I decided to do some analysis on the DNS resolution. I am an Airtel broadband user and wanted to know how fast or efficient are the Bharti’s DNS servers in comparison to the much popular public DNS services like – OpenDNS (veteran) and Google DNS (new contender).
I was using OpenDNS before switching to Google DNS and now I am back with Airtel. Reason? Simply put, our very own Bharti’s servers resolve DNS at around 27 times faster than Open DNS while are around 9 times faster than Google DNS.
Here are some statistics using the ping command.
Airtel DNS Resolution ping Statistics
DNS Servers : 202.56.215.54 , 202.56.215.55
Airtel DNS Server Statistics
Open DNS Resolution ping Statistics
DNS Servers : 208.67.222.222 , 208.67.220.220
OpenDNS Server Statistics
Google DNS Resolution ping statistics
DNS Servers : 8.8.4.4 , 8.8.8.8
Conclusion
So, it is safe to assume that for all Airtel users in India, the best DNS servers to use are the ones provided by Airtel only. I am not too sure about how well do the ones by MTNL or BSNL fair in this regard but for all those who use Airtel Broadband in India. The following servers are the best bet :
- 202.56.215.54
- 202.56.215.55
PS.
Other internet providers, like internet provider Verizon , also offer a fast fiber optic connection. Some people have been having issues with DNS resolution times, So for those people I recommend using a program called Namebench that can test all public DNS servers, and give an alternative to the ISP’s server.
What do you have to say about the results? We’d like to know your opinion.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I previously know that airtel dns is faster but i don’t know the difference could be that much…
Nice Review …..Nice to know something different
There is an experiment going on code.google.com for benchmarking DNS name services . You can download and test the fastest DNS that suites yours . Yes it checks your browser history and all and tells
. I think its awesome .
Thanks for the awesome tip Hari. I would check it out.
Thanks!
You are welcome
Well, I am also using Airtel in a way. Actually I’m using a Local Internet from a businessman who has taken airtel connection and then distributes his own internet services to lots of people.
On pinging my DNS servers, you would be amazed to know that the ping time is <1ms and I really get very fast speeds at damn cheap rates.
let me have a test on bsnl
my test shows that bsnl with 24 and other two around 400+
google dns @ 114ms
1) You are a airtel user and those ping results can be disruptive.
2) I would recomd a port snoop on localhost:53 mapped to TCP 53 for the servers and then a UDP 53 traffic snoop. This will tell you how fast they resolve queries.
Perfect way to actually figure out how fast a dns work is to send random non-redundant query for multiple zones across the globe, the response rate will tell you how good that is.
DNS speed needs to be measured in rndc response rate and not ping times.
Thanks for the tips Saurabh. We’ll implement your tips and do a re-run of the tests soon.
naturally ping time of airtel will be faster becaus your accessing their server directly..if u use google or opendns u need to connect to net thru airtel servers..but the problem is NOT ping time..once airtel gets ur request, the time taken by the servers TO PROCESS and give the dns address for a particular web address is wat u need to measure…This is a wrong way of measuring the effectiveness of dns
So, you have “reviewed” 3 DNS services, by pinging the name servers to their *IP addresses* and say Airtel is resolves faster 27 times? Good lord!
1. Where is the resolution?
2. Do you even know what name resolution means and what DNS does?
I expected a fail blog post – by using DNS services and pinging a website by it’s *hostname* and then re-running the “test” without flushing DNS cache.
Well, this post is even below my expectations. You call yourself a “techblogger”?this is the research( or lack of it) that you do?
*facepalm*.
Oh dear Lord.
Lesson Learnt and Noted!
Thanks for taking out time to comment here.
Would make suitable corrections soon.
LOOOL!
So *this* is how you test DNS resolution? Good job! But if you were just pinging the DNS servers, I could’ve saved you a lot of trouble.. ISP DNS servers will *always* give you less ping times than any other public DNS Server..
“Fastest DNS Resolution in India” is not equal to “Fastest DNS ping time”.
DNS resolution for Airtel is still less than OpenDNS from my benchmarks. I have been using Airtel for 3 years at college and had always switched between Airtel DNS and OpenDNS.
time to end this topic..
download namebench from code.google.com..
run it, it’ll take 5 min and tell u which is the fastest dns for ur network at ur place.
its a google project and is noob friendly
http://code.google.com/p/namebench/
I tried lots of dns,but google public dns is the fastest for me.You must enter 8.8.4.4 in the preferred dns server and 8.8.8.8 in the altenative dns server.
A few good dns servers don’t ping back! and won’t waste thier time.
However, it is good to have a relative performance idea. One of the better alternatives is to have two standard different companies’ dns servers as the default in our router and to have two more different dns servers listed in the local computer. I have been happy with this configuration
local router level: 8.8.8.8 & 156.154.70.1
local machine level: 218.248.255.139; 208.67.222.222; 156.154.71.1; 4.2.2.3
I would like to point out that acquiring the best dns is a local issue and it is not universally applicable. Please visit http://dnsserverlist.org/ to determine what is best dns set for your location/computer.
But I must add that you are doing good work dear PROGRAMMINGKID !
Jesus H. Christ!!!
dear all,
well i am using airtel GPRS. monthly card. after using one month, i am unable to connect internet(samsung corby pro). it is showing DNS failure.
kindly, help me how to resume services..
regards
I used aritel for couple of months but it started giving me problems. I switched back to MTNL but it doesnt work properly either.
Sab ram barose chalte hai!!
BTW airtel speeds are no better than mtnl.
I switched to Airtel last year and the experience has been very satisfactory. The down times are also very infrequent occurring for a few hours only. I am using the Turbo 1299 which gives me 1Mbps download speed upto 25GB in the day and 100GB in the night, beyond these, the speed gets reduced to 512Mbps.
So, I touch the 25GB mark around 20th when 10 days are remaining while the night surfing continues at 1Mbps speeds. Its allright.
Dear Programming Kid.
Please note the differences in the words like 1MBps and 1Mbps. Similarly 512Mbps and 512Mbps.
Possibly you are confused. To download at 1MBps during day time the calculations go like:
for downloading 1 MB at 1 MB ps = 1 second
1024 MB at this rate = 1024 seconds
ie. 1 GB at this rate = 1024 seconds
ie. 25 GB at this rate = 25X1024 seconds = 7.12 hours in a day
100 GB at this rate = 4 X 7.12 = 24.48 hours in a night
I dont know whether you are thinking B = b. I feel that 8 b = 1 B. This is what communication speeds mean.
Hi Laura
Thanks for the comments. I am aware of the differences and was just being careless. I have made the required corrections.
To explain it further, a 1MBps connection would give maximum download speeds of only – 128MBps and a 512Mbps would give a download speed not greater than 65KBps
Hope that clears out any confusion.
Thanks for taking out time to comment here.
Thanks for the vauable information and This article is very good,I like it very much