<p>.bit domains are not recognized by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN">ICANN</a>, the company that runs the main internet DNS. This means that most operating systems have no support for them built-in.</p>

<p>So, to be able to visit .bit domains, you will have to do some <a href="http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains">configuration</a> first. You basically need to let your computer know where to search for the IP address translation of the .bit domain, as most computers head over to ICANN's DNS servers for doing that.</p>

<p>Considering the reliability of the network, that's not easy to measure. I'd suggest you look at the number of clients connected to the Namecoin network (I cannot find a reference for that.) and the amount and speed of the available DNS proxies. On the <a href="http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains">page</a> I just mentioned, you can see that a decent number of DNS proxies exist for Namecoin. I have no experience with using them. Considering you choose one that is close to your physical location, I'd guess they are fast enough.</p>

<p>On the amount of available domains, I think the .bit TLD is not quite adopted yet. But you can see on the <a href="http://explorer.dot-bit.org/nbn=30/fromn=0">Namecoin explorer</a> page that new addresses are added at a fast pace. <a href="http://dot-bit.org/Websites">Here</a> you can find a list with some popular .bit addresses.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-14T18:29:32.163Z
Thank you Steven, I actually aware of this. May be my question was a little bit misleading, but I was actually asking the examples of such addresses and how reliable is the current DNS infrastructure.
Salvador Dali
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-14T18:39:00.560Z
I added some info on reliability and usage, but I'm not very experienced with Namecoin.
Steven Roose
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-14T17:25:53.233Z
2013-05-14T18:38:35.447Z
2013-05-14T18:38:35.447Z
Steven Roose
<p>I know that the idea of namecoin is to create distributed DNS system.
I also know that one can by bit address with namecoin.</p>

<p>But I have never seen any bit domains. If they do exist, how reliable are they? </p>

<namecoin>
Are there many Namecoin domains in use?
Salvador Dali
# Are there many Namecoin domains in use?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-14)

I know that the idea of namecoin is to create distributed DNS system.
I also know that one can by bit address with namecoin.

But I have never seen any bit domains. If they do exist, how reliable are they?

**Tags:** namecoin


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-05-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

.bit domains are not recognized by [ICANN](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN), the company that runs the main internet DNS. This means that most operating systems have no support for them built-in.

So, to be able to visit .bit domains, you will have to do some [configuration](http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains) first. You basically need to let your computer know where to search for the IP address translation of the .bit domain, as most computers head over to ICANN's DNS servers for doing that.

Considering the reliability of the network, that's not easy to measure. I'd suggest you look at the number of clients connected to the Namecoin network (I cannot find a reference for that.) and the amount and speed of the available DNS proxies. On the [page](http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains) I just mentioned, you can see that a decent number of DNS proxies exist for Namecoin. I have no experience with using them. Considering you choose one that is close to your physical location, I'd guess they are fast enough.

On the amount of available domains, I think the .bit TLD is not quite adopted yet. But you can see on the [Namecoin explorer](http://explorer.dot-bit.org/nbn=30/fromn=0) page that new addresses are added at a fast pace. [Here](http://dot-bit.org/Websites) you can find a list with some popular .bit addresses.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you Steven, I actually aware of this. May be my question was a little bit misleading, but I was actually asking the examples of such addresses and how reliable is the current DNS infrastructure.  
> **username_1**: I added some info on reliability and usage, but I'm not very experienced with Namecoin.  

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