DNS Guard

Absolutely everything is connected to the internet these days, from TV to smart light bulbs, from mobile devices to smart cars. Given those ads and ad trackers are everywhere on the Internet, a browser-based ad blocker doesn't seem to be enough. It only provides a small window to the "Better Internet" without aggressive and intrusive banner ads vying for your attention. But what if you want to enlarge this "window" and have it all?

DNS.adguard.com is a public DNS resolver that provides users with a secure and private browsing experience. DNS stands for Domain Name System, which is responsible for translating domain names (like google.com) into IP addresses that computers use to communicate with each other over the internet.

AdGuard is a company that provides ad-blocking and privacy protection software, and their DNS resolver offers a number of benefits to users. One of the main advantages of using DNS.adguard.com is its ability to block malicious websites, phishing attempts, and online trackers, which helps to protect users from online threats.

In addition to providing security and privacy benefits, DNS.adguard.com also offers faster browsing speeds by caching frequently requested data, and by using anycast routing technology, which helps to minimize latency and ensure a smooth browsing experience.

Users can easily configure their devices to use DNS.adguard.com by changing the DNS settings in their network preferences or router settings. AdGuard also provides a free app that allows users to switch to their DNS resolver with just a few taps on their mobile device.

Using DNS for content blocking:

➥ Pros

• Does not require installing additional software;

• Does not depend on the browser or OS vendor;

• No performance cost;

• Running a public DNS service allows you to observe the whole Internet. This is very useful if you maintain a blocklist. You can get rid of unused rules and promptly learn about new threats. DNS has no blind spots since it observes all devices and not just the browsers;

• A centralized solution is better at dealing with some issues.

➥ Cons

• Cannot deal with first-party ads. For instance, you can’t block YouTube video ads because they are hosted on the same domain as legitimate videos;

• No cosmetic filtering. With DNS blocking alone, you may not have most of the ads, but you have rather ugly web pages with broken frames and ad placeholders;

• Higher chance of breakage. For instance, some apps or websites may be broken due to blocked Google Analytics, and you can do nothing about that;

• Easier to circumvent. An app may simply choose to use a different DNS server.