Cloudflare Introduce their new DNS service to speed up web browsing

Coludflare decided to use April Fool’s Day (4/1) to share some news about four 1’s that could help speed your internet browsing. The company announced today that it’s launching a DNS service for consumers called 1.1.1.1

The company’s tool — which is not some super nerdy April Fool’s joke — will allow users to shorten load times of web pages and keep some data away from network providers. Cloudfare boasts it will be “the Internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service.”

In layman’s terms, by punching the number 1 four times into their DNS network info, consumers can hand the reins over to Cloudflare to connect the URL that they type into the tool bar — say, techcrunch.com — with that site’s IP address, a process that’s done by making requests to the Domain Name System (DNS). If you go to 1.1.1.1, you’ll get some info on how to enable this on the device that you’re on.

It’s completely separate from the startup’s authoritative DNS service for its customers but it does take advantage of Cloudflare’s existing network to provide the fastest speeds possible to users, shaving off milliseconds from other service like Google’s Public DNS Service.

It’s important to note that this DNS service isn’t some magical catch-all, you’re still much better off operating a VPN if you don’t want any of your web activity being exposed. One of the main use cases that the company seems to be tackling here is how governments have used DNS to get network providers to censor citizens access to the web.

Setup on PC

Setting up 1.1.1.1 takes two minutes and requires no technical skill or special software. Even if you’re a computer novice, pick your device below for an easy-to-follow setup guide.

                           Setup on Windows PC

1. Click on the Start menu, then click on Control Panel.
2. Click on Network and Internet.
3. Click on Change Adapter Settings.
4. Right click on the Wi-Fi network you are connected to, then click Properties.
5. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (or Version 6 if desired).
6. Click Properties.
7. Write down any existing DNS server entries for future reference.
8. Click Use The Following DNS Server Addresses.
9. Replace those addresses with the 1.1.1.1 DNS addresses:
   • For IPv4: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
   • For IPv6: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
10. Click OK, then Close.
11. Restart your browser.

references : https://1.1.1.1/#explanation