OpenDNS vs Google DNS: Which is Better ?
OpenDNS was the undisputed solution to slow DNS earlier. Though the Level 3 DNS server ( 4.2.2.2) was often better, lack of commitment from Level 3 to keep it available made choosing that option difficult. There has also been rumours of Level 3, shutting down the service.
With the entry of Google DNS, all that has changed. Here is a free service just like OpenDNS but which operates purely by standards and Google DNS is a faster option for many. So which service should you choose? Performance of Google DNS vs OpenDNS varies by country and by type of domains. Here are the results of performance data from 32 countries
| Country | Winner |
|---|---|
| Argentina | |
| Australia | |
| Austria | |
| Bahrain | Tie |
| Brazil | |
| Canada | OpenDNS |
| Costa Rica | Tie (Adv. Google) |
| Czech Republic | |
| Finland | |
| France | |
| Germany | |
| Hong Kong | Tie |
| Iceland | OpenDNS |
| India | |
| Indonesia | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Japan | |
| Malaysia | Tie |
| Mexico | Tie |
| Netherlands | |
| Norway | Tie |
| Portugal | OpenDNS |
| Saudi Arabia | Tie (Adv. OpenDNS) |
| Slovenia | |
| Spain | OpenDNS |
| Sweden | |
| Switzerland | |
| Turkey | |
| United Kingdom | OpenDNS |
| United States | OpenDNS |
| Venezuela | Tie (Adv. Google) |
As you can see Google leads in 17 countries, OpenDNS in 6 countries and 9 countries Tied. You should do your own test, before you adopt any DNS service. Sometimes your ISP’s DNS service will be much better than either of these options but the downside is that many ISP’s do not care much for security. With attacks against DNS becoming more popular in the recent years it pays to go with a service provider who cares about security.
Even in countries where OpenDNS is faster, it might be better to use Google DNS because OpenDNS breaks DNS standards. If OpenDNS does not find a domain name it redirects the user to a search page, which is an annoyance. This behaviour also breaks some software. Also OpenDNS covertly redirects google searches from some browser toolbars to its own servers. This is without user’s consent or knowledge and introduces security and privacy concerns. Since Google DNS operates according to DNS standards, these type of issues do not arise. Google has also promised to not to filter or alter any result.
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Manu is a Ruby on Rails developer,blogger, amateur entrepreneur, Mac and Linux enthusiast and a technophile. Read more ››
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Security in itself is a very important element to choose a reliable DNS provider. The security provided by ISPs is at best, questionable. Since speed is relative, every person who feels interested in Google DNS should run speed tests between Google DNS, OpenDNS and his ISP's DNS on his own. In my tests, OpenDNS performed better than Google DNS.
If DNS speed is too much of concern, I suggest installing DNS server locally on one's own system. Resolving hosts first time will be a bit costly, but from there onwards it is going to be faster than the rest.
I'm in Australia and the OpenDNS servers am using are, on average 50ms faster than Google's…
Thanks for posting this great comparison!
Could you please also include South Korea in your list? That's where I am, and I'd like to let other folks here know which DNS is faster.
Google DNS perform much better than OpenDNS in Indonesia. Google results about 100-125 ms, OpenDNS about 225-300 ms.
Yep agree with having a local DNS server but for most people that is too
much trouble
Can you post your times ? Will change it to a tie
The results are user contributed. If you are using linux or mac os x
you can use the script here,
http://www.manu-j.com/blog/opendns-alternative-...
to calculate your DNS times and which is faster.
or you can use namebench http://code.google.com/p/namebench/ The DNS
servers to test are
4.2.2.2
8.8.8.8
208.67.222.222
Which in order are Level 3, Google and OpenDNS
Thank you for report.
You can add Philippines to the list ^_^ result from my end -> http://lh6.ggpht.com/_noHIKWUWuGU/Sxy8Pf6MR0I/A...
85-90ms GoogleDNS vs. 180-185ms OpenDNS
Thanks for this comparison. I'm in NYC and my average ping is about 7-8ms quicker with OpenDNS then Google. I've been using Google DNS since the day it came out but I'm going back to OpenDNS
Yes, and for most people Google DNS should be fine.
where you got this data? your own research?
which isp do you use to get this test results? maybe the isp have direct peering with google?
http://i48.tinypic.com/2quhjbk.jpg
These are my results from namebench http://code.google.com/p/namebench/
As you can see there are clear benefits for Google DNS over all others except a BT one, but as I hate BT with a passion I wouldn’t use anything of their’s.
Nice. BT and Google is really close. Less than a millisecond apart.
wow interesting analysis
mmm for my country Pakistan should I depend on the nearest country’s result?
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