Alternative DNS

APM

APM

APM

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Joined
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Wales
Someone recommended I use Cryptostorm and Deep DNS in order to maintain privacy and control over my networking data.

Does anyone in here have any alternatives or any ideas in general about using non-ISP DNS?

Thanks
 
Personally I just use Google's public DNS servers; 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Or OpenDNS, which is now part of Cisco. The only time I notice any difference in speed using these is if I run a benchmark tool such as the one provided by GRC.

Are you having a particular problem with your current ISP's DNS, or do you have specific privacy concerns?
 
If you're using Cryptostorm you should probably go with whatever DNS system they suggest (deepdns presumably, but their site is down so can't confirm) to avoid de-anonymising yourself.
 
I saw Open DNS has gone to Cisco now and that looks like a good alternative.

I'd like some defence against what I consider to be intrusive surveillance and general snoopiness by whatever powers that be deem necessary to watch and record how many times I go to B&Q.com or wherever.

Any performance gains would be welcome too and now I see on the Cryptostorm websites that they are running this Deep DNS which looks like quite a fantastic security layer and will disregard any traffic from known malware and adware suppliers for example.
I was considering setting up a pfsense router at home to apply such rules myself not so long ago.

Just not dove in yet and always interested to hear from folk in here about stuff first.
 
ISP re-directs could be avoided too,the more I look at it the more it appears to be a must do thing.
 
Sounds like you want a VPN service so that you can anonymise your internet usage, not something I've really felt the need for.

Having a quick read up on CryptoStorm it does sound good, but not sure it's a service I would be comfortable using. ExpressVPN sounds like it might be worth a look though.
 
I have AirVPN and happy with it,it's a chap on their forums mentioned this and that's why I'm cross-referencing it here,for some more expansion on the ideas etc.
 
APM said:
I'd like some defence against what I consider to be intrusive surveillance and general snoopiness by whatever powers that be deem necessary to watch and record how many times I go to B&Q.com or wherever.
Click to expand...

A VPN is only a halfway solution to anonymity. The best way is to use Tor. They have a FAQ entry that explains the difference better than I could:

https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq.html.en#IsTorLikeAVPN

The gist of it is 1. you have to take the VPN provider's word for it, and 2. surveillance and correlation attacks can still be done on the VPN infrastructure.
 
This is why I use AirVPN,I find it easier to establish a level of trust in their set up than in other vpn providers I looked at.

I've never felt the need to use Tor to be honest,network security is like a hobby for me and after using a vpn for a number of years looking into DNS configurations appears to be a logical next step.
 
APM said:
I've never felt the need to use Tor to be honest,network security is like a hobby for me and after using a vpn for a number of years looking into DNS configurations appears to be a logical next step.
Click to expand...

Definitely good to confirm which DNS you're on since they have a pretty complete record of your browsing. Don't you just use the VPN DNS automatically? With it connected open a terminal (cmd in windows) and do

nslookup domain (google.com, whatever you like)

It should tell you the DNS server in the first couple of lines.
 
I have a few machines here,some run on the VPN and some don't.

This thread is more about the set up for the non-vpn'd kit.
 
Thanks,

this bit I particularly like,

The Internet is not owned by any single government, corporation, or individual and was designed and intended to be free and open. OpenNIC takes DNS back from a central authority operated in cooperation with the US Federal Government, and moves it into the hands of the users of the Internet, you and me!
 
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