Okay, for a while now I have noticed how I have been getting some cheezy-assed Verizon branded search page when my URL can’t be found. I kept saying to myself that I didn’t want this nor did I set anything up. Well, tonight is the night that I have found a solution to the problem.

Back in October last year tripp.fenderson.net had the same problem as I did and blogged what he did to “resolve the issue”. I have included it here not only for prosperity’s sake, but to hopefully spread the word. Since he has turned off commenting on his blog, feel free to register here and comment your heart out.

Verizon Hijacking My Requests

Posted on October 12, 2007
Filed Under: Play, Richmond, Work
Tagged: dns, dns assistance, verizon

Although Verizon has apparently been testing this for several months, I hadn’t noticed until now. In fact, I am certain that Verizon hadn’t implemented this “service” in the Richmond area until a few days ago.

I mis-typed a URL into my browser this morning and instead of the standard Page Not Found error, I got a DNS Assistance page from Verizon:

This smells like the VeriSign “service” that landed them in hot water with ICANN.
In a small “Learn More” link at the bottom of the page, Verizon links over to an infospace.com page that details their new service.

You reached the preceding search results page because Verizon is using specific Domain Name Service (DNS) Servers to look up domain names. These DNS Servers eliminate dead-end “no such name” error pages you can encounter as you surf the web. This search service is designed to make your web surfing experience more productive. No software was installed on your computer for this service to work.

Actually no. I’ve reached this page because Verizon has decided to hijack my DNS request instead of sending back the appropriate browser response.

Fortunately, Verizon does offer an Opt Out link (although I’d argue that they should let people Opt In instead) but it takes you through a maze of options to get you where you need to go instead of simply killing the “service”. Once there, the solution provided by Verizon requires that you either change your DNS settings in your hardware device (router, gateway, or modem) or in your operating system—neither of which are something the average computer user will be capable of.

Oh - and for those of you on a Mac, Verizon offers NO assistance on modifying your DNS settings (fortunately, it’s not all that complicated on a Mac). All you need to do is add this IP (68.238.0.14) to the DNS Servers config under System Preferences -> Network -> TCP/IP

A solution for me was a lot easier than going into my System Preferences on my Mac. I just went into my AirPort Utility and updated the DNS servers from the “PPoE” tab located under “Internet”. If you click on the image, the first one is for opendns.org and the second one is for profec.net, so you should only use the first one. So far, my internet seems fine… actually, I think it’s a little bit quicker but I can’t be 100% sure of that.

Hopefully it will be easy for you too.