We preconfigure FDNS with a large list of DoH and DoT service providers. For privacy reasons we use only non-logging services. There is no way for us to verify this, and we depend on the privacy policy as posted by the provider on his website. We stay away from companies and organizations known to collect, misuse and monetize the user information. If there is anything wrong with the server list embedded in the program, please let us know!
We prefer servers run out-of-pocket by students, engineers, open-source enthusiasts, privacy-oriented non-profit organizations, etc. Currently there are more than 100 such DoH/DoT servers on our list. We also track a small, select number of corporate servers from companies with a non-logging and non-censoring policy. These servers form what we would call The Little People Network.
The command to start the proxy is
Once started, FDNS chooses a server at random, as close geographically as possible. We derive the computer location from the timezone setting. There are no IP packets sent out to geolocation services. Three zones are defined so far: Americas, AsiaPacific and Europe. List all the servers in your zone by running:
$ fdns --list
Current zone: Europe
[...]
alekberg-se - Sweden, Europe
https://alekberg.net/
appliedprivacy - non-profit, Austria, Europe
https://appliedprivacy.net
appliedprivacy-dot - non-profit, Austria, Europe
https://appliedprivacy.net
blahdns-fi - Finland, Europe, adblocker
https://blahdns.com
bortzmeyer - France, Europe
https://www.bortzmeyer.org/doh-bortzmeyer-fr-policy.html
brahmaworld - Germany, Europe, adblocker
https://dns.brahma.world/
bravedns - geocast, Americas, AsiaPacific, Europe
https://bravedns.com
cleanbrowsing - anycast, security, Americas, AsiaPacific, Europe
https://cleanbrowsing.org
cloudflare - anycast, Americas, AsiaPacific, Europe
https://www.cloudflare.com
[...]
You can also choose a specific server (sudo fdns --server=appliedprivacy), country, or any other tag (adblocker, family, non-profit, security, OpenNIC). The corporate servers are in anycast category (sudo fdns --server=anycast). If you are more interested in speed, as a regular user test all the servers by running fdns --test-servers=all and choose the one you like the most.
The server coverage is as follows:
| tag 🠗 zone ➜ | Europe | Asia Pacific |
Americas |
|---|---|---|---|
| sudo fdns | 99 | 35 | 40 |
| sudo fdns –server=adblocker | 23 | 7 | 8 |
| sudo fdns –server=family | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| sudo fdns –server=non-profit | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| sudo fdns –server=OpenNIC | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| sudo fdns –server=security | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| sudo fdns –server=anycast | 17 | 17 | 17 |
Once started, monitor the proxy by running fdns --monitor as a regular user. The monitor provides live DNS statistics and requests.
FDNS proxy monitor
Full documentation here: FDNS Handbook
