What Is a DNS Leak – How to Avoid It?
Today more than ever, there are so many parties that are interested in how you spend your time online. There’s the government for and their many secret surveillance programs. Advertising agencies also love collecting user data and trends. Finally, we have cybercriminals waiting for you to log onto your bank account or shop online. Everyone is curious about whatever you’re up to! If you’re not too careful about your security, there’s a mechanism they can use to find out more information about what you’re upto online.
What Is a DNS Leak – How to Avoid It?
What Is DNS?
The Domain Name System, or DNS, is a fundamental mechanism that plays a crucial part in how the Internet works. It basically translates the many IP addresses that point to various servers (websites) from a long string of numbers, to a URL that humans would more easily remember. Therefore, when you type in a domain name like facebook.com, your computer applies DNS to switch that into the server’s actual IP address and connects you to the Facebook website.
The only problem regarding privacy that comes as a result of using this system is that DNS servers tend to keep a log of all the IP addresses (website visitors) that pass by their site, as well as the pages within the site that they looked through. This might not sit well with users who would prefer to keep their online activities private. You wouldn’t want anyone knowing about details such as your medical history, bank account balances or your own private research. To ensure that you maintain your own space of privacy, it would be ideal to turn to a VPN.
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What Is A DNS Leak?
A majority of VPN services tend to host their own DNS servers. Even so, a situation may occur where instead of your data being routed through your VPN’s servers, it gets reverted back to that of your ISP. This often happens when there’s a VPN disconnect, and it is what is referred to as a DNS leak. This can be a huge pain especially if you subscribed to a particular VPN service hoping to have your security online guaranteed at all times.
To prevent DNS leaks, you need to subscribe to a provider that provides secure end-to-end tunnels for your data to pass through. You need a service that has a custom developed solution to take care of this problem. In this short review, we’re going to be looking at a number of VPNs that have their own ways of handling this problem and prevent any form of DNS leak from occurring.
Aside from DNS protection, using a VPN also has a bunch of other advantages. The fact that a VPN helps you hide your location is one of them. With this done, you’re able to visit a whole list of geo-restrictive websites without having to worry about being denied access due to your location. Once you’re connected to a remote server, your IP address changes from that which reflects your location, to the one that reflects the location of the server. Using a VPN also helps you hide your traffic from your ISP. This helps prevent eavesdropping by your ISP and ensures that your activities online stay well protected.
Best VPNs for DNS Leak Protection
Feel free to take a look at our short list of the best VPNs for DNS leak protection below:
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN beats out so many other VPN providers to come up as our top recommendation for users hoping to avoid any form of DNS leaks. The service is based in the British Virgin Islands. It controls about 2000 servers that are all found in its network. ExpressVPN offers watertight security thanks to its 256 bit AES encryption. You also get support for VPN protocols such as OpenVPN, PPTP, SSTP, IKEv2, and L2TP/IPSec. ExpressVPN is also the one provider that offers split tunneling as a feature. It basically enables you to choose what part of your traffic gets protected through VPN and what part does not.
ExpressVPN only allows for up to 3 simultaneous connections, though this number can be raised if you choose to download the service directly onto your router. There’s also a series of stealth servers that you can connect to if you’d like to use ExpressVPN anonymously.
First time VPN users will find the 24-hour customer service quite helpful, as it allows users to find help with any VPN related issues whenever they come about. ExpressVPN also allows for torrenting, seamless streaming, and offers complete security for anyone hoping to browse the Internet without any issues. For more information about the service, get to read our ExpressVPN Review.
2. NordVPN
Winding up our list is NordVPN. This is by far the service that offers the best value for your money. NordVPN has over 4000 servers within its network, as well as a list of features that are guaranteed to keep your connection secure at all times. The service employs 256 bit AES security to keep you well away from any form of detection, and with the chance to improve your anonymity by using the service with Tor, you get to stay completely anonymous when online.
NordVPN allows you to choose which of its 4000+ servers to work with. It offers specialized servers depending on the kind of work you’d like to do online. The service also has a DoubleVPN feature where traffic is routed through two servers instead of one for increased protection. NordVPN subscribers also get the choice to have dedicated IPs for their connection. The service offers complete DNS leak protection. This is facilitated by an automatic Internet kill switch that shuts down your Internet connection whenever your VPN client gets compromised.
3. IPVanish
Established in 1999, IPVanish is easily one of the earliest VPN providers to ever set up shop. Their vast experience in the industry has definitely allowed them to optimize their services for their users. This has earned them the reputation for being one of the fastest providers you can sign up with. The service has about 1500 servers under its scope, with the provider having full ownership of all the servers in its network.
IPVanish also offers a SOCKS5 web proxy alternative that you can try out, as well as the industry standard 256 bit AES encryption. The service is based in the US; but despite this, still has a zero logging policy that is strictly adhered to.
The IPVanish VPN client is also compatible with a wide range of devices and platforms such as Windows, iOS, Android and Linux. The service also protects against any form of DNS leaks through encrypted tunnels. Go through our IPVanish Review for more info about this popular VPN service.
Conclusion on The Best VPN for DNS Leak Protection
The three services that we’ve mentioned above are capable of ensuring your security online, as they all have service-specific solutions geared towards preventing any form of DNS leaks. Have you tried any of the DNS Leak-free VPNs we have suggested? Let us know in the comment section below.
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About The Author
Charles
Streaming gadgets geek. Interested in every little thing there is to know about bypassing regional restrictions. An avid believer in the right to protect online privacy. Charles has also reviewed plenty of VPN service providers and knows how to separate the good apples from the bad ones.
