How to make the websites you visit load faster
Sep 23, 2009 Technology
I’ve been using a Comcast High Speed Internet connection for some time now, and overall I’ve been very pleased with it. But I have noticed a problem of late. When I type a web address into my browser’s address bar (or select one from my favorites list), it has started taking several seconds for the website to begin loading in the browser. Once the site begins loading, it loads quickly – getting the process started is where the problem lies.
I did a little investigative work with the help of Google and discovered that this seems to be a common problem with Comcast. The Comcast DNS servers are apparently quite slow at resolving IP addresses from domain names. What does this mean? Well, think of a DNS server as a phone book. When you want to visit a website, you type the site’s “name” (ie. www.RickRouse.com) into your browser’s address bar. The browser now knows the “name” of the site you want to visit, but it needs the site’s IP Address in order to find it (just like you need to know the phone number of a person before you can call him/her).
A DNS server is a computer somewhere out in Internet land that translates the website’s name (ie. www.RickRouse.com) into the physical address of the web server hosting the site. If the default DNS server is slow, it takes longer than it really should to find the site’s IP address, which in turn makes the site slow to begin loading.
The good news is you aren’t stuck with using your ISP’s default DNS server. You can easily change it to use a different one, and the one most people switch to is a very fast (and free) one called “Open DNS”. The IP addresses for the Open DNS primary and alternate servers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 respectively.
The procedures for changing your default DNS settings will work for any High Speed Internet Service Provider, not just Comcast, so if your PC is slow to begin loading websites, give it a try!
Note: The procedure detailed below involves changing some critical settings in the Networking section of Microsoft Windows. It is highly recommended that you create a System Restore Point before making these (or ANY other changes) to your Windows installation in case something goes wrong and you need to “roll back” the changes you just made. Instructions for creating a System Restore Point can be found by clicking the Help tab under My Computer (or simply Computer if you’re running Windows Vista).
Here are the steps for changing your default DNS settings to point to the Open DNS servers:
If your PC is running Windows XP…
1 – Click Start
2 – Click Settings
3 – Click Control Panel
4 – Click Network and Internet connections
5 – Click Network Connections
6 – Right-click Local Area Connection
7 – Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP} to highlight it.
8 – Click Properties
9 – Select the radio button labeled Use the following DNS server addresses:
10 -In the field labeled Preferred DNS Server enter: 208.67.222.222 (Note: You’ll have to type the 4 numbers individually into the fields provided – do not type the “dots”.)
11 – In the field labeled Alternate DNS Server enter: 208.67.220.220
12 – Click OK
13 – Close all open windows.
14 – Open your favorite web browser and see how long it takes for the websites you visit to load. Chances are very good that you’ll notice a difference for the better. You’re done!
If your PC is running Windows Vista…
1 – Click Start
2 – Click Settings
3 – Click Control Panel
4 – Double-click Network and Sharing Center
5 – Click Manage Network Connections
6 – Right-click Local Area Connection
7 – Click Properties
8 – Click Internet Protocol Version 4 to highlight it.
9 -Click Properties
10 – Select the radio button labeled Use the following DNS server addresses:
11 – In the field labeled Preferred DNS server enter 208.67.222.222 (Note: You’ll have to type the 4 numbers individually into the field provided – do not type the “dots”.)
12 – In the field labeled Alternate DNS server enter 208.67.220.220
13 – Click OK.
14 – Click Internet Protocol Version 6 to highlight it, then repeat steps 9 – 13.
15 – Close out all open windows.
16 – Open your favorite web browser and see how long it takes for the websites you visit to load. Chances are very good that you’ll notice a difference for the better. You’re done!
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