22 October 2011

How to Determine and Set Up the Fastest DNS Server for Your Connection

Speed Up Your Web Browsing in a Few Clicks: A Brief Introduction to DNS

On Windows: the free DNS Jumper makes it a lot easier:
1. Download DNS Jumper, and extract it to any location on your hard drive. It's a portable application, so there's no need to install it—just start it up.
2. If you know what DNS server you want to use, pick it from the drop-down menu or type it in the boxes at the bottom. If not, hit the "Fastest DNS" button on the left. It'll check a number of different servers to find out which one is the fastest for you.
3. When it's done, click the "Apply DNS Servers" button to use the fastest server.

Sometimes, your ISP's default DNS server really is the fastest, but other times, it could be something else, so even if it ends up being the ones you already use, it was still worth running the test to find out. When you're done, you can delete the app or file it away for future use.