DNS is the service which your computer uses to translate domain names, like www.google.ca, to an IP address, like 192.168.1.1, that your computer uses to actually route your network traffic to its destination.  Think of it like the phone book of the Internet.

I don't know of a single ISP in my area that hasn't had some kind of a failure with their DNS service at some point.  This basically mean that, despite the fact that your connection to the Internet is working perfectly, you can't browse, check email, or anything else you regularly do online, simply because your computer doesn't know where to find any of the online services you're trying to use.

To counter this, there are several organizations that provide public DNS servers.  Combining several of these in your network setup will mean a single failure will not prevent you from using the Internet as normal.

This also has the advantage of not providing your entire browsing history to your ISP through their DNS logs. (Yes, there are other ways for them to monitor your browsing, but most require some forethought and setup on their part.)

NOTE: Only some of these have been tested and verified as working by CB Services. 

  1. Google DNS.
    • 8.8.8.8
    • 8.8.4.4
  2. OpenDNS
    • 208.67.222.222
    • 208.67.220.220
  3. Norton Safe Connect (no commercial use - https://dns.norton.com/dnsweb/homePage.do)
    • 195.85.126.10
    • 195.85.127.10
  4. Level3 (these appear to all be on the same subnet, so a single router failure at Level3 would take them all out.  Not good as a sole DNS provider.)
    • 4.2.2.1
    • 4.2.2.2
    • 4.2.2.3
    • 4.2.2.4
    • 4.2.2.5
    • 4.2.2.6
  5. Cisco
    • 128.107.241.185
    • 192.135.350.69
  6. SpeakEasy
    • 66.93.87.2
    • 216.231.41.2
    • 216.254.95.2
    • 64.81.45.2
    • 64.81.111.2
    • 64.81.127.2
    • 64.81.79.2
    • 64.81.159.2
    • 66.92.64.2
    • 66.92.224.2
    • 66.92.159.2
    • 216.27.175.2
  7. ORSC Public Access DNS Servers
    • 199.166.24.253
    • 199.166.27.253
    • 199.166.28.10
    • 199.166.29.3
    • 199.166.31.3
    • 195.117.6.25
    • 204.57.55.100
  8. Sprintlink General DNS
    • 204.117.214.10
    • 199.2.252.10
    • 204.9.212.10
  9. Comcast
    • 75.75.75.75
    • 75.75.76.76
  10. UUNet
    • 198.6.1.3

 

This article will be continually updated as more public DNS servers are discovered.

Computer Services