New DNS Service from Sunbelt

[MidnightCowboy]

Well at least I assume it's new unless MC has been asleep because I haven't come across it myself.

Thanks to Robert's latest Hot Find....

http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...omatically.htm

... we now have an antimalware DNS service from Sunbelt. It is labelled as being in beta status so bear this in mind if deciding to change.

I've also liked Sunbelt but hated them when they stopped development of their firewall for Windows 7 and only included it in Vipre. I forgave them a little when they teamed up with Malwarebytes and this new DNS service makes things even better

Installed and running on my own machine now.

If you make the server address changes and then can't open any pages you may need to re-dial your connection. Depends entirely on how your connection is setup.

[Sope]

Interesting, thanks.

Here's an interesting video comparing Norton, Comodo and Sunbelt (ClearCloud) DNS side by side.

I'm currently happy enough using Norton but I'll be watching what develops with ClearCloud.
I wonder if, as these services develop they will cease to be free?

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Sope

Interesting, thanks.

Here's an interesting video comparing Norton, Comodo and Sunbelt (ClearCloud) DNS side by side.

I'm currently happy enough using Norton but I'll be watching what develops with ClearCloud.
I wonder if, as these services develop they will cease to be free?

There is some real garbage posted on Youtube under the pretence of "tests" but languy99 is at the opposite end. His stuff is always useful and what he's posted here about the DNS services is a fair representation of what you or I could expect from using them.

I don't think we are ever likely to see these go commercial unless the service becomes integrated into one of the suites. The vendors can get enough pay back from the usage stats they obtain and few people would buy this type of service on it's own.

Thanks for the link. Both videos well worth watching

[Sope]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

I don't think we are ever likely to see these go commercial unless the service becomes integrated into one of the suites. The vendors can get enough pay back from the usage stats they obtain and few people would buy this type of service on it's own.

I hope this is the case. I was disappointed when OpenDNS brought in it's multi tiered system and stopped including it's malicious site blocking in the free version.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Sope

I hope this is the case. I was disappointed when OpenDNS brought in it's multi tiered system and stopped including it's malicious site blocking in the free version.

As far as I'm aware, OpenDNS don't have any other products to make money from so they are bound to offer the best features to paying customers only. Norton, Comodo and Sunbelt on the other hand don't need to rely on a commercial DNS service to make a living and this is also a good way to introduce new customers to their brand name. I know the Vipre beta is out and to my knowledge there is no option to switch to ClearCloud in it (as Comodo) so presumably this will remain free.

[deya]

I've had problems with Norton DNS earlier this evening, caused me real havoc when I was trying to get some work finished for the weekend. Took me a while to suss out what the problem was so I ran DNS Benchmark and it confirmed that the service was degraded. Switched to Advantage DNS, still not good on the test, this may be just a local thing.

Anyway, during the tests I noticed that the ClearCloud service was hitting the top each time I ran it, so I switched to ClearCloud and it solved the problem. I have used it before, some time ago when it first started, but it's definitely improved since then, and it's blocked a couple of sites while I've been trying it out. Here's a screen shot, it's different to the last time I used it, but no option to view why it was blocked like Norton does.

They offer a small setup utility for Windows so I downloaded it onto a spare machine and tried it. Once you've installed it it puts an icon on the desktop, click it and it loads an icon in the taskbar which you click to show the status, and from there you can turn ClearCloud on or off... it works perfect and saves you the hassle off going through Network Connections if you just want to localise it to a single machine, switch it off and it reverts your settings back to your original DNS.

The process for the utility [SBCC_Utility_Tray..] runs very light in the task manager, about 6k. It's a good idea for people who aren't sure about messing about in Network Connections, but who'd like to try a different DNS service.

I'll carry on using it and watch how it goes, one or two slow loadeing pages to begin with but it's flying now. Here's the site for anyone who's interested. ClearCloud

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by deya

They offer a small setup utility for Windows so I downloaded it onto a spare machine and tried it. Once you've installed it it puts an icon on the desktop, click it and it loads an icon in the taskbar which you click to show the status, and from there you can turn ClearCloud on or off... it works perfect and saves you the hassle off going through Network Connections if you just want to localise it to a single machine, switch it off and it reverts your settings back to your original DNS.

Agreed about this easy setup option. It's all too easy to mess up your network connections (and even lose it altogether) by making manual changes and this removes that fear. I've stayed with ClearCloud myself without any issues so far.

[Sope]

@Deya
I wasn't online yesterday but Norton DNS seems to be fine today.
DNS Benchmark shows Norton is slightly quicker than ClearCloud for me (I'm in the UK).
Guess it was just a temporary problem.

To me, the tests I've seen recently appear to show Norton and ClearCloud are very similar regarding security and performance so I think either of the two are good choices.
The ClearCloud tool sounds handy though.

[deya]

Thanks for the info, Sope. Norton is working fine now so it must have been a local issue.
It did cause me some real problems though. I'd just got a pop up telling me that there was a WOT add-on update, so I stopped working for a minute and did the update. This must have coincided with the Norton issue and it pretty much wiped WOT out, everything greyed out, couldn't get on the site, then couldn't get on hardly any other site, or when I did they were a mess. I started wondering if, somehow, the WOT update was causing the problem, then ran the Benchmark test and realised it was Norton DNS.

I agree that there's probably not a lot between ClearCloud and Norton. I've set my spare machine to Norton via the Network Connections, and then have the ClearCloud app running in the taskbar. I've been clicking between the two and to be honest it's a seamless switch, switch it on and it's ClearCloud, back off and it's Norton again. I wish I'd have had that option at hand yesterday afternoon, even though I have that DNS jumper thing on here I never thought to use it.

I also like the 'check status' button at the bottom right of the ClearCloud home page. Click it and you get an instant view of all their sites and it tells you if they're online or if the service is degraded. When the service first started it was the site in London that kept dropping but they seem to have got it up and running properly now.

[Sope]

Interesting, thanks.
I'm going to have to give that ClearCloud DNS "jumper" a try out.

The potential of these new types of secure DNS is very encouraging.