Signpost

Signpost is about DNS and nothing else: the service that turns every website name into an address before a page can even start loading. It measures which DNS service is fastest and most reliable from your PC, switches to it in one click, and keeps a record of how the one you use is doing.

What it does

Benchmarks well-known public DNS services, the one your router or provider gave you, and any you add yourself. Questions go straight to each service, not through Windows.
Three measurements each: cached lookups, uncached lookups, and the share of questions answered. Times are shown as the middle value and the slowest 5%, not just an average.
Services take turns question by question, so a momentary hiccup on your line cannot unfairly hurt one of them.
Checks each service for DNS-over-HTTPS, for DNSSEC validation, and for made-up answers to names that do not exist (how some providers show adverts instead of an error).
A ranked table, a bar chart and a recommendation that gives its reasons. Every run is kept so runs can be compared.
One-click switching for IPv4 and IPv6 on the adapters you pick, with the DNS cache emptied and a test name resolved to confirm.
Your original settings are recorded before the first change, and "Restore original" puts them back. If a switch leaves the PC unable to resolve names, Signpost rolls it back by itself.
Saved profiles (Home, Fast, Family filter) in the notification-area menu, a DNS cache flush, and a lookup box that asks several services the same name and shows the answers side by side.
A history check every five minutes, with charts for a day, week and month and a list of the times DNS was failing or slow.
Windows notifications, each with its own switch: your DNS has been failing or very slow for several minutes (with a suggestion from your last benchmark), and a notice when something else changes your PC's DNS settings.

Good to know

Results reflect your PC, on your network, at that moment. Another network or another time of day can rank the same services differently.
It is a polite client: a small, fixed number of questions per service per run. Nothing is ever sent in bulk.
Changing DNS settings needs an administrator, so Windows asks for permission at that moment. Signpost never works around that prompt, and needs no administrator for anything else.
Filtering services (malware blocking, family filters) are listed as separate entries and are never recommended on speed alone.
Encrypted DNS for the whole PC is offered on Windows 11. On Windows 10, which cannot do it, the option is not shown.
Apart from the DNS questions themselves, the only thing Signpost contacts is this store, to check the licence and look for a new version.
Free to try for 14 days with every feature. After that Signpost needs a licence to keep working; without one it stops measuring and opens only its "trial ended" screen. One thing always stays available: putting back the DNS settings Signpost changed. Nothing is deleted, and your history is shown again once a licence is active.

One-time purchase for one PC. Includes every version released in the following 12 months; the version you have keeps working after that.

What it does

Benchmarks well-known public DNS services, the one your router or provider gave you, and any you add yourself. Questions go straight to each service, not through Windows.
Three measurements each: cached lookups, uncached lookups, and the share of questions answered. Times are shown as the middle value and the slowest 5%, not just an average.
Services take turns question by question, so a momentary hiccup on your line cannot unfairly hurt one of them.
Checks each service for DNS-over-HTTPS, for DNSSEC validation, and for made-up answers to names that do not exist (how some providers show adverts instead of an error).
A ranked table, a bar chart and a recommendation that gives its reasons. Every run is kept so runs can be compared.
One-click switching for IPv4 and IPv6 on the adapters you pick, with the DNS cache emptied and a test name resolved to confirm.
Your original settings are recorded before the first change, and "Restore original" puts them back. If a switch leaves the PC unable to resolve names, Signpost rolls it back by itself.
Saved profiles (Home, Fast, Family filter) in the notification-area menu, a DNS cache flush, and a lookup box that asks several services the same name and shows the answers side by side.
A history check every five minutes, with charts for a day, week and month and a list of the times DNS was failing or slow.
Windows notifications, each with its own switch: your DNS has been failing or very slow for several minutes (with a suggestion from your last benchmark), and a notice when something else changes your PC's DNS settings.

Good to know

Results reflect your PC, on your network, at that moment. Another network or another time of day can rank the same services differently.
It is a polite client: a small, fixed number of questions per service per run. Nothing is ever sent in bulk.
Changing DNS settings needs an administrator, so Windows asks for permission at that moment. Signpost never works around that prompt, and needs no administrator for anything else.
Filtering services (malware blocking, family filters) are listed as separate entries and are never recommended on speed alone.
Encrypted DNS for the whole PC is offered on Windows 11. On Windows 10, which cannot do it, the option is not shown.
Apart from the DNS questions themselves, the only thing Signpost contacts is this store, to check the licence and look for a new version.
Free to try for 14 days with every feature. After that Signpost needs a licence to keep working; without one it stops measuring and opens only its "trial ended" screen. One thing always stays available: putting back the DNS settings Signpost changed. Nothing is deleted, and your history is shown again once a licence is active.

One-time purchase for one PC. Includes every version released in the following 12 months; the version you have keeps working after that.

Find the fastest, most reliable DNS for your PC, and switch to it in one click.

What it does

Good to know

A closer look.

Need somethinglike this built?

Signpost

Find the fastest, most reliable DNS for your PC, and switch to it in one click.

What it does

Good to know

A closer look.

Need somethinglike this built?