OpenDNS Forums - All Discussions

Read this before you post anything!

zelus — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:36:29 +0000

Hello Everyone!

There are many topics in the forums that have been covered already, including the following. Please consider reading through this post for a possible solution to the issue/question you may have before making a new forum thread.

#1. If you see an 'Oops!' message at http://welcome.opendns.com but you would like to start using OpenDNS as a DNS resolver on your network then retrace the configuration steps at:
https://store.opendns.com/setup/

#2. If you're a new user and your newly configured filtering options do not appear to be working, do the following:
1. Go back to the configuration tutorials and ensure that your changed DNS settings were saved properly: https://store.opendns.com/setup/
2. Flush your web browser caches and restart your computer *manually*.
http://www.opendns.com/support/article/67
3. Ensure that your current network external IP address (http://www.whatismyip.org/) is registered in your Dashboard Settings page: https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/settings/
4. If you're on a Dynamic IP address, download and install an IP Updater client on one of your computers that uses OpenDNS: http://www.opendns.com/support/dynamic_ip_downloads/

#3. If you see an error message in the Dashboard or in your Dynamic IP Updater client, read this first: http://www.opendns.com/support/article/83
Following, you may want to open a support ticket, depending on the issue according to the error message: https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/support/

#4. If you're looking for a network-wide per-user or scheduled filtering solution using OpenDNS, please read: http://www.opendns.com/support/article/125

#5a. If you would like to filter just one computer on a Dynamic IP network then do the following:
1. De-configure your router and then only configure the one computer to use OpenDNS:
https://store.opendns.com/setup/computer/
2. Flush the web browser caches of the computer and restart it:
http://www.opendns.com/support/article/67
3. Select your content filtering settings:
https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/settings/
4. Install an IP Updater client on the computer that is to be filtered:
http://www.opendns.com/support/dynamic_ip_downloads/

#5b. If you would like just one computer on a Dynamic IP network be completely exempt from configured OpenDNS filtering settings then do the following:
1. Configure your router and/or all the _other_ computers to use OpenDNS:
https://store.opendns.com/setup/
2. Install an IP Updater client on a computer in your network that is using OpenDNS:
http://www.opendns.com/support/dynamic_ip_downloads/
3. Configure the one to-be-exempt computer to use another DNS resolver.
4. Flush the web browser caches of all of the networked computers and restart them.
http://www.opendns.com/support/article/67

Note: Enterprise customers can use the Blocked Page Bypass feature to exempt a user, and technically a computer, from all network filtering settings while using OpenDNS at the same time.

#6. If users on your network are circumventing your filtering policies, try one of the following:
1. Talk to the users in question.
2. Block the Proxy/Anonymizer filtering category.
3. Revoke network administrative privileges so they cannot change their DNS settings, and then configure OpenDNS in their DNS settings manually: https://store.opendns.com/setup/computer/
4. Create a rule in your router that forces all outbound DNS traffic to OpenDNS. (This fully depends on whether or not your router supports this feature, some do and some don't.)

#7. If you come across domains that are not tagged in the OpenDNS Database, see:
http://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=10433&page=1#Item_1

#8. If you're representing a business, school, or non-profit and are interested in OpenDNS' content filtering, Malware/Botnet protection, and network DNS Statistics solutions, we have trials of OpenDNS Enterprise and per-contact pricing plans available:
http://www.opendns.com/work
http://www.opendns.com/school

#9. If you are a paid subscription customer and are experiencing issues with our services, create a support ticket from within your Dashboard first:
https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/support/

#10. If you're experience slower download speeds on iTunes or streaming speeds on Youtube as a result of switching DNS providers to OpenDNS then the issue likely resides with the CDNs involved with routing your requested traffic. Open a ticket and we may be able to help: https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/support/

-

Everyone, feel free to point new users in the direction of this post or the knowledge base, if needed. OpenDNS Staff does patrol the forums regularly and will help address any widespread or pressing issues that appear in the forums.

Note: The Forums are *supplementary* to normal OpenDNS Support.

TL;DR: http://www.opendns.com/support/kb/
TL;DR2: http://forums.opendns.com/search.php

OpenDNS Domain Tagging Firefox Toolbar!!!

fatts — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:44:29 +0000

Hello All!

Just sending out a quick plug for the OpenDNS Firefox Toolbar! The toolbar introduces a simpler, faster way for voting on domains and is very easy to use! It's also a great way to discover new sites that you may not have heard about before.

The download link is here: http://www.opendns.com/support/toolbar/

One of the best things about the OpenDNS Domain Tagging system is that it’s a community effort, and anyone who uses OpenDNS has the opportunity to get involved and make the Internet safer. Each day, the Domain Tagging Community is submitting, voting on and moderating thousands of domains into neatly organized categories. This makes it easier for parents, teachers, business owners and other OpenDNS users to get easy-to-use and comprehensive content filtering.

It’s important that before you use the toolbar, you read through the category descriptions (http://community.opendns.com/domaintagging/categories) to make sure that you fully understand them and read through the toolbar info page for smooth sailing.

Thanks for reading and hope you try it out :)

We need your help updating router instructions

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:59:37 +0000

Hi All,

We would like to update our current router configuration page and we need your help. If you have configured your router/device and the instructions are not currently listed on https://store.opendns.com/start/ and https://store.opendns.com/familyshield/setup/, or your firmware differs from what's listed, you can help other users configure their device by providing the following:

• Router make, model and firmware version
• instructions to setup OpenDNS on the router with screen shots
• Router manufacture's instruction/ Users manual

Please send to opendnsdevice@opendns.com

Thank You.

Regarding Untagged Domains.

zelus — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:24:54 +0000

Hello all,

Please do not post untagged/unverified domains in the forums, this draws attention to them which can lead to users accessing them against their administrators network restrictions.

If you come across untagged domains that require attention then please follow one or more of these steps.

1. Submit the domain to Domain Tagging: http://www.opendns.com/community/domaintagging/submit/
2. Vote on the domain's suggested on it's tag page: http://domain.opendns.com/
3. Open a support ticket about it following this format:

The domain should be tagged under the category because .

You can create a ticket here: https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/support/

Any and all further posts regarding untagged domains will be removed without further warning.

Canonical list of OpenDNS diagnostic URLs

lexein — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:43:59 +0000

Canonical list of OpenDNS diagnostic URLs.
Usable interesting URLs will be listed here.
Vulns will NOT, but will be submitted to Support.

http://opendns.com - produces either
   (opendns) Blue Text: "Manage your DNS settings -> " "You're using OpenDNS!"
   (isp dns) Yellow Button: "Start Using OpenDNS" "(It's Free.)"

http://welcome.opendns.com - produces either
   (o) www.opendns.com/welcome/ or
   (i) www.opendns.com/welcome/oops/
   (unfortunately, reloading 'oops' doesn't retest. It just reloads.)

https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/ - Displays Conficker activity status:
    (o,i) Conficker status: OpenDNS has detected no [or some] evidence of Conficker(...) (if logged in)

http://internetbadguys.com - produces either
   (o) phish.opendns.com/?url=www.internetbadguys.com = BLOCKED or
   (i) internetbadguys.com = "only a demonstration site"

http://exampleadultsite.com - produces either
   (o) block.opendns.com/?url=...&ablock = BLOCKED (if nudity or pornography is enabled)
   (i) exampleadultsite.com = "only a demonstration site"

http://www.opendns.com/about/share/ - produces either
   (o) The Live Preview buttons: "You're using OpenDNS - Sweet!"
   (i) The Live Preview buttons: "OpenDNS - Get Started"

http://domain.opendns.com - Takes you to the Community Domain Tagging voting page
   http://www.opendns.com/community/domaintagging/
http://domain.opendns.com/anydomain.net produces:
   http://domain.opendns.com/anydomain.net = individual tagging and voting page.
   (domain's existence not checked)

http://system.opendns.com - OpenDNS System Status Page - what's working.
http://208.69.38.170 - Reach System Status even if DNS is toast:sad:.

http://phishtank.com - Nominate, vote, or check URLs for phishing status.

phish.opendns.com - not a diagnostic. Output only.
   (o,i) phish.opendns.com = customized "Phishing Site Blocked" page,
   which unfortunately lists "phish.opendns.com" as a known Phishing site.

block.opendns.com - not a diagnostic. Output only.
   (o,i) http://block.opendns.com = default non-customized "blocked page" for example.com
    Not technically true, and not fair to example.com, but whatever.

Welcome to the OpenDNS Forums

pencoyd — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 03:01:54 +0000

Welcome to the OpenDNS Forums.

Forums are a place to discuss OpenDNS services, suggest OpenDNS features and changes, share tips and ideas with other OpenDNS users, and generally discuss anything relevant to OpenDNS.

These discussions will supplement the OpenDNS FAQ, Support team, and help those of us at OpenDNS learn more from the community, with everyone benefiting from the lessons.

Posting is reserved for registered OpenDNS members (it's free and fast). OpenDNS administrators reserve the right to remove, modify, or move any post. (OpenDNS administrators are those who post with an orange 'O' next to their name.)

If you have a specific question relating OpenDNS Deluxe or OpenDNS Enterprise then we recommend that you create a support ticket from the OpenDNS Dashboard.
https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/support/

Many forum topic questions have been already addressed by our FAQs and Knowledge Base: http://www.opendns.com/support/kb/

VPN will not stay connected

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:53:14 +0000

I use Cisco AnyConnect to access my company's network and it will connect fine up front but after about 5-10 minutes it disconnects causing me to have to reboot. What settings do I need to update to keep this from happening?

Thanks.

DNSCrypt for Windows: issues

funkydude — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:59:15 +0000

A few observations so far:

The installer places a registry entry to launch the file:
C:\windows\installer\{}\.exe

Firstly, I'm not sure why this is needed as a Service has been installed which I believe automatically runs anyway.
Secondly, Launching this at startup means the user will get a UAC elevation popup every time the PC turns on.
Thirdly, I now have 3 OpenDNS executables in that folder all with random names, I think they are multiplying :P

Other issues:
The OpenDNSCrypt service either has a memory leak or produces an unusually high amount of garbage, around 0.1MBps every second. It climbs to around 6MB before it's garbage collected down to about 4MB.

The installer only changes the DNS entries of the active connection. On my laptop the WiFi entries were changed to 127.0.0.1 but the Ethernet/LAN entries were left on automatic.

DNS settings are being reset

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:16:48 +0000

I'm working with a Linksys E2500 router and a Windows 7 machine.

I have configured the router to the OpenDNS addresses.
I follow the instructions on how to configure the DNS address for my wireless.

When I do 'ipconfig /all' the DNS server address would not be correct.

I then followed this:
https://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=11313&page=1#Item_0

But still... the DNS server address is not correct.

I've done a couple of things in an ordered sequence:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /all

DNS server address is incorrect.

In the router configurations there is a release/renew button.
As soon as I press these and then do 'ipconfig /all' the DNS server address ARE CORRECT.

But as soon as I do an 'ipconfig /all' the DNS server address ARE INCORRECT!!

The DNS server address keeps resetting and not holding the OpenDNS values.

Any suggestions?

After DNSCrypt uninstall, no longer able to obtain DNS server address automatically

Mon, 14 May 2012 20:52:57 +0000

Diagnosing an access problem, I decided to temporarily uninstall DNSCrypt 0.0.4 from my Windows 7 system.

It appears that after uninstalling DNSCrypt, the DNS server on my adapter no longer can be changed from 127.0.0.1

After the uninstall of DNSCrypt, neither replacing 127.0.0.1 with the OpenDNS addresses (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) nor selecting "Obtain DNS server address automatically" now work: After reboot, the adapter as reverted to use 127.0.0.1 as the DNS server address.

So far, the only way I can restore DNS access is by re-installing DNSCrypt.

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions on how DNSCrypt may be installed so that the usual DNS options are restored.

Dan

Netgear DGN2200 with openDNS servers entered Filters intermittent.

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:22:42 +0000

I have my router set up to use the Opendns DNS server addresses and it is not filtering any adult sites even though the OpenDNS test sites say everything is working OK. Can anybody help?? I use the router due to the Live Parental control features which I assume uses a netgear specific landing page at OpenDNS and provides the dynamically changing IP address over via the Mac Address.

Web content filtering

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:55:12 +0000

I cant find web content filtering in the settings, dosent this come with my account?

Mail received: Subject: OpenDNS – Upcoming changes to your account

Mon, 14 May 2012 03:47:34 +0000

Hi,

I am currently using OpenDNS in an office network setup, not only to speedup browsing, but for filtering as well. I'm using the free version and am used to using the free version which seems to work just fine. And the inclusion of stopping malwares is a welcome addition the my free account.

However, last May 10, I received a mail which states that the content filtering will cease to be available on my network come June 15.

Is the mail true? It seems to come from opendns.com domain but am still skeptical because I have not seen similar incidences while validating the mail. Note that I have not received prior mail from David Ulevitch which the mail pointed out.

Anyways, I would like to check if this mail really did come from OpenDNS. I've pasted the contents of the email below.

Thank you and regards,

Vincent

=====

Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 11:19 PM

Subject: OpenDNS – Upcoming changes to your account

I'm following up on the email that was sent about a week ago from our CEO, David Ulevitch, regarding upcoming changes to the free OpenDNS service your organization currently uses for web content filtering. When you have a chance, please give me a ring at to go over the changes and pricing for our Enterprise service. Per the email, we will continue to offer customers our free recursive DNS service, but the Web filtering will be disabled from the free service on 6/15/12.

Talk to you soon,

Sales Development Rep

OpenDNS
145 Bluxome St.

San Francisco, CA 94107

Propagation

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:36:39 +0000

How long does it usually take for DNS propagation using OpenDNS? We have moved a website to a new host but OpenDNS has not updated so I am seeing the old site still, while 5 other people I have spoken to are seeing the new site. They are all using Comcast as their DNS provider. Is there a way for me to force something?

Blocking Netflix

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:56:41 +0000

Is it possible to block Netflix?

Predefined Filtering Tiers - not available

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:59:20 +0000

The Predefined Filtering Tiers (Adjustable: Low, Moderate, High) option is not available for this username. This username would be for my parents. On my other username which will be for myself to be used at my location I do have that option available.

What's wrong?

Thanks.

Having Trouble with Stats

gareth48 — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:43:50 +0000

Hi,

Everything seems to be working fine except for the fact that I can't turn on Stats. I've followed what I thought were the proper directions for doing so in Knowledge Base but still no luck. When I go to Stats it tells me that their are no states assigned to this domain. Well, yeah! Then it says to go to "Manage Your Networks to enable stats for some or all of your networks." I tried that but there doesn't seem to be a place where I can turn on stats.

I'm stuck. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Gwaredd

Can I block external IP address from being accessed on my WNDR3700?

ely — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:48:04 +0000

I have setup my Netgear WNDR3700 to use the OpenDNS service, however I'm trying to prevent users on the network from changing their DNS servers on their TCP/IP network connection on Windows so as to bypass my OpenDNS settings on the router.

Locking down user's computers to none admin accounts in Windows is not an option here, I have read that the only way to prevent this is by blocking the different DNS server provider IPs and port 53 on the router's firewall, I have looked on my WNDR3700 and I see the settings for blocking services, I even see one for blocking DNS, however if I enable it then there's no internet service at all.

I wonder how I go about setting this up but still allowing devices on the network to access OpenDNS IPs and ports so internet is available, is there a way to accomplish this on this router? I see an option to block DNS services and port 53 like I said, but not how to exclude OpenDNS port/IP.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

kids getting around opendns router block by settings on their computer

steveor — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:12:50 +0000

found my son's laptop COMPLETELY unblocked despite all of my categorical blocks via my router. Then I discovered how he did it. found this suggestion in Yahoo answers:
"yes. temporarily change the dns server you are using. go to control panel>network connections and right click "local area connection" or if you are on a wireless network, right click "wireless network 1" or whatever it is called. click properties. scroll to the bottom of the box that shows up and click "tcp/ip" and click properties. now you should see two boxes for dns servers. change the first one to 216.27.175.2"

If openDNS cannot solve this kid's workaround, opendns has been defeated!

DNSCrypt

peterbuyze — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:06:03 +0000

If you have DNSCrypt installed, is it necessary/recommendable to also install vpn software if you are using public hotspots?

Is Blocking iTunes App Downloads Possible?

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:37:46 +0000

Hi,
is it possible to block App downloads - in particular games?
I don't want to block the iTunes store.
Thanks.

Anything special for Ipad?

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:26:54 +0000

How do I get my openDNS settings added to my Ipad? I have certain websites blocked on all my computers, I also want them blocked on Ipad. Anything I need to do specifically?

can't update ubuntu, unreachable repositories

Sun, 13 May 2012 18:45:12 +0000

I have a gateway running Ubuntu10.04LTS32/Bind9 and a client dual booting windows 7-64/Ubuntu 10.04LTS32.

I have a problem where the client has difficulty accessing a specific url, archive.ubuntu.com. Unfortunately this happens to be the update url for Ubuntu.

The Windows partition on the client can ping archive.ubuntu.com but the name resolves after 30 seconds.

The Ubuntu partition cannot ping archive.ubuntu.com the lookup fails.

I can ping archive.ubuntu.com from the ubuntu gateway without problems.

Based on this I think the gateway is causing the problem due to an incorrect locally defined version of archive.ubuntu.com, which after it fails to resolv after 30 seconds turns to the bind server for a successful lookup.

To find the answer, I'm looking for the difference between a local dns lookup on Ubuntu and a remote dns lookup. The answer could also be in bind.

Before I start pasting config files are there any ideas?

Keep in mind this setup was working flawlessly for 6 months resolving everything. Only now that I've booted into my 2nd partition, Ubuntu, did I realize that I couldn't resolv the update archive names, including ca.archive.ubuntu.com, us.archive.ubuntu.com and archive.ubuntu.com.

open dns not working

xxx1angel3xxx — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:06:09 +0000

ISP time warner
router DIR-615

I plugged the server ips into my router and all appeared to be working although i never cleared the cache or anything.
sometime last night the internet went down. so I reboot the router ect. now the only way to get internet is to clear out the open dns ips and let TW assign whatever they want.
the strange thing is the game i was playing lost connection too and I didn't think it would need dns in the first place and certainly not after it was already plugged into the game server.
also after i rebooted the router TW didn't want to give me a IP at first then when they finally did thats when open dns seems to have stopped working as of now running with TW dns but i want to use opendns but can't so any help would be appreciated

I Add My IP to "Add A Network" and it says "Network Already Exists" What to do?

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:42:24 +0000

Topic title is the problem and the question. What to do?

Default IP address for unresolved DNS Names

arby321 — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:34:12 +0000

Ip address 67.215.77.132 is always returned for unresolved DNS names.

WHOIS:
IP Address 67.215.77.132
Host hit-nxdomain.opendns.com
Location US US, United States
City San Francisco, CA 94107
Organization OpenDNS, LLC
ISP OpenDNS, LLC

I would like to disable this function and have OPENDNS NOT send me to
this IP address for unresolved DNS Names.

Is that possible.

Thanks

DNS propagation

tomdlgns — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:53:45 +0000

i am helping a friend point his website IP to the IP of another host. we are updating the a record for his domain to point to the new web server.

typically DNS porpagation takes 24-48 hours but we all know that depending on your provider and the host, some users can see changes well before the 48 hour period. in his situation it doesnt really matter since both hosts (current provider and host he is moving to) have the same website content, so the propagation isnt really an issue.

however, i wanted to test a few things since we made the change and we both use openDNS. for starters....i am using openDNS

Welcome to OpenDNS!
Your Internet is safer, faster, and smarter
because you're using OpenDNS.

Thank you!

lets say his IP with his current provider is 1.2.3.4 and the IP of the provider we switched it to is 5.6.7.8, i did a cache check at openDNS, last night, and openDNS was still caching 1.2.3.4, which is fine, that is normal and was just at the start of propagation.

if i am using openDNS and he is using openDNS, all of our DNS lookups should be going through openDNS.

when i woke up this morning, i checked the cache of openDNS and it was showing 5.6.7.8 (YES!!!!! openDNS updated!!!) but when i did a ping from my PC i still resolve to 1.2.3.4 (the old IP that we switched from).

prior to pinging i did a ipconfig /flushdns and all my browser cache was cleared as well.

everything with propagation is going great, i have tested his site from multiple locations and did pings and i am getting replies from the NEW ip (5.6.7.8) but why are we still getting replies from his OLD IP (1.2.3.4) if we are both pointing to OpenDNS and according to the cache check, openDNS has his NEW IP (5.6.7.8)

thanks.

DNSCrypt on Windows 7 Multi-User Setup

antonk — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:53:53 +0000

Hi,

I'm running Win7, with multiple users (family). I installed DNSCrypt while logged in as an Admin user. Every time any other user logs in, their prompted for the Admin password by DNSCrypt to run the installer.

What's up?

Anton

New DNS settings don't work

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:30:48 +0000

I have set the new DNS settings, cleared the cache and tried to test the settings. It says I have not started to use open dns yet. What do I do now?

Network printer won't work using MAC address after applying OpenDNS

Thu, 10 May 2012 06:25:33 +0000

My network printer connects to the network via a USB server which plugs into a Billion 6404VGP router. The router's DHCP table shows the printer with a MAC address (00:24:32:01:ae:8b) and IP address (192.168.1.2). The USB server came with software to permit a controllable connection to the printer, and if this connection is chosen, the printer works OK, however the printer is then unavailable to anyone else on the network until it's disconnected. A second piece of supplied software (Network Printer Wizard) permits the printer to be available even in the disconnected state to all networked users, by using the MAC address assigned to the printer.
Before changing the router to OpenDNS, this worked fine (old DNS IPs were 61.9.211.1 and 61.9.211.33), but now it no longer works - the print job just stays in the print queue until it is deleted or gives a "failed to print" error message. When setting up the Network Printer Wizard, it can see the MAC addressed printer - it just won't print to it. Any ideas?