If you’re looking for a method to help find a faster DNS server for your system, Namebench is a cool free utility to help you out. This is a free project that is in continuing development, so results might not be perfect, and there may be more features added in the future. csv file as well so you can present the results in Excel. It also displays different types of graphs so you can get a better feel for the different results. Based on its findings, it will show you what DNS server is fastest for your system. The benchmark takes about 5-10 minutes to complete.Īfter it’s complete you’ll get a report of the results. The test starts to run and you’ll see the queries it’s running through. Include the global DNS providers and the best available regional DNS server, then start the Benchmark. In this example we’re behind a router and using the DNS server from the ISP. Namebench starts up and will include the current DNS server you have configured on your system. Today we take a look at Namebench, which will compare your current DNS server against others out there, and help you find a faster one.ĭownload the file and run the executable (link below). When I ran Namebench, I didn’t get full results because the alternate services timed out, but I’m pretty sure that’s because of restrictions on my network.One way to speed up your Internet browsing experience is using a faster DNS server. The benchmark tests take several minutes to run, depending on how much data you throw at it, so be prepared to go make yourself a sandwich after you press the “Start Benchmark” button. Namebench is a Google “20% project” and is a free download for Windows, Mac, and the command line. Here’s what some of the benchmark results look like. Using either your browser history or Alexa’s top 10,000 global domain names, by default Namebench runs 200 tests to see which resolve most quickly using regional DNS servers, public services like Google’s and OpenDNS’s, and your current DNS services. This free benchmarking tool pits your current DNS servers against alternatives and generates handy charts and recommendations for which of your DNS choices are the fastest. See whether or not your ISP’s DNS server is faster or slower than other alternatives like OpenDNS or Google Public DNS with Namebench.

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