Protect your Network with OpenDNS

March 16, 2010 mlucas 3 comments

The best protection for you and all your computers in your house is layered protection.

We have shown you the best Anti-Virus software to run and how your computer can get infected with spyware.

Today we will show you how OpenDNS adds another layer of protection to your network and speeds it up a little bit.

A little brief explanation of what OpenDNS is and why you need it:

Parental Controls
Keeping your family safe online has never been easier. OpenDNS gives you more than 50 filtering categories to choose from. Simply check the boxes of the categories you want to block and watch your filtering take effect within minutes.
Faster, More Reliable Internet
Rid your household of annoying, intermittent Internet outages. Switch to OpenDNS and immediately notice a faster, more reliable Internet experience. Join the millions who’ve already unbundled their DNS service from their ISP’s Internet connection.
Phishing Protection and Security
Take the guesswork out of identifying phishing Web sites with OpenDNS’s industry-leading anti-phishing service. We’ll tell you when the site you’re trying to visit is fraudulent.

To get started we will need to create an account first by going here: https://store.opendns.com/get/basic

Create an account:

Now we select “Router” con setup OpenDNS on our Router:

Now we select the brand of your router. (if you are not sure, you can get help by clicking here)

Follow the instructions specific to your router and click test settings when complete.

Now we continue to your dashboard where we configure the protection for our network(s).

*be sure to click the link in your email to confirm your account or you will have limited functionality*

Assuming you are on the network you want the protection on, click “Add this Network”

You can add multiple networks if you want by logging into your account when on that network.

Now be sure to download and install the Updating Client. (http://www.opendns.com/support/article/90)

We now click on the “Settings” tab and we customize the content we want on out network.

*if just intending for security only check adware and click apply at the bottom*

Next click “Security” on the left side of the page and select the Malware/Botnet protection.

Now we have a secure network but be sure to explore the other options on the left side such as Customizing the blocked page errors and enabling “Stats and Logs” so you can see what your internet history looks like.

After a few weeks you should see some stats (assuming you have enabled it) and you have options for blocking specific sites and domains such as ads and pop-ups.

That’s all for now but be sure to contact me if you have any questions.