DNS Advice

[martkt10]

Hello,

Can someone please tell me if i enter the dns numbers on the router or on the pc or both

And should i only use the virgin media ones or are there any better ones

Many thanks

[Kushan]

Originally Posted by martkt10

Hello,

Can someone please tell me if i enter the dns numbers on the router or on the pc or both

And should i only use the virgin media ones or are there any better ones

Many thanks

Your router will get the Virgin DNS servers automatically if you don't specify them. When your PC connects to the router, it'll get whatever DNS servers the router is using, unless you specify otherwise on the PC itself.

So if you specify them on the router, you DON'T need to specify them on the PC.

As for which ones to use, this is really a personal preference down to what you class as "better". Virgin's DNS should be the fastest but you're talking differences in terms of maybe 10ms per query and the reality is that the router itself (or the PC) will cache queries so you likely won't see a huge impact no matter who's DNS you use.

The advantages of using an alternative DNS are things like stability (Virgin's have gone down in the past) and even control - if you use OpenDNS, you can specify things like parental controls or even get some nice statistics from your network.

I, personally, use a mixture of OpenDNS and Google DNS. My Primary DNS is 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS 1) and my secondary DNS is Google (8.8.8.8) - the advantage of this is that if OpenDNS ever goes down, Google shouldn't be affected. I've not had a DNS related issue in about 4 years now. There's nothing stopping you using Virgin's DNS as your primary (194.168.4.100) and maybe Google as your secondary, so you theoretically get the best of both worlds.

[progers]

I've used ntl's DNS servers now since 2004 and never had a problem with them

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by progers

I've used ntl's DNS servers now since 2004 and never had a problem with them

I did 4 years ago and tbh given how important dns is to an isp they should never put themselves in a situation where they would have ns issues so form my point of view it was unacceptable.

I do what Kush does but the other way around. I can set 4 static dns servers on my router so I have got google as primary and secondary, open dns as tertiary and VMs as quarternary (last resort ). The key message though is defo not to rely on VM's. Set google as your primary and only use VM as a backup.

[pabscars]

Can you change the DNS settings in the superhub 2 only I cant find it, I was just gonna try it for ***** and giggles

[General Maximus]

nope because the shub isn't a proper router

[martkt10]

Originally Posted by Kushan

Your router will get the Virgin DNS servers automatically if you don't specify them. When your PC connects to the router, it'll get whatever DNS servers the router is using, unless you specify otherwise on the PC itself.

So if you specify them on the router, you DON'T need to specify them on the PC.

As for which ones to use, this is really a personal preference down to what you class as "better". Virgin's DNS should be the fastest but you're talking differences in terms of maybe 10ms per query and the reality is that the router itself (or the PC) will cache queries so you likely won't see a huge impact no matter who's DNS you use.

The advantages of using an alternative DNS are things like stability (Virgin's have gone down in the past) and even control - if you use OpenDNS, you can specify things like parental controls or even get some nice statistics from your network.

I, personally, use a mixture of OpenDNS and Google DNS. My Primary DNS is 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS 1) and my secondary DNS is Google (8.8.8.8) - the advantage of this is that if OpenDNS ever goes down, Google shouldn't be affected. I've not had a DNS related issue in about 4 years now. There's nothing stopping you using Virgin's DNS as your primary (194.168.4.100) and maybe Google as your secondary, so you theoretically get the best of both worlds.

Thank you for your help, i think i will change them on the router and delete the one's off the imac
Thanks again