How to: Set up OpenDNS on your Mac

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How to: Set up OpenDNS on your Mac

12 March 2012 3,242 views 4 Comments

Last week, the hard disk in my five-year-old iMac died — c’est la vie. A new hard drive installed and my apps restored (yeah, Mac App Store!) later, and I thought everything was all set up. Until, that is, I noticed an unrecognized URL in Safari returned a DNS search page for Time Warner’s Roadrunner service — Ick! Not only is service provider DNS search less useful and slower, who the heck wants Comcast, Roadrunner or whomever knowing what you’re up to?

Here’s a straightforward guide for upgrading your Mac from service provider DNS lookup and search to OpenDNS:

1. Go to System Preferences -> Network -> click “Advanced”

2. Click the “DNS” tab and then the “+”

3. Paste or type in 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

4. Click the “+” under search domain and type or paste in “opendns.org”

See also: Google Public DNS

Yes, OpenDNS is faster (your mileage may vary) than ISP DNS and it’s also one less data point they can track…

What’s your take?

4 Comments »

Erin Symons said:

Thanks for helping spread the word on OpenDNS, and sharing how easy the set-up process is. We so appreciate our users and their support for the service

# 12 March 2012 at 12:59 pm

OpenDNS blocks Flashback Trojan | FairerPlatform said:

[...] an ounce of prevention — How to: Set up OpenDNS on your Mac — is all it takes and OpenDNS is my favorite kind of cure — free. In addition to protecting [...]

# 10 April 2012 at 12:28 am

mark said:

I don’t think you want “opendns.org” as a search domain. This will cause opendns.org to be appended to incomplete addresses, delaying lookups.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mh14127.html

excerpt:
Domains are searched in the order you list them, and the search stops when a valid name is found.

To search a name hierarchy, use search domains of varying scope. For example: building.campus.university.edu, campus.university.edu, university.edu.

# 10 April 2012 at 12:38 pm

Mac: How to detect DNS Changer | FairerPlatform said:

[...] better performance than my ISP’s DNS service. If you’re liking the sound of that, here’s how to set up OpenDNS on your Mac — there’s nothing to install, just change a few numbers in the Network Settings panel. [...]

# 24 April 2012 at 1:20 am