Norton has innovated another area where competitors have not done (or have they?). It is the Norton DNS Beta. An innovative way to protect your devices from malicious sites or links.

It is really a simple concept but I think Symantec has scored a first to implement them. What it can do is that it provides a faster and more reliable web browsing with basic security without you installing a client (aka software) on your computer or devices.

How does it work?

DNS (Domain Name Service) is like a phonebook. Each time your computer visits a web site, it needs to get the IP address of the site – computers only connect to IP addresses, not human-friendly names. When Norton DNS is used, it delivers these IP addresses very fast, plus it does a quick check on each site to make sure that it isn’t bad. If it is, you are protected from the site but you will get detailed information on why we think that the site is bad. This information comes from our Safe Web database. You can search any site at safeweb.norton.com. Norton Safe Web processes billions of requests each day to deliver ratings for users when they are searching on the Internet.

There are 3 methods to setup this Norton DNS.

Method 1

First way (easiest way) is to download the client to automatically configure your DNS with Norton DNS settings to your computers.

Click Here to Download the software

Installation

• Click on file
• Follow instruction

• At the end of the instruction, you will see the below pic.

• That is it. It will open up the Norton DNS Beta configuration utility (if you check the box) and automatically change the DNS of your computer to Norton DNS Beta.

Method 2

Method 2 requires some know-how on your computer/device connection setting. You will need to manually input the Norton DNS settings to your devices/computer.

• First access your Network Connection Properties. For my example, it is my wireless network settings.

• Next, choose TCP/IP settings (normally Version 4) and click on “Properties”. Input the 2 IPs into the DNS as shown below.

• You will need to select “Use the following DNS Server address:”

Key in:

Preferred DNS server: 198.153.192.1

Alternate DNS server: 198.153.194.1

Do note that for devices, it may just be DNS1, DNS2, or some are separated by commas.

• After this, click OK and your device is protected by Norton DNS Beta.

Method 3

If you realized, for Method 1 or 2, you will need to set your device/computer DNS to the Norton DNS settings. However, if you want all your devices/computers to be protected without setting up their DNS, you can refer to this method.

Depending on manufacturers and your experience on your router, please perform this task with caution. If you are not sure, please DO NOT try.

• Access your router via ethernet cable (do not use wireless as a precaution).
• Once inside the router, go to basic setup (based on my Linksys router), you may see the Static DNS settings. Change them to the settings provided by Norton DNS.

• 198.153.192.1
• 198.153.194.1

• You will see something similar to below picture

• Save the settings and all your devices or computers that connect to this network will on Norton DNS Beta. Note that once they are out of the network, they are not on Norton DNS Beta anymore.

Do note that my post is NOT an instructional post but some reference that I made when I changed my own settings. If you are unsure, do check the Norton DNS FAQ for more information.

So, after you have done this, how do you know that you are currently using Norton DNS Beta? Norton has a website that you can use to check.

Click Here to check if you are using Norton DNS Beta

If you are, you will see something as shown below.

That is it! Hope that I did not confuse you 🙂 . In my opinion, Norton DNS Beta is a way that allow users not to use any client software installation on computers to enjoy some protection while surfing the Internet. However, if you really want full protection, you should invest in some Internet Security or Anti-virus software.

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