Annoying Optus DNS assist feature sending me to the http://service1.dnsassist.optusnet.com.au page.

Optus recently introduced their DNS assist feature. What this means is if I type in a domain name which is missing a letter, or not quite right, I'm shown the Optus DNS assist page. For example if I type www.justocal.com.au (which is missing an 'l') I go to the address http://service1.dnsassist.optusnet.com.au/search?qo=www.justocal.com.au&rn=BIvFEM0wJ6Xe5Tf&rg=.


Optus say the following is their reason.

"This search service is designed to make your web browsing experience more productive. No software was installed on your computer for this service to work."

The problem is this doesn't make me more productive. I have deliberately disabled the feature in Internet Explorer so if I type an incorrect address, the address remains in the address area so I can quickly fix it.

Why Optus did this I can only offer an educated guess. If you check the page you'll see Yahoo!SEARCH. I would be fairly confident that Optus is making money from Yahoo advertising.

Optus is apparently happy to make my experience of the internet worse for a few cents they'll gain from Yahoo advertising.

When I say guess, Firefox makes around 85% of its income from Google by providing Google as the default page. This works out at around 30 cents per Firefox user a year. Optus is likely to make less. So for less than 30 cents a year from me, Optus has damaged my user experience and when my contract is up, this will be another reason I'll be reconsidering Optus.

To get around the problem I can do one of the following:

1. Use the Opt out feature which places a cookie on my computer.

The opt out feature is well hidden so check the links on the page.

This is a bad option because we have multiple computers in our home. They use different browsers (and sometimes multiple browsers on the one machine) and every now and then the cookies get cleared. It is also not a good option because it will still be going to the Optus page which is a waste of time.

2. Set the DNS to another address provided by Optus.

This is a poor solution as it means each computer has to be changed. I've found in the past other ISPs have changed their DNS servers, and when that happens, it creates problems. It means this change needs to be done to each computer. If I use the computer when at a different location, I don't know if this will cause problems or what performance hit I might take.

3. Set the DNS on the router.

This is something a lot of users would not know how to do. In fact without calling Optus support, a user would not know the password for the router.

The problem however is with the equipment provided by Optus, which is he CG814 wireless router by Netgear, there isn't an ability to change the DNS addresses. I could set up another DHCP server, but really that is not worth the time and effort.

Option 2 is unfortunately the only useful option.

A couple of weeks ago, which coincidently was when this change appeared to have occurred, I had a problem for about a week accessing certain sites. Things got very unstable and some of the companies I deal with were getting a lot of flack from me. I couldn't update the sites I maintain. These suppliers almost lost my business and it really wasn't their fault. I don't see why the equipment I've been using for nearly 18 months has now decided to have problems around the same time as Optus made a change.

As it turned out Optus support didn't know what the problem was so it was escalated. The problem was solved the next day by disabling one of the firewall features. I really thought this was a poor solution as reducing protection provided by the router is not ideal.

A client also mentioned to me their home service was having a problem accessing some pages and had been advised it was a router problem.

The cost to me was literally hours of time. If you've ever called Optus and waited on the support line you'll know the time involved. I had quite long discussions with two support groups to fix the issue. Had I not been a computer expert I would have been dismissed by the support people based on our conversation. I had checked the problem was verifiable across five different computers using various operating systems.

This earlier problem is documented in MyAnswers solution 1934.

The DNS assist feature is an annoying inconvenience. It may have additional side effects which I'm not aware off. I really think companies are getting too greedy and it will end up biting them. In this case it probably amounts to making another 30 cents out of me per year. Yes, per year. This estimate is based on the estimated revenue of the Firefox/Google arrangement. Every day I see the Optus screen is reminder to me Optus' interests are definitely placed well ahead of mine as the customer. If Optus annoys me enough (which they're close to) they stand to lose over $1,500 of my business. I hope they've done their maths, because it won't take many annoyed customers to leave, to erode whatever revenue they make from their DNS assist page.

To get around the problem use one of the three approaches above. Whilst not ideal, when dealing with big companies it is best to work around their problems. Next time your contract comes up is the time to think about walking. I'll certainly be seriously thinking about giving Optus the shove due to this and the quite numerous other problems I've had with them. (E.g. Being without a telephone for nearly a week I consider to be a big issue. They're lucky they had me tied to a contract.)

The alternate DSN addresses as provided by Optus are:

Customers in NSW, QLD, ACT should configure their resolvers with these two DNS server addresses, in this order:

• Primary DNS Server 211.29.132.12

• Secondary DNS Server 198.142.0.51

Customers in VIC, SA and WA should configure their resolvers with these two DNS server addresses, in this order:

• Primary DNS Server 198.142.0.51

• Secondary DNS Server 211.29.132.12

I also tried using Telstra's DNS servers, but found they didn't work. This is a concern. It may mean I'll have problems if when I connect to the internet in another location. Making the DNS server IP addresses fixed isn't a good idea for mobile computing.

I hope this article helps other work around this issue.

- Kelvin Eldridge

Thinking phones, think Renée.