ViewDNS.info VS Smart HTTPS

• Comprehensive Tools
  ViewDNS.info offers a wide range of DNS and domain-related tools that allow users to perform various types of lookups and analyses, including WHOIS lookups, DNS propagation checks, and reverse IP lookups.
• User-Friendly Interface
  The website has an intuitive and straightforward interface, which makes it accessible for both technical and non-technical users to navigate and utilize the tools effectively.
• Free Access
  ViewDNS.info offers many of its features for free, providing users with access to valuable DNS and domain information without requiring a paid subscription.
• Useful for Troubleshooting
  The platform is particularly beneficial for network administrators and IT professionals in troubleshooting DNS issues, monitoring domain changes, and verifying propagation across different DNS servers.

Possible disadvantages

• Limited Advanced Features
  While ViewDNS.info offers numerous tools for free, it may not provide some of the advanced features and in-depth analysis available in premium DNS service providers.
• Reliability Constraints
  As a free service, the platform may experience reliability issues or slower performance during high traffic periods, potentially leading to delays or incomplete data retrieval.
• Ads and Sponsored Content
  The website hosts advertisements and sponsored content, which can be distracting for users and may affect the overall user experience.
• No Dedicated Support
  Free services generally lack dedicated customer support, and users might have limited access to immediate assistance or troubleshooting help if issues arise.

• Automatic Redirection to HTTPS
  Smart HTTPS automatically changes HTTP protocol to HTTPS, which enhances the security of your browsing by ensuring that the connection is encrypted.
• Fallback to HTTP
  In cases where an HTTPS version of the site is not available, it can automatically revert back to HTTP, ensuring you can still access the website instead of facing a disruption.
• Whitelist Feature
  Allows users to maintain a whitelist of websites that should always be accessed using HTTP, providing flexibility and control over the browsing experience.
• Improved Privacy
  By automatically using HTTPS, it helps in protecting user data from eavesdroppers and enhances privacy while browsing the web.

Possible disadvantages

• Compatibility Issues
  Some websites may not function correctly over HTTPS, leading to potential misbehavior or broken features when accessed using Smart HTTPS.
• Potential for Increased Loading Times
  Sometimes, redirecting to HTTPS can result in slightly longer loading times, especially if the server's configuration is not optimal for HTTPS.
• Resource Intensive
  The addon might consume additional resources to check for HTTPS versions of every site, which could impact browser performance, especially on older systems.
• Limited Control Over Redirection
  Users might have limited ability to control which sites are redirected to HTTPS if they haven't preemptively whitelisted specific HTTP sites.

• Show HN: DNS Benchmark Tool – Compare and monitor resolvers

  Is this benchmarking various recursive DNS servers like CloudFlare (heh), Google DNS, Quad9, but from the vantage point if the installed machine? For the other way around, to query the same DNS query from different vantage points across... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago

• Sunsetting Whois

  This was announced originally early last year. It removes the requirement for TLD and nTLD (not ccTLD) operators to have a WHOIS service available, but doesn't mandate they must shut them down. So far the sunsetting has had... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

• CIA 2010 covert communication websites

  Heya, Founder of https://viewdns.info/ here (used by any mentioned in the article a bit). If anyone is doing this kind of research, feel free to reach out at feedback@viewdns.info as I'm more than happy to extend some free API credits... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago

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• “We don’t track you … except for when we get paid for it.”

  Smart HTTPS, site This tries to send you to https sites instead of http sites. Using http sites makes you venerable to man in the middle attacks. (dont use http on public wifis if possible). Source: over 4 years ago

• question about non secure websites

  I'd recommend using Smart HTTPS which automatically makes your site's HTTPS if it can offer it so it will reduce these situations. Here's the site where you can choose whichever browser you use. https://mybrowseraddon.com/smart-https.html. Source: over 4 years ago