I started using OpenDNS yesterday. What is DNS?
DNS, the Domain Name System, translates the human addresses of websites and servers (like wikipedia.org) to the numerical address used by computers (207.142.131.203).
What does OpenDNS do?
OpenDNS is a better DNS, free to all. OpenDNS uses its distributed network of DNS servers to speed up your Internet experience, increase reliability, improve security and make DNS smarter for users all over the world.
Before switching to open DNS, when I would occasionally mistype a domain name it would sometimes resolve to a strange Chinese search page instead of just giving an error like “that page can’t be found.” Phishing is also a particular worry in China.
OpenDNS can identify and stop sites trying to phish (steal) your personal information or money. The OpenDNS phishing protection works with all operating systems and browsers, and complements any other security measures already in use, such as a firewall and anti-virus software.
Besides giving some piece of mind (I trust OpenDNS more than I trust my internet provider China Telecom) it also seems to be a little faster at resolving addresses. This is just based on surfing over the past day and I can’t say that it is amazingly faster or anything like that. Just feels faster and is certainly not any slower. It doesn’t help with the great Chinese firewall (which has once again been blocking access to blogs on Blogger.com on and off), but still I would recommend readers in China to at least give it a try.