What is DNS and how to configure it with Blokada?

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Note that this article is only relevant to Blokada for Android.

Blokada provides a list of pre-defined DNS servers you can choose from.

What is DNS?

The acronym DNS stands for Domain Name System. Your device communicates with DNS servers, which are like road signs, helping you to find the places on the Internet that you want to visit. For example, when you want to open google.com , the DNS server will tell your browser which IP addresses to connect to.

Another way to describe DNS is as a phone book. What number do you call to get to google.com? That number is the IP address.

Your Internet Service Provider (the operator of your WiFi or mobile network) has its own DNS servers, your device will use them by default. With Blokada however, you may switch to one of reputable and trustworthy DNS servers. They should be used if you are suspecting that your ISP collects logs about your internet usage, you are afraid of some privacy risk or if some websites or services are blocked for you.

Keep in mind that there is no “best” choice, everything depends on your preferences and location, therefore it’s a good idea to do a little research about your choice.

Changing DNS is a free feature in Blokada (and Blokada Slim), and you may use it without the Blokada Plus subscription.

Also if you are interested in encrypted DNS, Blokada 5 supports DNS over HTTPS out of the box.

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I did not understand this statement because I don’t know about DoH. Can someone clarify, please.

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Hey @ashubuntu:)
Read about DoH here. Karol wants to say that DOH, means encrypting DNS requests is enabled by default.

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Thank you @c_C.
Seems like people have mixed opinions about DoH regarding privacy and Internet Security.

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In what sense?

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The author in this post says “any claims that DoH prevents ISPs from tracking users are disingenuous and misleading, experts argue. DoH merely inconveniences ISPs by blinding them to one vector, but they still have plenty of others.” Catalin also argues citing this study which said that “the unmitigated usage of encrypted DNS, particularly DNS over HTTPS, could allow attackers and insiders to bypass organizational controls.”. According to him, this may weaken cyber-security.
Michaela Merz in her post argues that activating DOH is not really an advantage for an average home user because ISP’s will anyways know which websites you are browsing.

I am a novice to DoH and am unsure of everyone’s claim.

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Thanks @ashubuntu, I had a quick look at the articles, and honestly some of them seem clickbaity. Just a few remarks:

  1. They argue that ISP can still track users, and they mention unencrypted HTTP. This is ridiculous to still use it as an argument in 2020.
  2. The “organizational controls” is a nice word for censorship.
  3. In the last article, they seem to disregard the fact you can choose the DNS server you prefer. It does not have to be your ISP’s.
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Thanks a lot, @Karol for clarifying :pray:. I’ll keep on learning.

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Which one of these dns servers is 1.1.1.1?

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Cloudflare uses 1.1.1.1 to my knowledge:)

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Cloudflare 1.1.1.1

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This is not an answer to the question how to ‘configure dns at Blokada’.
JDG

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Hallo, Op mijn tablet Asus (Blokada 4) staat “Default DNS servers Yes” ingesteld.
Niettemin staat op homepage “DNS is deactivated”.
Is dat niet tegenstrijdig aan elkaar als melding?

Ik heb een log gedownload, naar welk adres kan ik het zenden a.u.b?
(Dit laatste heb ik ondertussen gevonden en uitgevoerd.)
Jack

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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Blokada DNS NUMBERS