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Cloudflare

*NEW* Free VPN service for mobile devices

  • Last Updated:
  • Sep 29th, 2019 8:31 pm
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
Growingupisold wrote: Waiting for someone smarter to come and tell me whether I need to change my desktop's DNS to this for whatever reason..
You don't NEED to, but you probably should.
ISP DNS usually sucks.
pdipps wrote: If it's just a DNS, you should look into getting a Pihole.
You still need an upstream DNS though.
raskal wrote: and pihole can run on any old laptop running linux as well, a Raspberry Pi is not required
To be honest... a Pi is a better idea long term.
Assuming a buck a watt a year, a notebook that consumes 40W will use more electricity than a Pi costs over 2 years.
The Pi uses power too, but it's only a couple watts.

Now to contradict everything I just said, I run Pi-Hole in a VM that uses more like 400W.
But it's already on and running other services so it doesn't really count.
intx wrote: Unless your ISP has a horribly configured DNS server/network or is rarely used,
Sadly... It usually is.
You -> Your ISP's Network (including DNS server) -> Internet backbone -> Google DNS / Open DNS / Cloudflare.
Wait. What? A DNS request to an external DNS shouldn't use your ISP's DNS. That's the point.
DNS uses IP addresses. That's why Google, Cloudflare and Level3 use easy to remember addresses like 1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8. / 4.2.2.1
Logically, the shortest route is the fastest. Since you're not the only one on your ISP's DNS Server, most common sites you're likely to visit (google, facebook, tsn, etc. will be cached/remembered by your ISP's DNS server), making it have the fastest response time. Cloudflare/Google dns/etc might be faster for the rarely visited domains like freevacationrentals.com.
I mean... if you really want to get technical, your router and your computer will probably cache too so any site you visit frequently will already be cached locally.
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
Deal Addict
Jan 23, 2003
1027 posts
282 upvotes
Mississauga
death_hawk wrote: Sadly... It usually is.
While that might've been true a decade ago, I actually find most Canadian/United States located providers have decent DNS servers now. It's likely because of the wide amount of easy to configure options. Most home 'router' DNS servers have decent performance with rarely any issues out of the box now, which wasn't true 10 years ago. It's when you go to the occasional foreign third world country that alternative DNS servers tend to be better.
death_hawk wrote: Wait. What? A DNS request to an external DNS shouldn't use your ISP's DNS. That's the point.


You're right, it doesn't, my point wasn't that it goes through the DNS server, but that it passes by your ISP's network which includes a DNS server. It's like driving past a highway with a mcdonalds on it, not going to that mcdonalds, to go to a further mcdonalds. Yes, you didn't stop to go to that mcdonalds on the 401, but unless there's something particularly bad about that highway mcdonalds, you're taking a longer trip and literally passing the one on your route. Basically what I meant was, "You -> 401 route (including a mcdonalds on the route) -> Other highway -> Local road -> Well run Mcdonalds (e.g. Cloudflare DNS)."
death_hawk wrote: DNS uses IP addresses. That's why Google, Cloudflare and Level3 use easy to remember addresses like 1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8. / 4.2.2.1
You're definitely right about one thing, google/cloudflare/level3 have super easy to remember DNS IPs, and are great for substitutions when you need a working DNS server but don't have one.
death_hawk wrote: I mean... if you really want to get technical, your router and your computer will probably cache too so any site you visit frequently will already be cached locally.
You're also right about that, which makes what DNS server you use, for performance reasons, less of an issue, since it's usually cached. Again, your ISP has to really not know what they're doing to mess up their DNS servers, and considering how easy it is to setup a DNS server these days, if they're messing that up, chances are the network is so poorly setup you're going to be suffering horrible performance for other reasons.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 20, 2004
4278 posts
5209 upvotes
Montreal, QC
pdipps wrote: If it's just a DNS, you should look into getting a Pihole.

It's very customizable and can block a lot of ads, trackers and known nefarious domains - you can also set up custom redirects and select the DNS servers it queries for allowed requests.
Pihole is definitely customizable.
However, if all you are looking for is to block ads, trackers, malware sites and phishing sites, then you can always use the Adguard-DNS service. Very simple to set up, and works pretty well. Can also be setup to block adult sites for families.
I set up a custom rule on my router to use these DNS servers instead of 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 (which I typically use), on my Android TV boxes. It seems to nicely block ads from TV apps and games (which have ads typically), and no longer need to use modified APKs to do so :)
I'm rolling this out slowly, slowly on the various devices in the house, to ensure no adverse side effects (like blocking of legit sites), and so far it's been pretty good.
Member
Nov 25, 2010
392 posts
225 upvotes
Always good to have good free options.

Another good Free Vpn is Proton VPN.
Those are the only two free ones I'd trust to use.
Member
User avatar
Sep 19, 2007
409 posts
274 upvotes
Vancouver
Another benefit of using something other than the ISP provided DNS server is a bit extra privacy and protection from stuff like DNS hijacking. Also good DNS services will support DNSSEC as well
Deal Addict
Dec 24, 2008
4249 posts
1672 upvotes
Belle River
Emporium wrote: I set up a custom rule on my router to use these DNS servers instead of 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 (which I typically use), on my Android TV boxes. It seems to nicely block ads from TV apps and games (which have ads typically), and no longer need to use modified APKs to do so :)
I'm rolling this out slowly, slowly on the various devices in the house, to ensure no adverse side effects (like blocking of legit sites), and so far it's been pretty good.
I never thought of ad blocking on Android media devices. It doesn't break a bunch of things? I'd love to hear more about it if you don't mind sharing your experience. Does it speed things up a bit?
Deal Addict
Dec 18, 2007
4993 posts
6152 upvotes
Lord Denning wrote: I think the point is you can't pick your location (i.e. US to watch Hulu, UK to get BBC streaming) like you can with other VPNs.
Thank you. That was the point I was trying to make.

From what I read, Cloudflare VPN will not allow you to manually change server locations.

It serves primarily for web security and speed optimization.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 7, 2005
4612 posts
9050 upvotes
Abbotsford B.C.
hystavito wrote: I never thought of ad blocking on Android media devices. It doesn't break a bunch of things? I'd love to hear more about it if you don't mind sharing your experience. Does it speed things up a bit?
I have read that Chromecast's use 8.8.8.8 regardless of how you setup your network. In other words, they are hard coded to use google's DNS.
Sr. Member
May 18, 2007
978 posts
1963 upvotes
Toronto
AsianXL wrote: It serves primarily for web security and speed optimization.

Exactly.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 14, 2018
9969 posts
40791 upvotes
Should I use a DNS? I have rogers
hi :)
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 20, 2004
4278 posts
5209 upvotes
Montreal, QC
hystavito wrote: I never thought of ad blocking on Android media devices. It doesn't break a bunch of things? I'd love to hear more about it if you don't mind sharing your experience. Does it speed things up a bit?
I haven't noticed anything breaking so far...

My IPTV works fine (so that was most critical). And so do many of the apps like L1veN3tTV, M0bdr0, and others, without any ads. I haven't tested spotify yet, but I'll test it on the weekend. I'm rolling it out on my devices one by one, so I don't have any surprises. It's nice that my router (Asus, running Merlin frirmware) allows me to selectively chose devices, and assign them different DNS options, as part of their parental control (DNSFilter). They have the usual ones (OpenDNS, cleanbrowsing,Yandex, Comodo Secure,...), but they also allow you to define custom ones, which is what I did, and then assign them to one device at a time.
This way, I may easily try it on a few other devices in the home (some PCs), and easily revert if needed. I used to use OpenDNS to filter (social media, youtube, etc..) on my Kids devices, when they were younger. Now they are older, so they can always find ways around it :)

Doesn't speed anything up. But I don't notice any slowdown either. So far, so good.
Deal Addict
Dec 24, 2008
4249 posts
1672 upvotes
Belle River
Emporium wrote: I haven't noticed anything breaking so far...

My IPTV works fine (so that was most critical). And so do many of the apps like L1veN3tTV, M0bdr0, and others, without any ads. I haven't tested spotify yet, but I'll test it on the weekend. I'm rolling it out on my devices one by one, so I don't have any surprises. It's nice that my router (Asus, running Merlin frirmware) allows me to selectively chose devices, and assign them different DNS options, as part of their parental control (DNSFilter). They have the usual ones (OpenDNS, cleanbrowsing,Yandex, Comodo Secure,...), but they also allow you to define custom ones, which is what I did, and then assign them to one device at a time.
This way, I may easily try it on a few other devices in the home (some PCs), and easily revert if needed. I used to use OpenDNS to filter (social media, youtube, etc..) on my Kids devices, when they were younger. Now they are older, so they can always find ways around it :)

Doesn't speed anything up. But I don't notice any slowdown either. So far, so good.
When I was talking about stuff that would break I was thinking more of "legit" apps/services since they use so much ad BS. That's cool that you haven't noticed any problems. I have a router running Merlin too. Thanks
Member
User avatar
Sep 19, 2007
409 posts
274 upvotes
Vancouver
raskal wrote: I have read that Chromecast's use 8.8.8.8 regardless of how you setup your network. In other words, they are hard coded to use google's DNS.
They do, but certain routers (like say Edgerouter, DD-WRT, or many others) will allow you to configure captive DNS rules so that you can force it to use your own DNS server instead
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 7, 2005
4612 posts
9050 upvotes
Abbotsford B.C.
death_hawk wrote:
To be honest... a Pi is a better idea long term.
Assuming a buck a watt a year, a notebook that consumes 40W will use more electricity than a Pi costs over 2 years.
The Pi uses power too, but it's only a couple watts.
You make a valid point, however your numbers aren't quite correct (imo)

I've had a Kill-a-watt on my old Dell laptop running Linux with piHole the only thing running on it (of consequence anyways)

in 5 hours, the Kill-a-watt has seen 0.07 kWh, therefore extrapolating, my laptop would use 0.336 kWh/day
in B.C., I'm paying $0.1326/kWh, therefore my laptop costs $0.04/day or $14.60/year

I don't know how much a true RFD'er could find a pi for, but pdipps paid $80 for his (definitely on the high end)

assuming the pi uses 0 kWh, it would take 5.5 years to make back the cost of the pi

if you buy the piZero and pay the shipping ($17) and use an old SD card, old phone charger, etc. that will pay for itself in only 1 year and 2 months

I'm not saying one way is better than another, just providing information
Newbie
Dec 10, 2006
31 posts
17 upvotes
1) ISP (default) DNS servers are usually faster than third-party servers
2) Changing DNS servers or not is up to you. It won't make your internet faster in 95% of cases. It's just a matter of who's spying on you (see 3)
3) Everybody's launching their own DNS servers because it's one of the last things unencrypted on the net. The race is on for these big companies to grab the biggest % of users so they can build better profiles and sell data at higher rates
4) a VPN server (like Warp), is another way to spy on you, except they can't see inside TLS (HTTPS) connections. The only value is in spying on unencrypted connections. Conveniently, Warp skips all https connections, and only VPN's http. I wonder why ;-)
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 7, 2005
4612 posts
9050 upvotes
Abbotsford B.C.
BlueFyre wrote: Your math seems to be a bit off... Using 70W, 24 hours/day, 1 year yields $65.31 as per https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/resi ... lator.html
I think you are confusing kWh and watts

I said above I used 0.07 kWh in 5 hours. To find out how many watts that is you take 0.07/5 = 14

if you take 14 watts into the BCHydro calculator it calculates $13.06, close to what I calculated. I can't see what rate the BCHydro calculator is using, I just know what I'm being billed
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jan 8, 2007
587 posts
249 upvotes
Edmonton
Sejad wrote: Should be in “Free” threads. Also, isn’t one of the governments US/Canada looking into banning VPN’s?
Banning VPN's? Well there goes my business. 95% of the work I do for US and over seas companies require me to use various VPN setups. If they ban them, I'm finished.
I got kicked out of Chapters because I moved all the Bibles to the fiction section.
Member
User avatar
Sep 19, 2007
409 posts
274 upvotes
Vancouver
raskal wrote: I think you are confusing kWh and watts

I said above I used 0.07 kWh in 5 hours. To find out how many watts that is you take 0.07/5 = 14

if you take 14 watts into the BCHydro calculator it calculates $13.06, close to what I calculated. I can't see what rate the BCHydro calculator is using, I just know what I'm being billed
Oops my bad, I thought the device was reporting average kWh measured over the course of 5 hours
Also if you were curious: "Calculations are based on an average residential rate of 10.65 cents per kWh (a blend of step 1 and step 2 rates)."

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