DNS lookup slower on DSL?

[MikeBCda]

A couple of days ago I finally bit the bullet and upgraded from dialup to my ISP's DSL, PPPoE (typical dl speed 5 Mbps).  Mainly because an increasing number of my regular sites have redesigned on the assumption that most visitors are on broadband.

Once a page actually starts to load, it's of course now delightfully fast (depending, of course, on how much it relies on third-party sites for things like graphics).  But "Looking up ...." usually seems to take a lot longer now than it did on dialup ... my son said it's because DNS lookup uses a totally different protocol than on dialup.

I discussed with my ISP, and the guy there gave me a couple of specific DNS IPs to try rather than using the default "assigned by server" thing.  But there's been no significant improvement.

Is this something inherent in DSL that I'll just have to get used to?

[szc]

Hi Mike,

Congrats on upgrade!

The thing that helped me a lot is OpenDNS. You may want to go through their website and learn about OpenDNS. Their numbers are 208.67.222.222
and 208.67.220.220. You can even create an account and get some more options, but that's optional. Service is absolutely free. Load times drastically improved since I started using OpenDNS numbers.

https://www.opendns.com

[bob3160]

More info also available at:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=16849.msg185494#msg185494   
I wouldn't browse without OpenDNS. 

[DavidR]

Another vote for OpenDNS

[avatar2005]

Another vote for OpenDNS

Me too! Even now on DSL

[MikeBCda]

Many thanks, crew.  I just took a look at their site and it looks good, so have bookmarked it for now.

I presume the way it works is that they give you new specific DNS IPs to replace the ones I'm using now.

[.: Mac :.]

Many thanks, crew.  I just took a look at their site and it looks good, so have bookmarked it for now.

I presume the way it works is that they give you new specific DNS IPs to replace the ones I'm using now.

Yes, you can put them in your Router so it will hand them out to all your machines via DHCP or if you only have one machine connected to the web just enter them into Windows/Linux/Mac OS

[szc]

Yes, you can put them in your Router so it will hand them out to all your machines via DHCP or if you only have one machine connected to the web just enter them into Windows/Linux/Mac OS

Exactly, that's the best option, of course if you are behind a router. Here is how one of my router's configuration pages look like (note those options where I set my router to use OpenDNS).

[bob3160]

Since we use the same router Sasha,
mine looks just like yours.

[.: Mac :.]

Since we use the same router Sasha,
mine looks just like yours.

I have a NetGear WGR614v6 and it looks the same, in fact all Netgear firmware looks the same

[Lisandro]

Using OpenDNS at my home router

[MikeBCda]

Oooo-kay ... set up per OpenDNS, and still no improvement.  So I said the heck with it and dropped back to the "auto-assigned" DNS setting.  I have to assume either I've got a system problem (nuisance rather than serious), or else there's something I totally missed in setup.

Router-modem is a Thomson Speedtouch ST546, if that rings any bells with anyone.

[szc]

Since we use the same router Sasha,
mine looks just like yours.

Yes, I am free to say that this baby is the best of the best. Since I switched to it from Linksys, I've never looked back. My Linksys went into oblivion. Company I used to work for in the past used nothing else but Netgear... one of the largest computer/server service companies in whole country. They know why

[szc]

Oooo-kay ... set up per OpenDNS, and still no improvement.  So I said the heck with it and dropped back to the "auto-assigned" DNS setting.  I have to assume either I've got a system problem (nuisance rather than serious), or else there's something I totally missed in setup.

Router-modem is a Thomson Speedtouch ST546, if that rings any bells with anyone.

I suggest you have a nice talk to your ISP technical support then. Do not be afraid to ask any question, they must give you a satisfying answer... remember, you are paying them, not the other way around.

Of course it is possible that modem could have some issues too... the best thing is to have everything checked and go by the system of elimination... step by step.

[MikeBCda]

I suggest you have a nice talk to your ISP technical support then. Do not be afraid to ask any question, they must give you a satisfying answer... remember, you are paying them, not the other way around.

Thanks, but (obviously?) that was the first thing I did, since I've got excellent support there.  They're the ones who gave me the first pair of specific DNS IP's to replace the auto setting.