WRT54GL "Open DNS"

Posts: 29 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 26, 2005 Posts: 29

I set up a Linsysys WRT54GL in front of an RTP 300 with the help of Natehoy. I cannot thank him enough for the improvement it has given me.

My only small complaint is that many times there is a delay while Firefox decides where it is going once it resolves the address everything is fantastic. The way the router is currently set up under Static DNS 1, 2, and 3 there is nothing but zeros and bellow that, "Use dnsmasq for DNS" is checked. I have no idea what a dnsmasq is and where it is set! Today I was reading about a service called Open DNS and it appeared worth a try as all you have to do is change your isp's DNS numbers to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. It sounds simple enough, but as I mentioned above I have no DNS numbers entered, just use dnsmasq checked!

Does anyone have any experience either good or bad with, "Open DNS" and is it worth a try? Why is my router set up with no DNS numbers and should I leave it alone or make changes?

Thanks,
Chick

Posts: 29 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 26, 2005 Posts: 29

Just wondering if no one has tried, "Open DNS" or if no one knows what a dnsmasq is.

Thanks for any comments,

Chick

Posts: 533 · Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 3:55 pm Post subject:

Chick wrote:

Just wondering if no one has tried, "Open DNS" or if no one knows what a dnsmasq is.

Thanks for any comments,

Chick

DNSMasq is a mini-DNS server. It forwards DNS requests from your PCs to DNS servers your router acquired from DHCP (from your ISP). It also caches entries and provides local dynamic DNS services for your PCs.

I don't use OpenDNS, but it looks kind of interesting. They claim to provide some safe browsing techniques.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:23 am Post subject:

Normally, you leave the IP addresses blank in the DNS settings because the router obtains the DNS servers for you from your ISP, at the same time it is getting an IP address. You can see your assigned DNS server and IP address on the Status page.

Unless your ISP's DNS servers are particularly bad, changing to ones outside your ISP's domain will generally be slower, not faster. That's because they are usually located closer to you, and require fewer network hops to get to. However, not all ISPs host their own DNS servers, and not all of them do it well.

Your slowdown, however, is probably caused by the speed of DNSMasq, the DNS proxy built into your router. As it stands, your PC probably has the IP address of your router set as its only DNS server. Whenever your PC wants to look up a DNS entry, it asks the router, which in turn asks the remote DNS server. This is useful for repeated inquiries on the same DNS lookup, as the router caches the information for a while. But it does add delays to the initial lookup, depending on router load and other factors.

That can easily be turned off, and your individual PC's will do their own DNS lookups. Simply log into the router, and turn off the "use DNSMasq" checkbox in the main setup page. Save the settings and release/renew your connection at the PC, which will make the PC aware of the change (IPCONFIG /RELEASE followed by IPCONFIG /RENEW, or do a "repair connection" from Network Connections, or just reboot the PC).

Separately, you can change DNS servers that the router will use (if DNSMasq is on) or pass along to your client for them to use (if DNSMAsq is off) by entering values into the DNS servers on the router setup page, and checking the appropriate boxes on which ones get priority.

Probably the best way to judge which DNS server is right for you is to simply ping all of them at least 3-4 times, then pick the ones with the fastest response times. 4.2.2.2 - 4.2.2.6 are popular public DNS servers, in addition to the ones you have listed.