Like the rest of the world, we noted with interest the announcement of the iPhone at yesterday’s Macworld keynote.

By “noted with interest” I really mean “we all are crushed it’s not available yet.”

As soon as the device is available in the wild, we’ll write instructions about how to switch the DNS settings to OpenDNS nameservers. In fact, I’ve selflessly (?) volunteered to purchase the device for the sole (ahem) purpose of writing these instructions.

Would this count as a “business” expense?!?

We launched Forums today for you to provide a venue to discuss the world of OpenDNS. This isn’t a weak attempt to get rid of support but is a new way for our users to communicate with us and each other. We are focused on delivering the best experience possible we know that in order to do that we have to hear from you.

OpenDNS will continue to respond to its users in all the current ways: email, IM, blogs and comments, phone, and (occasionally!) in person. But every time one of us answers a question for an individual customer, we’ve wanted to share that tip, lesson, or workaround with a broader audience. Forums let us do that…and Forums will be a great place for OpenDNS users to share with each other, too.

Our short-term goals are to learn more about specific situations we already know need more attention, like instructions for setting DNS on a Samsung Blackjack phone or learning whether or not WildBue satellite broadband customers can use OpenDNS or not (reports vary).

Of course, we’ll also answer questions there so that others can benefit from the answers. Longer term, we expect to find out where our users want us to go.

A free OpenDNS account is required to post, to limit noise. Your OpenDNS account is also useful for preferences, statistics, and dynamic DNS support.

Please join in at http://forums.opendns.com/ and let us know what you think.

There’s an opportunity for software developers of Dynamic DNS clients. We’d like to help promote your software, as soon as it meets these two requirements:

• Support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for HTTPS updates
• Allow the user to change the Dynamic DNS update URL to the OpenDNS update URL

If your software supports those two requirements, we’re quite happy to list it as an option for OpenDNS customers and help you get more users for your software, whether it’s commercial, freeware, or anywhere in between.

Background

With last week’s introduction of OpenDNS Accounts, OpenDNS supports DNS preferences and statistics for users with dynamic IP addresses through Dynamic DNS. There are many, many individuals with dynamic IP addresses, so we know this step opens up our service dramatically.

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) requires running client software on your computer, as described in the DDNS instructions. Right now, OpenDNS offers working client software that’s only for the technically savvy. The software is a modification of the open-source command line client inadyn by OpenDNS to support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), if you’re curious.

We’re not client software developers. The only reason we released anything was because the clients we found either did not support SSL or would not let you (the customer) change the DDNS update URL to the OpenDNS update URL, as listed on the OpenDNS DDNS instructions page.

The good news? There is already a vibrant ecosystem of DDNS client software. However, we didn’t find anything that met both of our requirements just yet. The closest one was DynSite, a Windows client which supports SSL, but doesn’t support OpenDNS’s update URL.

If we missed a working candidate, let us know!

Next steps

If you’re a developer of DDNS client software, please get in touch. We’d like to help or answer questions as best we can.

If you’re already using DDNS client software and would like to use the same software for managing your OpenDNS Account (makes sense to me!), then please ask the developer (politely) if adding SSL support and OpenDNS update URL support (or just allowing update URL choice) is on their radar.

Reminder

You can use OpenDNS without an account if speedy, reliable DNS with the default preferences is what you need.

A brief note to say thank you to the several individuals who responded to our request for help on router instructions. We’re using the many useful emails and comments we got to cover the requested D-Link and Actiontec routers. We don’t need any more assistance with those models, at least.

We’ve also been entranced by the very well done emulators on the D-Link site: helpful to us and (I’m sure) to their customers.

Update: We’ve gotten great response from D-Link and Actiontec customers. No need to send anymore. Still waiting on confirmation about Blackberry.

We realize there are lots of popular (and not-so-popular) routers and modems we don’t have instructions for on our site. But it’s hard writing instructions for a device you don’t have in front of you. That’s why we’re calling on you to help us build out our Get Started library. At the top of our wish list are instructions for these models:

* D-Link DGL-4300
* D-Link DI-604
* Actiontec GT701
* Actiontec GT704

Inititally we thought we could write instructions based on user manuals. We found the manuals, but they didn’t provide enough information to teach others how to change DNS settings.

This just in: For Verizon users and others, we added instructions for the very popular Westell 327w today.

If you are so kind as to help us (and other OpenDNS users who share in your router or modem taste) out with instructions, please send a few bulleted steps based on any of the instructions we already have. Screenshots to accompany the steps would be great, too. Anyone who sends in accurate instructions will get a shout-out on our Web site and will forever be known as the helpful author of the [insert your router/modem model here] instructions.

Don’t worry about perfection. At this point anything will help us. And, of course, it’s our job to polish up the instructions and make them look pretty for the site.

There is also the possibility that some routers/modems don’t allow users to change DNS settings. That information is as helpful, if not more, than instructions.

Just send an e-mail with the instructions and screenshots, or other feedback, to contact at opendns dot com.

Oh, and if you have a Blackberry and can verify that these instructions work, we’d really appreciate it.

1. Go to Start->Network Connections->Show All Connections
2. Right-click your BlackBerry Internet icon, select Properties.
3. A window will open. Click the Server Types tab.
4. Click TCP/IP Settings.
5. Select “Use the following DNS server addresses:”
6. Enter 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

Phones, PDAs, and every other mobile device smaller than a laptop and bigger than an iPod Shuffle needs DNS for web browsing, among other things. With speedier networks, the mobile web is getting more and more useful…and speedy DNS makes the experience better. Frankly, I had forgotten this obvious use of OpenDNS, until we started seeing our users comment on websites devoted to mobile devices.

Thanks for the reminder!

Change your mobile to OpenDNS

Today, we added instructions about how to change DNS on your mobile device, with our first entries covering Windows Mobile and Palm OS 5 (Treo).

Help us provide more details

Mobile devices are even more numerous and diverse than routers, so I’d love your help in two areas.

First: let us know which other devices most need instructions for changing to OpenDNS. Please include carriers and countries, if informative.

Second: if you’d like to write instructions to share your personal knowledge, I’d welcome the assistance. Send instructions and/or screenshots to our contact email address or link to instructions in the comments here.

Note: I’m still working out how I might expense a Sony PSP so I can write up instructions about how to use OpenDNS on this (ahem) “productivity” device.

We have a few confirmed reports of ISPs which do not allow their customers to use external DNS services, such as OpenDNS. These reports are from customers, not the companies. You can change your settings all you like on your end (computer, router, etc.), but they will be ignored/overridden.

We are trying to confirm these reports with the companies so our information is accurate and up-to-date. Inquiries via their websites and support lines have gotten no response, so I am making a more public request, both to the companies themselves and to their customers. I’d rather tell potential OpenDNS customers to avoid frustration than try and help them to no avail after they’ve wasted time trying to choose their own DNS.

NTL customers have been the most persistent in their attempts, to no avail. If you work for NTL (very large ISP in the UK), please get in touch.

If you work for a satellite broadband ISP, such as HughesNet (previously known as DirecWay), StarBand, or SkyWay USA, I’d love to hear from you. Satellite providers: if I didn’t mention your name, I’m still curious and interested…just haven’t heard from your customers yet. I know there are some peculiarities regarding latency for satellite access which probably are the reasons for the policy. Would love to brainstorm about technical solutions all the same.

If you are a customer of any of these companies, and you have better information, I’m listening.

My goal? Provide accurate information and instructions to potential OpenDNS customers on the Get Started page. As our FAQ notes, OpenDNS does not host websites, register domains, or act as an ISP.

How to contact us

Use the contact form or call us at +1-415-344-3166.

When we launched three weeks ago, we had a reasonable cross-section of instructions for some of the most popular routers and operating systems. We knew, of course, that there are many, many different devices and scenarios, and we’d have to keep updating our instructions to match the real world.

Our customers couldn’t wait for us (good!). My thanks for these instructions go to individual customers.

• Buffalo AirStation are courtesy of Zach Marshall.
• Windows Vista (Beta) are courtesy of Colton Hilliard.
• SpeedStream 5200 are courtesy of Luis Serrano.
• IPCop (Linux firewall application) are courtesy of James Truesdale.
• BIND9 forwarding instructions (in our FAQ) are courtesy of an early customer (apologies for not remembering whom!)

We’re adding more ourselves, of course, like Windows 98.

I’m not ashamed to continue asking for help, whether corrections or new screenshots and instructions. We’re quite happy to take raw materials and clean them up (add our orange highlights, spell-check, etc.) to help get the word out to others who might have the same equipment or situation.

Email us your instructions and screenshots: contact at opendns dot com. All the credit will be yours!

Additional information about static IP addresses

We’re learning, to our dismay, that some routers will only let their owners set DNS servers if the owner has a static IP address. Most folks connecting from home (i.e., those who would use the router instructions) have a dynamic IP address.

One example, which was confirmed today to a customer by Motorola customer support is the Motorola WR850 wireless broadband router. Both models, the GP and G, only allow DNS settings to be changed for static IP addresses (PDF manual). Frustrating, but good to know. Earlier, we learned that the Linksys WRT54GC Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router (PDF manual available via this page) has the same limitations.

Fortunately, most people can simply use the operating system instructions, and the settings “closest to the customer” are the dominant ones, corporate networks excluded.

All of this information will make its way into the Get Started pages as we learn more.