This lightweight program will test your DNS against other popular DNS servers. Once it finishes the comparison, it will give you detailed statistics on performance and recommend the best DNS for you to use.

Start by downloading, installing and running namebench. On the first window, you'll see a field labeled Nameservers. This will automatically be filled with the IP address of your current DNS.

Below the Nameservers field are two checkboxes. One says "Include global DNS providers;" the other says "Include best available regional DNS services." Leave both of these checked.

The next area is for secondary options. The first checkbox lets you check if the DNS is blocking certain sites. If you're looking for a DNS with filtering options, definitely select this one. It will tell you how effective a DNS is at blocking unwanted content.

The second checkbox will publish your results anonymously. This will help provide more accurate results to you and others in the future. You can leave this blank or check it. Neither will affect the comparisons you're given.

Next, set the location dropdown to your country. In the Query Data Source dropdown menu, select your default browser. If you aren't sure what browser you use, visit this site.