Follow up testing results with OpenDNS

After posting about OpenDNS I figure I try this out at home to test. So far after using it for a few days, I have not seen any slowness or change of Internet speeds. Using a custom filter, I blocked the usual sites any business would block, pornography, plus other sites like proxy bypass sites (these allow users to bypass OpenDNS's filtering).

Using Google I made a search for "proxy bypass" and just clicking the first result received a OpenDNS message window that the site in question has been blocked. A nice feature is each site blocked brings up a "contact your admin for questions" window. If a user is indeed using the site for business use, they can send a e-mail message and this will be directly sent to the registered e-mail address. From here you are given a choice as the admin, either continue blocking the site (no action needed) or "white list" the site, by unblocking it.

Overall it works but there are some slight issues. First is the filtering is connected to your IP address. For some ISP's they do not issue a static IP address but a dynamic IP address. Blocking these addresses is more difficult but not impossible, normally your router should not acquire a new IP address frequently so the filtering will still work. OpenDNS also features a nice tool that allows a computer in the network to update OpenDNS with a change in the dynamic address. This is important because if OpenDNS is not updated with the new IP address, the filtering will no longer work.

Overall I am giving a high recommendation for OpenDNS at home or work, anywhere you want to filter Internet access. It's great for parents who can't watch their kids all of the time on the Internet but still want some on-line safety. Important to say the best method of protection for kids is basic supervision and not leaving them alone with the computer.

A cheap alternative to Websense


There's sometimes issues where you need to filter or block the Internet access at home, school or in special environments such as a church. There are solutions but many of them cost a subscription fee or their prices are beyond normal affordable prices. What can you do when the client is looking for something that is free or of little cost?

This where you can use a service from OpenDNS, which blocks or allows custom websites depending upon your requirements. The cost of this service is free and open to home user including small businesses, not sure if this is ok for large businesses you will need to check before implementing.

So how does this work? It's simple!

Basically you setup you computer or router and change the DNS address from your ISP to OpenDNS's DNS servers, 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. From there you create an account on OpenDNS to choose what you would like to filter or not. You can choose various options such as adult content, gambling, or chat sites, even steaming video like YouTube. It's that simple.

In the case you need to open or allow a certain site, or a site that is not included you can manually add sites as needed. It's great for a church Internet computer that you do not want people accessing porn sites, it's also great for a kids computer where you want to block social networking sites for their safety.

I'll report back how well this works out after I try this at home.