Google Public DNS IPv4 Addresses
- 8.8.8.8
- 8.8.4.4
Google Public DNS IPv6 Addresses
- 2001:4860:4860::8888
- 2001:4860:4860::8844
Level 3 Public DNS Server Addresses
- 209.244.0.3
- 209.244.0.4
- 4.2.2.1
- 4.2.2.2
- 4.2.2.3
- 4.2.2.4
OpenDNS IP Addresses
- 208.67.222.222
- 208.67.220.220
Norton DNS IP Addresses
Option A:
- 199.85.126.10
- 199.85.127.10
Option B:
- 199.85.126.20
- 199.85.127.20
Option C:
- 199.85.126.30
- 199.85.127.30
Google- Google being Google, they have massive scale, load-balancing, redundancy and DNS servers distributed all over the world. They also support the latest technologies and security mechanisms like IPv6 DNS servers and DNSSEC. Their DNS servers are also well protected against DoS attacks and cache poisoning attacks.
It’s worth noting that Google Public DNS does not perform any blocking or filtering on the DNS requests, as some of the other services do. They state that only under extraordinary circumstances would they block anything. For me, this is a good option because I use other tools to filter out malware sites, etc and don’t necessarily want my DNS service to be involved.
The main benefit for using Google is their global data center and the fact that they have DNS servers located around the world. Some other services only have DNS servers located in one part of the world, so the performance will suffer considerably.
The main downside to using Google is that they are all about tracking and logging everything anyone does on the Internet and this is no exception. If you are leery of Google having too much information, I would suggest using a different DNS server.
Level3 - Level 3 is the company that provides a lot of ISPs their connection to the Internet backbone, so they are huge, reliable and secure. There is no filtering with Level 3, just like Google DNS, so it’s mostly used for performance and reliability.
Depending on your location in the world, any of the public DNS servers I mention here could be the fastest, so that’s why it’s necessary to read the link above on finding the fastest DNS server for your connection.
OpenDNS - OpenDNS has been around for a very long time and they are a reputable company. OpenDNS provides several services including Enhanced DNS and Parental Controls, both of which are free.
OpenDNS is also the first public DNS that I have mentioned that does automatic blocking and filtering against phishing attacks and identity theft. This is a great option if you have kids and want to prevent them from landing on malware-infested sites or if you have older family members who sometimes click on spam links in emails.
They also have a VIP service for $20 a month that gives you a bunch Internet usage statistics for all the devices on your network.
Norton ConnectSafe - Norton ConnectSafe is the public DNS service provided by Norton. Like OpenDNS, Norton also has automatic filtering and blocking based on their database of sites. Using the free DNS speed tools I mentioned, it’s also one of the fastest public DNS servers.
Norton DNS has a couple of different DNS servers, depending on the type of protection you want. They have three options:
- A – Protection against malware, phishing sties and scam sites
- B – A + Pornography
- C – A +Pornography + Other
Other will basically block sites related to mature content, gambling, hate, suicide, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, etc. Obviously, that could block a lot of sites, so us that option as you see fit.
OpenNIC DNS - Lastly, another one I like to use is OpenNIC. They have servers all of the world run by their own members and exist to provide a democratic, non-national network that protects your privacy. The link above will show you a list of all of their Tier 2 DNS servers around the world, but you can go to the homepage and it will tell you the closest servers to your IP automatically at the top right.