ. So first you’ll need to make sure the PS4 is assigned a static, specific local IP address whenever it’s on your network. You’ll have to browse you specific router’s setting page or documentation for the instructions for your router; they’re all a little different.

As for port forwarding, you need to open and forward TCP port 9295, and UDP ports 9296 and 929 on your router for the PS4’s assigned IP address, so when traffic on those ports is received, it is not impeded.

A site with good general guides and some specific info on port forwarding is, straight-forwardly enough:

https://portforward.com

If you really want to find the best DNS for you, I suggest running DNS Benchmark on your PC at home. It doesn't require installation and will find you the fastest DNS in your area. Then, a little light research on the fastest DNS providers it spits out for you and you can apply it on your router, and your phone. For my area the fastest and most secure providers were Quad9 and OpenDNS. If you have a really slow DNS provider by default, it makes a difference.

https://www.dnsperf.com has some great benchmarks. It’s almost guaranteed that google or Cloudflare’s DNS is going to be faster than your ISP.

You can test lots of different dns servers locally using https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm.

Run a benchmark, https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

For me, isp and Google were fastest but we went with 1.1.1.1 for the added benefits, it was 5ms slower the ISP and 2ms slower then Google. But we are still talking 4ms, 7ms and 9ms respectively.

I use Steve Gibson's DNS Benchmark for that: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Depending on time of day, Google is actually faster for me, but the privacy issues and with 1.1.1.1 in the top few for me, it was an easy decision to switch. I was actually using Quad9 so will be missing the threat filtering, but we'll see how Cloudflare does over time.

Speed tests wouldn't show any difference - they are mostly indifferent to DNS resolution. There are testers for DNS resolution like https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm . Using it a moment ago, both OpenDNS and Google's DNS are marginally faster than 1.1.1.1. All 3 are fast enough not to matter, but I'm not seeing that this new one is faster than the others at all.

Before changing DNS, I'd also check to make sure it won't serve you up poor performance.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

With my firewall + pihole I'm more concerned about DNS speed outside my ISPs offering personally.

While Google's DNS servers are usually faster, you can sometimes find even better choices for your particular region. Namebench is an app that I use to find the optimal setup.

Also, there are rare cases where Google's DNS servers are actually worse than your ISP's.

Edit: There's also GRC's DNS Benchmark which may be a little more up-to-date than Namebench. I hadn't quite used it before until just now, but good things are being said about it. Figured I'd test it out. Seems to have come up with pretty much the same results I had with Namebench, but it certainly won't hurt to run both to cross reference.

If you care about DNS performance and prefer not to give Google even more information I have had very good luck with the Level3 DNS Servers. 4.2.2.1 4.2.2.2 4.2.2.3-6 all work. Using Charter they provide the best performance according to the GRC Nameserver Benchmark tool. This tool tests response times for a large list of public DNS servers. The responses were twice as fast from the Level3 servers as the Google DNS servers.

Utilizando el DNS Benchmark, el DNS que más rápido me resuelve (Incluyendo los de mi ISP) son los de PIT Chile.

Couple other things to try:

1, Reboot your modem/router

2, Go here GRC's DNSBenchmark get the benchmark app, run it to find your fastest DNS server and try switching to it.

Download the GRC benchmark and run it and add your DNS servers as needed. My best DNS in New Hampshire is Quad9 and Cloudfare they are as fact as Comcast and Google.

But in your area that may not be the case, this program allows you to answer that question running a benchmark!

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https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

It generally does not matter very much. But i felt like giving a class and so i wrote this :

Sometimes, the ISP DNS servers will be provided directly, the router will get it from its own DHCP, and then pass them on in the DHCP settings. The computers will ask the ISP servers directly.

Sometimes, the routers will be set up as a forwarding DNS server, which means that the router will work as a DNS, and when it receives a query, it will send it back to the ISP DNS server (or any other configured) to answer. Because the router keeps an internal cache, the number of queries is smaller reducing the load on the ISP servers, and the answer is quicker. It is also a computationally inexpensive way of controlling traffic, compared to an http proxy.

So the differences are :

• Security, DNSmasq, the DNS resolver usually used, has proven to not be very secure. While those problems are fixed, you can't know that your router is up to date. Additionally, your ISP DNS servers are probably less secured than any of the 8.8.8.8, 9.9.9.9 types . Cache poisoning can be a big security risk.
• Speed, the underpowered hardware of a router may not be able to keep up, and in any case it is slower than a more powerful forwarding DNS.
• Privacy, if you use your ISP DNS, you are making it easier to build up a navigation profile. If you use an external one, you are spreading your data among more possible malicious agents.

If you care about the latter, you will want to use a recursive DNS server, like Unbound or BIND9

Oh and a cool benchmarking tool : https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

If you’re using Windows or Linux with Wine, GRC’s tester is good. I think you need to build a custom config file that contains you PiHole and Unbound nodes, but it’ll already have the IPs for many other well known public DNS servers and give you the relevant performance stat comparisons

I would recommend running this excellent DNS benchmarking app. It will perform a real-world DNS test on a list of servers to tell you how they perform. You can add your ISP servers to the list and see how they compare. This will give you a more accurate view than just latency (ping) between you and the server.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

&gt; I have 32 blocklists. Should I disable some?

I think the main issue would be the total number of host entries and not so much the number of blocklists.

You can check the performance for yourself:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

In my Pi 4 I get under 25ms for cached queries. Keep an eye on memory usage, if it's high, and the name server has big query times deviations, try to disable some.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Run this. Look around for "top free dns servers" and take like 10 minutes to add a bunch of them. Some will already be in there, and only worry about the primaries.

Let the program run. I remove any redirecting as I don't need to be babysat, but I understand when people use them. I don't like dnssec, but again, if you do, great. Make sure your isp and any competition are reachable, and see what dns servers are fastest for you.

As long as the DNS servers have caching enabled, then having all of them setup with forwarders shouldn't generate much traffic, although all of them will require network connectivity (UDP 53 at a minimum) to the forwarders you select. If you don't have forwarders configured, then they will use root hints out of the box, but that can also be disabled.

If you just have root hints configured and no forwarders, then your servers will use iterative queries instead of recursive. Combine that with disabling caching, and yeah, that could generate some traffic, but still probably not enough to matter.

If it were me, I'd configure all DCs to forward to the same public DNS servers and have caching enabled. There are tools available to test many common public DNS servers to find the most performant for your location and environment. I usually use this one (although from a workstation on the same network, not on the DC itself): https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

That sounds correct. Also check your upstream DNS, get off Google, or your ISP and perhaps try something like Cloudflare or Quad9. It's difficult to make DNS recommendations because every network is different, but PRIOR to using pi-hole you should run this benchmark to find out what is best performing for you, personally: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Good luck!

OpenNIC is your best bet.

There is also CZ.NIC with their DNS servers at 193.17.47.1 and 185.43.135.1 (DNNSEC, DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS), but your performance might suffer. Suggest you try GRC's DNS Benchmark to see how fast they are for you.

I would either switch to your ISP's default or use Google's 8.8.8.8. If you want to find a faster DNS, try running DNSBench.

You'll also want to flush your DNS cache. Clearing cookies wouldn't hurt, either.

Lots of ways. I'm going to assume you're on some Windows OS. I'd run 'DNS Benchmark' from this reputable/trusted source: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Direct download (self-executable): https://www.grc.com/files/DNSBench.exe

Then screenshot it and show me. I had a similar router to that when I first got on NBN, I might be able to see a way around it.

Also, if it's the third DNS server, then your computer will bias to the first two. So long as the first two are faster than the 'router enforced' one, then the router DNS doesn't matter. Again, this is how it works at my house, the gateway is the 3rd DNS option but the computer uses the first two because they are the fastest to respond.

Please screenshot your DNS settings on the PC, the routers interface and run GRC's DNS benchmark to see if you are using the best DNS servers available. Personally I'm using 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 with 10.0.0.138 as a third option if the other two are down.

It's definitely not working with Windows 10. It causes blue screen, tested on brand new computer. The BSOD even says namebench.exe on the Blue Screen. If anything I would recommend using Steve Gibson benchmark tool. Steve Gibson is the creator of spinrite a hard drive recovery tool. His software is not only highly updated but won't do BSOD on Windows 10. His software is here. https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Also it has the custom build list option which helped me find DNS server a 5 ms away from me.

It depends on your particular location and internet.

1. Download this DNS benchmark from GRC (Steve Gibson, of Security Now fame) https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

2. Run the benchmark to see which DNS server has the best response times

3. Use the top two/three in pi-hole.

use whatever is fastest and most reliable for you.

Go download NameBench or DNS Benchmark and let it test them all.

It should give you a pretty good idea of which servers are the best and what type of improvement you should expect.

Google's NameBench - https://code.google.com/p/namebench/

GRC's DNS Benchmark - https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

DNS is not something that happens while you are downloading but rather before the connection is setup. If you are seeing higher download speeds I suspect that is normal variance / contention on your internet connection to your destination at play. I would suggest opening a command prompt on you computer using a wired connection and run the built in ping command if you want to measure ping. If you want to measure dns this utility does a fantastic job and includes 1.1.1.1

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

DNS is cached so once your computer knows the address of a server it will avoid making another DNS request. The only place where you will really notice a speed up is when you have never visited a website, there will be a split second pause while a DNS query happens on that first page load, after that no further DNS queries will happen until that DNS entry expires (hours/days)

This software seems to do what you want, but I haven't used it, so I can't vouch for it: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

The difference between those two is going to be extremely small though, if there is any difference at all.

It differs based on location/topology, you should perf test them using a dns benchmarking application such as https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

What is better for you may not be best for everyone.

Steve Gibson of GRC Research (author of SpinRight) has a DNS speed test app for Windows (& runs under wine on Linux) will show you the best/fastest DNS server for you. Note you'll need to add CloudFlare & Quad9 servers (at least until he updates it).

You can find it here: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Edited: last update was yesterday, so I think he's already added CloudFlare & Quad9

This is what I found with GRC's DNS Benchmark:

• My pihole was at the top (obviously)
• Quad9
• Google
• OpenDNS (barely before Cloudflare)
• Cloudflare (distant last)

I expect this to change eventually. When Quad9 first launched it was way down on my list compared to google.

Edit: Your mileage will vary depending on where you live.

Edit 2: Interestingly none of these made the cut when I told DNS benchmark to find the 50 closest resolvers to me.

Is there a way to easily test that their DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS encryption actually works? or any of their claims for that matter?

I tried DNS Benchmark for their DNS test compared to other DNS resolvers and it is indeed faster by some milliseconds. But keep in mind, it WILL VARY WILDLY based on your exact geolocation. The time to ping a server across the ocean or across a continent will impact each individual tester's specific speeds. This is more to give you a sense of which are fastest per user individually for your specific ISP and geolocation. Here is a link for anyone who wants to check for themselves:

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Pretty neat. I wasn't aware that Cloudflare was support DNS over TLS until this post.

I made to change at home, however, I ended up backing it out. After making the change and verifying everything was working via tcpdump, I then ran DNSBench (https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm) from one of the clients on my network to see how much latency DNS over TLS would impose over normal behavior. Running the benchmark actually caused the pfsense resolver to stop responding and I ended up cancelling the test out after the other resolvers I was testing was long gone. I appears that there may be only so many concurrent connections that DNS over TLS is able to handle before choking?

In any case, it might not be a problem for small setups or setups where there aren't a long of simultaneous queries happening. But be warned that this setup might not work in larger installations.

This is actually key. It's kind of amazing how much you can speed up your internet by using an optimized DNS. Use this tool to determine which the best DNS for you.

Kinda like OpenDNS, tho i benchmarked it vs Google DNS, OpenDNS and others. Google's still the most responsive followed by OpenDNS then only Quad9. (it's quite close to OpenDNS).

That being said: your milage may vary depending on each different ISP network topology.

If others would like to try to benchmarking try the freeware tool from GRC/dnsbenchmark

Not exactly for pfSense, but for a freeBSD based system.

DrKK guide from freeNAS forum Read through the config file for some useful info.

DrKKs' companion video that will teach you a bit about how DNS works and unbounds' implementation. Note: 60 minutes long, but worth it

Windows based DNS benchmark to find the best servers for your area(works in wine)

on the PC there will be network settings in the control panel, specifically under IPV4 properties. Most likely you are set to DHCP meaning you let the router give you all IP information.

So on the router you log into it and go to the WAN configuration area. That is where your router is set up for dealing with your internet provider.

Most likely your internet provider is giving your router all IP information as well, including DNS.

You can manually give your router 2 or 3 DNS servers to reference. It can pass that on to your PC no problem.

Or you can specify DNS directly in your PC and that will work fine, back at your IPV4 settings.

Use Steve Gibson's DNS benchmark.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

(if you're a geek like me this was really fun)

changing your PC's DNS: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001161.htm

I can't practically tell you how to change your router settings, just google (or bing) the router model and how to change WAN DNS.

I have fixed several PC over the years by putting in a faster DNS in the network settings. Makes surfing much snappier.

HTH.

There is a utility called DNS Benchmark you can use to test which DNS is the fastest for you.

One advantage of OpenDNS is if you register, you can have it block sites for you without having a firewall do it.

You might want to run the google benchmark for name servers: (mac,windows,unix source) https://code.google.com/archive/p/namebench/downloads

Gibson research posts a DNS benchmark. It is written for windows, but runs OK under wine. https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Both of these tools make a quick pass at a large number of open DNS sites and then do a detailed comparison of their timing from your location. This won't tell you about their privacy policies, but it will give you a list of likely candidates.

This would probably go best in /r/techsupport

Have you tried changing your DNS servers? Is your PC getting DNS from your ISP or Router or Locally? Probably worth running this https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm and then picking a new fast server. Easy to do locally within windows during your testing before putting it at your router.

General slowness while browsing may be as a result of the DNS server(s) that you are using, rather than your router.

Your old router may also be a piece of crap, but I'd suggest that you look at the usual suspects, before spending money.

A good place to start may be https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

I know you mentioned NameBench which I've also used in the past, but have you tried GRC DNS Bench?

Also, are you pulling your results from Diagnostics > DNS Lookup?

Here are some of my results using Unbound on my box

For Reddit once I rebooted Unbound

127.0.0.1 29 msec 8.8.8.8 41 msec 8.8.4.4 41 msec 2001:4860:4860::8888 39 msec 2001:4860:4860::8844 28 msec

Cloudflare

127.0.0.1 29 msec 8.8.8.8 41 msec 8.8.4.4 41 msec 2001:4860:4860::8888 39 msec 2001:4860:4860::8844 28 msec

I didn't really tweak my Unbound settings much, but I can post mine if you'd like.

I'd recommend trying ESET Online Scanner if you can get to view it and download the scanner file. from here: http://www.eset.co.uk/Antivirus-Utilities/Online-Scanner

You can also check for Malware using Malwarebytes: https://www.malwarebytes.org/

The only other reason I know of for connection issues to websites which seems to be a recent topic of late is usually down to DNS Settings.

Ask Google how to Change your DNS and you will get the instructions you need if you don't know how to do this.

As for which DNS servers to use? I would recommend starting with those provided by Google.

Configure your network settings to use the DNS addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 for your DNS servers.

GRC's DNS Benchmark will also let you test for faster DNS Servers

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

You sure know your networking

I have not tried all your steps, but it does lead me to one setting: DNS forwarder that I have setup and I forgot about it

And yes, 127.0.0.1 was listed as first DNS server in dashboard

In addition, I found this benchmark tool, and found that openDNS server

• 208.67.222.222
• 208.67.220.220

perform faster than Google's DNS server (8.8.8.8)

My current config:

• 208.67.222.222 as primary
• 208.67.220.220 as secondary
• Allow DNS server list to be overridden by DHCP/PPP on WAN uncheck (so I am not using comcast DNS server)
• Do not use the DNS Forwarder as a DNS server for the firewall

With this setup, I am only using OpenDNS server, and my PC and phone internet experience is a lot better

Thanks!

Couple of things to do, you can run tracert command to see where the issue is, if it going out the gate to your ISP or somewhere inbetween the path that you are taking.

You can also call your ISP to ensure that when they turned you back on they put you on the correct plan, sometimes people make mistakes.

You will also want to do a DNSbenchmark this will help determine which dns servers are best for your location. https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Ping is easy. DNS changing isn't bad either. You can find the best DNS server for yourself.

I have TW Turbo and am seeing almost consistently 20 down and 2 up right now: http://testmy.net/quickstats/slayerboy

I have my own modem and use a different DNS than TW or Google and really haven't had many problems other than when TW is having actual issues. I think TW is doing some funky stuff for users of their modem and DNS service.

Try using DNS Benchmark to find a decent DNS service and change it in your router's settings and see if that helps.

Keep in mind that this is just a theory. It's something that recently was making my family unable to access certain websites, but it might not be the cause of your particular issue.

Some other possible causes:

• Poor quality DNS servers set on your router. You could switch to OpenDNS, Google DNS, or another public DNS server. DNS Benchmark is a good program for finding the fastest DNS servers available to you, but it should be run via wired Ethernet (not WiFi) when there is no other traffic on the network. Follow this guide. DNS, domain name service, is what's used to translate domain names like google.com or reddit.com into IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.
• Access restrictions (domain name or keyword blocking) on your router
• OpenDNS parental controls
• Your router's hosts file
• A root firewall app like AFWall+ or DroidWall on the phone and tablet that's set to block certain apps from using WiFi while still allowing them to use cellular data.

It is probably something in your TRACEROUTE if I had to guess but I recommend you try GRC DNS Benchmark to be sure it isn't really a DNS thing. Also, you might find a DNS you like better for some reason.

Steve Gibson, of Spin Rite and SecurityNow! fame, has a DNS benchmark app that has a ton of DNS addresses built in. Also great for checking if it is accessible from where ever you are.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

But woefully pathetic performance even though ping and trace route are good.

Ping statistics for 1.0.0.1: Packets: Sent = 100, Received = 100, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 9ms, Average = 3ms

Don't rely on ping and/or trace route for DNS performance.
Run a DNS Benchmark. It's easy. No install. Just run the exe.
https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

---<-------->---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ one.one.one.one CLOUDFLARENET, US

How about a DNS Benchmark
https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

From 5GHz WiFi AC Client

---<-------->---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ resolver-a.as20055.net ··· unknown owner ···

&#x200B;

---<-------->---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ one.one.one.one CLOUDFLARENET, US

That's an outstanding suggestion... thanks!

If it helps anyone, grc.com (Gibson Research Corporation, run by Steve Gibson) has a free DNS test utility ([https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm]) that allows users to see the relative resolution speeds of various known name servers. I suppose YMMV.

And, not that it matters, but like all his other products, it's written completely in Assembly, so it's pretty quick.

When you dont know just test it out with DNS Benchmark tool. Put in all the DNS server IP address that you want to test and find out which one is fastest from your network.

Use GRS tool to find best dns server for your usage and location. Experiment with DoH later, but security gains might be minimal, unless you know that your ISP ios tampering wqith DNS.

it can be faster and more secure. it can also be slower. ISPs can redirect dns requests intended for external services to a local one. If I can do it with my router then they can too.

you can use a dns benchmark tool to see what would be best for you.

that said, I've used external non-isp dns servers on my home network for over a decade. the response is quick enough that I don't even notice it. my router serves as an intermediary dns server. all local clients talk to it, it talks to the internet. I do this mainly because I have a set of local dns names and so I can resolve hostnames to local IPs. it's very handy and transparent for that. I know this goes beyond the question but yeah.

Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) is great for DNS. I've stopped using Google DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) entirely. If you want to get really in the weeds grab GRC's DNS Benchmark to find a primary and secondary DNS server that works best for you.

Never use the ISP DNS. They use that for commercial marketing and research.

It really doesn't matter honestly. They're both fast and secure enough that it'll never make much of a difference to you.

I suppose it's possible that google is mining more data from their resolver.

You could always run a dns benchmark and see which is fastest for you.

Well right there tells the story, they won't do much but I'd still give them a call. Also find the best DNS and change your adapter to the fastest one it will help regardless. Download Namebench or GRC to find best DNS, then change it, you will get a bit better connection.

You might find something on VPN passthrough settings.

I have a huawei B311 I use as a backup. It has a 3 sim in it UK.

Just tested it with an Xbox and it connects and plays fine, no IPSEC issues. Wifi only so can't connect my PC to it.

I'd check the router settings and make sure anything VPN passthrough is enabled.

Also you may want to look at something like GRC DNS Checker

Otherwise, it could be a Network provider issue

A.) Dude, you're measuring and comparing things wrong. You use data from Unbound stats for one set of data and then data from running a script with nslookup tests and comparing them as the same "test" data, but it's not the same testing methodology for both, which means different variables, so it's an inaccurate comparison.

B.) Your attention to detail is also lacking. You list "total.recursion.time.avg" and "total.recursion.time.median" but then you list the descriptions for "threadX.recursion.time.avg" and "threadX.recursion.time.median".

Your poor testing methodology is also why your namebench results showed Google DNS was faster, but you had to come up with a flawed test and math in order to say Unbound was faster.

The only valid test in your scenario would be to change your Unbound forwarders to Google DNS, query the same sites, and then provide the stats to compare to your current stats. Or run GRC DNS Benchmark and sort by uncached and it will perform the same test across all the DNS servers, including your Unbound, and show the results.

Your fanboying has clouded your mind. You're like a flat earther, trying to prove your flawed belief with flawed tests and only looking for and spouting anecdotal data that confirms your premade fanboy conclusion.

> Step 2 determine what DNS gives you the best latency...

DNS latency doesn't matter when playing games.

But, here's a way to find the best one. DNS is really only used when surfing the World Wide Web (in a web browser).

also you can use https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm to check which is the fastest dns server then enter it in your ipv4/6 under the properties section of network to try to solve some other lag issues.

You can test your DNS lookup speed with Gibson Research DNS speed test: https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

For my lack of money I'm going with CloudFlare over Google for anonymity. Screwgoogle.

Correct, Google public DNS uses anycast to route to your query to the nearest server. GRC has a fun DNS benchmark tool that will test a bunch of DNS servers using your connection and compare the response times.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

If you have access to the DNS settings in your modem or router, you can do a benchmark and set it for the fastest DNS server https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm. It won't always be your ISPs DNS server.

Having different traceroute results is expected with a VPN. The VPN creates a tunnel through your ISP (and the rest of the world) to the VPN server and essentially makes that VPN host your next hop as far as your regular traffic is concerned. Those 10.x.x.x IPs are still there, just sort of hidden by the tunnel. Imagine you wanted to mail a letter to Argentina without giving out your address and without anyone knowing, you could put that letter in another letter and mail it to a trusted third person who sends the letter from their address.

Going with a PC directly into the modem is what support centers love to hear but if they're a pain, it may be best to stick with asking them simple questions that they don't have to spend too much time answering.

If changing your DNS seemed to help (versus using the one provided by your ISP, I assume?), it might be worth trying GRC's DNS Benchmark to see which ones are the fastest. https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Not at all, thank you, Im on the latest/haven’t got any updates pending. I broke the cardinal rule of trouble shooting, I did lots of things at once and now it works. However I think the reasons for this error was my internals, I’ve been using a fixed adsl line and 4g aggregated to connect to the internet, I route the games through the fixed line for less jitter on the ping, the fixed line is 3mbps but it’s stable (ish) and I think something got confused in the routing over time (I make many changes trying to learn) and packets were getting lost, a factory reset and then rebuilding it new seems to have worked for now. Packets must no longer be getting lost! I’m going a long way about saying There was something wrong with my things not the wider network. No need to panic, not that anyone was. Which is good. On my travels I thought it could be something to do with the dns and found this tool which I thought was useful. I’m now using the fastest dns for me which provides slight overall improvement of the internet experience :) dns benchmark Thanks for your help 👍

You can update your amass config file to use specific DNS resolvers. You can also this tool from Steve Gibson to determine which DNS resolvers are most responsive to your queries.

https://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

Looks like crap but it’s a good way to test response times of the different servers.

If you are using the default AdGuard dns server then that’s probably the main issue. One of the slower dns servers from my experience.

Also, try testing plain udp dns before trying dns over https to see if performance changes much.