If can be of interest for any MT user, here it is a detailed webpage about them Known DNS Providers | AdGuard DNS Knowledge Base
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DNS Providers
- Thread starter Avethil
- Start date
Cloudflare with malware blocking offers great resolution speeds (which is to be expected from them) but in terms of malware blocking, Cloudflare is really inefficient, even if some router manufacturers (Asus, looking at you) are enforcing Cloudflare as protection layer through partnerships.
If protection is the aim, then Cloudflare isn’t really the best choice because protections should be evaluated as boolean— you either do it or you don’t. N% protection doesn’t really do anything for the users.
I would personally go for a DNS that blocks ads and blocks malicious websites better.
In your opinion, which could be the best DNS provider for malware blocking ?
For phishing and malware blocking, I would go for NextDNS and ControlD (or the free NextDNS clone).
These 2 are the easiest to setup, cheap (if not free) and offer decent protection. Plus not loading ads at all on mobile devices has a lot of benefits.
Cloudflare would be my choice for snappy browsing experience (I have it deployed on some of my devices like my TV).
Quad9 is also a decent choice.
NextDNS is great but currently using Control D with a few block lists configured at the router level and device level. I purchased the one-year plan that usually costs $40 but with my Windscribe discount, I was able to get it half off. The redirecting feature is extremely handy for streaming apps. Also, latency is great for me (I get 1-2ms).
A few block lists that I would recommend: New Domains (Native), Hagezi's DNS - Pro or Pro Plus, Hagezi's DNS - TIF.
A few block lists that I would recommend: New Domains (Native), Hagezi's DNS - Pro or Pro Plus, Hagezi's DNS - TIF.
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ControlD. Their blocking is customizable, allows custom rules, and is more modern than NextDNS. To me, it's not even close; ControlD > *.
If you pay.
For free users, it has some false positives that they insist on keeping. If you go to their forums and you tell them that you're using a free filter, you will either get ignored or someone will tell you to upgrade to the paid version and add and exclusion to fix the problem.
Control D free "Ads & Tracking" filter currently blocks functionality inside Avast and AVG antivirus, and it's also blocking the AVG user account page, making it so you're unable to login and manage your account, licences and devices.
AdGuard DNS may be better for free, it's also very strong against malware, with less false positives, not trying to make you upgrade to a paid version.
If everyone uses the free tier of every service there will be no one left to keep these companies in business that provide the free tiers. Who wins then?
Paid tiers will always have their advantages. Are you suggesting that making the free tier faulty on purpose is a good practice?
No. I'm suggesting not to use the free tier, as doing so seems to be the cause of your issue.
The cause of the issue is their false positive, not me using the free tier.
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But you admitted that only being the case on the free tier, and the fact that allow rules can only per created on the paid-tier. In effect, you using the free tier is causing your issue.
Control D Free DNS Ads & Tracking is VERY aggressive when it comes to ad blocking. They prefer blocking over functionality. I tried said DNS and switched after few minutes as it was simply blocking too much. There are paranoid people that actually prefer it that way. Since I'm not paranoid, I prefer functionality over blocking.
However, you're not limited to that one DNS taste because Control D offers Free DNS with various 3rd party blocklists which will block ads, but not as much as rigorously as Ads & Tracking. Just select the blocklist you like, which doesn't give you FPs and voilà—problem solved. I personally use Hagezi Pro Plus variant and I rarely find a broken website. If I stumble upon one, I report it to Hagezi on GitHub and it's fixed within a few hours without Control D intervention.
Now... when it comes to their support. I wouldn't contact them on Reddit or Discord. Their employees are there, but don't expect them to help you with issues. They may answer some of your question, though they rarely fix problems that way. I actually needed support and specifically for free DNS so I asked Barry to forward my query to their support and reply always came within 24 hours. Their agents genuinely tried to resolve my issue and gave me concrete answers what should I do. Everything despite me being free user. And they never tried to upsell me or push me to buy subscription in any way. I applaud them for that.
The only minus they get from me is a server coverage in Europe which I already mentioned here. When asked, they said they noted the feedback and are working on it. So we'll see what happens next.
However, you're not limited to that one DNS taste because Control D offers Free DNS with various 3rd party blocklists which will block ads, but not as much as rigorously as Ads & Tracking. Just select the blocklist you like, which doesn't give you FPs and voilà—problem solved. I personally use Hagezi Pro Plus variant and I rarely find a broken website. If I stumble upon one, I report it to Hagezi on GitHub and it's fixed within a few hours without Control D intervention.
Now... when it comes to their support. I wouldn't contact them on Reddit or Discord. Their employees are there, but don't expect them to help you with issues. They may answer some of your question, though they rarely fix problems that way. I actually needed support and specifically for free DNS so I asked Barry to forward my query to their support and reply always came within 24 hours. Their agents genuinely tried to resolve my issue and gave me concrete answers what should I do. Everything despite me being free user. And they never tried to upsell me or push me to buy subscription in any way. I applaud them for that.
The only minus they get from me is a server coverage in Europe which I already mentioned here. When asked, they said they noted the feedback and are working on it. So we'll see what happens next.
The false positive is present in both the free tier and the paid tier. The cause of the issue is the false positive.
So in your opinion, the solution would be to add your own rule? And one should even pay to do that?
You know someone at Control D is getting paid as their job to look at false positives, right?
And somehow they're blocking one of the most known and widely used antivirus.
They repeatedly ignore free users on their forums, or someone condescendingly offers the paid tier as a fix for their incompetente, laziness or even evil strategy. I would never pay a service to any company that doesn't treat their free users right.
I'm using AdGuard free DNS now, which is a better option.
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The point being that you have more control over what gets blocked and what doesn't when you're not being a freeloader, or are you expecting every service to be perfect all the time?
This system works for decades, so why not? If free users like the service, they will pay for it or refer it to someone else, who does, thus they make profit from them.
WinRAR has been "free" for 40 years and it is still here, they did not force users to pay for it to use it and it paid off in the end, it is still the best archive tool around.
NextDNS considers all users equal, they ignore all, free and paid users.
