Using internet filtering software at home can be quite a hassle: installing the software or app on every device, managing upgrades, subscription fees, occasional troubleshooting when changes cause unexpected behavior.
Free DNS service providers provide a great alternative for safe internet at home that take care content filtering at the router level, so you can literally set it and forget it. Internet filters are valuable for parents and families; filtering is also valuable for honoring your marriage and preventing the obscene junk from cluttering your mind.
List of Free DNS Servers for Family Internet Filtering
The list here serves as a quick reference with what DNS resolver servers to add into the WiFi router settings for family filtering.
(Most have alternatives for customizable filtering and paid services too.) Each wifi router has its own configuration setup—please refer to the owner’s manual for detailed instructions.
CloudFlare 1.1.1.1 for Families – Malware and Adult Content
1.1.1.31.0.0.3
OpenDNS Family Shield (OpenDNS has other free + paid options) [explanation]
208.67.222.123208.67.220.123
CleanBrowsing Family Filter (CleanBrowsing has other free + paid options)
185.228.168.168185.228.169.168
AdGuard DNS (AdGuard has other ad blocking products)
176.103.130.132176.103.130.134
Neustar UltraRecursive DNS Family Secure (other blocking levels available)
156.154.70.3156.154.71.3
However, a filtering service might block websites that you would not consider to be inappropriate, like Neustar blocked this Christian magazine (on September 7, 2019):
When a website is categorized wrong like that, contact the service provider to let them know that it needs to be fixed.
Discontinued Free DNS Server Services
Internet services do incur cost and they can be sunset and retired at any time with or without notice. For example, Norton ConnectSafe was retired on November 15, 2018. K9 Web Protection was ended on June 30, 2019. That’s the downside of using free services. But you know what? Paid services can decide to shut down too, though usually with ample notice, but not always.
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash