Several years ago I switched our home network over to OpenDNS.  I think that was one of the best decisions I’ve made.  They offer a great free product and one that I can customize and use to protect my whole network with a simple change to my router.    Don’t take my word for it take a look at the awards they’ve received and no I don’t receive any kickback for saying all this.  I’m just a very satisfied customer.

So click on over to OpenDNS and make the change. They’ve made it extremely easy and even give you instructions for how to do it regardless of how your network is configured.  I just went through the steps again (so I could blog about it) and it took me 45 seconds to set it up.  Yea… That’s how easy it is!  No matter what your level of computer knowledge is you can do it..  They’ve taken the time to research most major router manufactures and have instructions that will make it that easy for you setup their service.   Some router manufactures are even partnering with OpenDNS to make the ‘Net much safer. The biggest reason I have found to use this product is that it protects my network and family from a lot of different attacks that can come from the internet.  It’s not the only protection I use but it’s an important one. 

Now, the links I provided above will allow you to do two things.  The first is to just change the “DNS” settings on your router.  If you just want the basics then that’s it, change them and move on to surfing safely.  But if you want to move up a notch and begin to monitor and manage your network more like the pro’s then you have to Create the Free Open DNS Account and start using their Dashboard.  Something important to note if your network uses a Dynamic IP address (the majority of the home networks do) then I would also suggest you download and install one of the many Dynamic DNS Clients so you can keep their your account in sync with your ever changing IP address.  With that all setup you can really manage your network.

That’s it for now.  I’ll revisit this topic in the future to give you some more pointers on using this great service.

Enjoy!