Ever wonder why a page takes so long to load on your mobile phone? Well, there are a number of reasons why that could happen. In some cases, however, a slow internet browsing experience could be due to the DNS resolvers your ISP (Internet Service Providers i.e. SingTel, M1) has configured for you. Simply put it, your internet is slow because it takes a long time to find a connection to the website you are intending to view (also called a DNS query). To make matters worse, your ISPs do not use strong encryption on their resolvers most of the time, making any DNS queries vulnerable to data breaches and exposes you, the user, to threats and attacks. Sounds familiar? Fret not, Cloudflare has recently launched an app that will allow you to switch over to their third-party DNS resolver with one easy tap. They have named it 1.1.1.1, which is the literal IP address of their free public DNS resolver.
This is a nerd post. Just download the app if you don’t want to know how it works and speed up your internet.
Image Source: MS Power User
Click here to head over to 1.1.1.1 now and download the best DNS resolver Cloudflare has to offer.
1.1.1.1 vs. Other ISP’s Resolvers
There is a huge issue with using your ISP’s default resolvers. Most of them do not offer great speeds while at the same time often peeks at your DNS records to track users’ behaviour and activity. They could also occasionally stop working altogether if its resolvers/recursors are deliberately overloaded by attackers. These shortfalls could be easily mitigated with 1.1.1.1 which offers security features like bleeding-edge encryption and the fastest resolution speeds. This can only be done with the power of the Cloudflare’s existing network that is currently providing websites the fastest content delivery network (including Guidesify) all over the globe.
Complete Superiority To Public DNS Servers
What about the other public DNS servers? They are slower.
Image Source: Cloudflare
Ironically, even though their services are secure and support DNSSEC (a security protocol to protect the DNS system), many of these public services mine their users’ data for commercial purposes. Obviously, that defeats the purpose of securing your internet in the first place. 1.1.1.1, on the other hand, do not mine data and its logs which are kept only debugging purposes are purged every 24 hours. Cloudflare also states 1.1.1.1 offers more security features than its alternatives such as query name minimisation, reducing the probability of a privacy leak.
1.1.1.1 Future Updates: Warp VPN
Image Source: 1.1.1.1
A VPN, or a virtual private network, allows you to establish an even more secure connection to another network over the Internet as well as being infamously used to access region-restricted websites. Warp will use less battery as compared to regular VPN services and utilises data compression and caching techniques to reduce data usage. However, Warp will not be able to spoof your location to bypass restricted sites since the main purpose of 1.1.1.1 is for a more private and faster internet for its users. Duh!
Cloudflare loves to give out free stuff all the time. 1.1.1.1 plus Warp will be free for all, with an optional feature of Warp+ that incorporates Cloudflare’s iconic Argo tech to offer even faster and stable speeds in the near future. Warp is currently taking in waitlist applications and will notify each user when it is their turn to update the app to be able to use the Warp capability.
You Can Also Install 1.1.1.1 On Your PC (Windows 10/Mac OS X)
Follow these simple steps:
Windows:
1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu
2. Go to Network and Internet
3. Go to Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings
4. Right-click your Wi-Fi network > go to Properties
5. Navigate to Internet Protocol Version 4 or Version 6 depending on your network configuration
6. Go to Properties
7. Enter the following DNS settings:
- For IPv4: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
- For IPv6: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
8. Click OK.
Max OS X:
Step 1: Go to System Preferences. You can find it by pressing Command+Space on your Mac and typing System Preferences.
Step 2: Click on the icon called Network.
Step 3: Click Advanced.
Step 4: Select the DNS tab. Remove any IP addresses that may be already listed and in their place add:
- For IPv4: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
- For IPv6: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
Step 5: Click OK.
Step 6: Click Apply.
That’s it!
Cloudflare has been providing security and performance to over 16 million Internet properties—and now the rest of us.
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