> google has 'points of presence' all over the globe, so if you test using 'google.com' their DNS server will hand you an IP that is physically close to you whi

> google has 'points of presence' all over the globe, so if you test using 'google.com' their DNS server will hand you an IP that is physically close to you which will result in fewer hops. For anyone intrested, it's called "Geo DNS". On the other hand, the Google public DNS (IP: 4.2.2.1) uses "anycast" routing. You use the same IP address range no matter where you are located and the magic happens using BGP (a router protocol). http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/faq.html#anycast http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/faq.html#anycast