For most small businesses, a reliable connection to the Internet is vital for both communication and commerce. A key component of Internet access is the Domain Name System (DNS), which allows you to reach sites using familiar and user-friendly names like airspot.in rather than inscrutable and difficult to remember IP addresses like 63.236.73.55. Whenever you access a Web site, send or receive e-mail, chat via instant messaging, or use any other type of Internet application, DNS is working behind the scenes matching domain names to IP addresses.

As you read this, your business is probably relying on ISP-provided DNS servers to reach sites and services on the Internet. They often do an adequate job, but they’re prone to sluggishness (and sometimes outages). Switching your business over to the independent DNS service provider OpenDNS, on the other hand, can make Internet access a bit speedier and safer for everyone on your network, as well as provide added features like content filtering so you can determine which Web sites your employees can and can’t visit.

OpenDNS uses a combination of caching technology and a network of strategically located servers that generally perform DNS lookups much quicker than ISP servers do. Considering that loading all the components of a single Web page can often involve lots of individual DNS lookups, saving even a fraction of a second on each can really add up.

One of the advantages of using OpenDNS is that it includes anti-phishing. Phishing is where someone sets up a fake website and lures you there with a phony link, then tries to get information like account numbers, passwords and social security numbers from you. OpenDNS also provides filtering categories for parental controls.

DNS server of few ISPs can be real slow and unreliable resulting in slow Internet browsing. You can easily use OpenDNS instead of your ISPs DNS server for faster browsing.

You can replace the DNS numbers your ISP provided, either in your computer settings or the settings on your wireless router or airport.

The OpenDNS server addresses are: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. You can use these numbers without setting up an account at OpenDNS.com, but if you create a free account there, you have access to instructions, a knowledge base and support help.

Here are quick 5 steps to set up OpenDNS on Windows:

1. Click Start > Run – type ncpa.cpl and then click OK button. Vista users click Start and type ncpa.cpl in the search bar and hit the Enter key.
2. In the new window, right click on the active network connections icon and then click on properties option.
3. In connection properties window click Networking Tab and then click on Properties button next to uninstall button (make sure Internet Protocol TCP/IP option is selected).
4. In new properties Windows, highlight option ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’, then type 208.67.222.222 in preferred box and 208.67.220.220 in the alternate box.
5. Click OK on opened properties windows and OpenDNS is set up on your computer!