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. Frustrating, but good to know. Earlier, we learned that the Linksys WRT54GC Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router 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.
