I am going to start keeping a list of free DNS servers. I am seeing some weird things happening online. There was big talk about some DNS virus out there at DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) . It seemed to come and go without incident.
There are still some lists of free DNS servers out there.
One of the oldest (and I think best) Free and Public DNS Servers. It is my go-to list.
Some group keeps a list of public DNS servers in the USA, with pages for lists of servers in other countries. You can download them in a csv file. There are also lists for a lot of other countries.
Another top ten list (with reasons you might want to use some of them) is at TechWhoop.
You could also go with OpenNIC. Here is their list of public Tier 2 servers.
Some guy in India named Vivek has a list of free DNS servers, which was last updated December 12, 2010. This page was also posted at Host Outcast on June 7, 2011. The list was the same on both pages.
Here are a few servers:
- Google: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Google may be getting evil, but the addresses are easy to remember.
- DNSAdvantage (now Neustar): 156.154.70.1 and 156.154.71.1
- OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 (check near the bottom of the page; I do not see a separate page about it)
- Norton: 198.153.192.1 and 198.153.194.1 (I cannot find a page on their site, but I tried them with the “host” command and they seem to work)
- GTEI DNS (now Verizon) (no link provided): 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2, 4.2.2.3, 4.2.2.4, 4.2.2.5 and 4.2.2.6
I was using the DNS servers from Uncensored DNS, but they seem to be offline as of 2017-09-30.
On Linux, you can test a DNS server with the host command: host $DOMAIN_TO_TEST $DNS_SERVER_IP_ADDRESS:
host google.com 8.8.8.8
You’re welcome.