Orbi router not pushing DNS to VPN client

BrainSuperGlue
Tutor
Feb 16, 2018
OK, an example.

By default you connect from work to your home VPN with the DNS lookup homevpn.mydomain.net
Your work DNS server doesn’t have this DNS entry so it looks for it on the Internet DNS servers your work IT people have set, likely 8.8.8.8

You then make a connection to the VPN which adds an IP route on your Mac so you can reach other home computers.

If the DNS servers changed on your Mac to your home ones then the source lookup for homevpn.mydomain.net on the Internet would disappear and the VPN would drop.

You wouldn’t be able to resolve a server

It’s not the Orbi but the VPN client on the Mac. You need to set it to have Split Mode DNS.
- ktula
  Apprentice
  Feb 16, 2018
  The VPN service in the Orbi router (i believe this is similar to other Netgear router offering VPN service) has three options when it comes to "Clients will use this VPN connection to access":
  
  - Auto
  - All sites on the Internet & Home Network
  - Home Network
  
  When i initially set up the VPN service, i selected the "All sites on the internet & home network" because that's what i wanted.
  
  However if you choose that option, the VPN DNS is not pushed by the VPN service to replace the local DNS AFTER you have established the VPN connection.
  
  After changing the option to "Auto", the VPN service started pushing its DNS to replace the local DNS after the VPN connection is established. However now i have a different problem. My apparent IP address is still the local one assigned by my work DHCP server.
  
  So this is what happens if you choose these options for "Clients will use this VPN connection to access":
  
  Auto: Apparent IP address does not change but the DNS is replaced
  
  All sites on the Internet & Home Network: Apparent IP address does change but the DNS does not
  
  Home Network: Same as Auto
  - BrainSuperGlue
    Tutor
    Feb 16, 2018
    Correct. Forget Auto for a moment.
    
    You have "Home Network" which routes Internet traffic out of your works Internet pipe and any home traffic down the VPN.
    
    You have "Internet and Home Network" that only keeps a work Internet connection active purely to carry the outside VPN itself out to the Internet. Any other Internet traffic like disney.com is then routed inside the VPN down to your Orbi and will use your home Internet provider to access the web site.
    
    Auto is doing choosing "Home Network" which is what standard VPN connection do.
    
    The questions are :
    
    1. When connected to either "Home Network" or "All sites on the Internet and Home Network", are you trying to reach a server at home with a domain address such as myserver.home and cannot resolve it?
    
    2. When connected to "Home Network" you can't resolve workserver1.workdomain?
    
    Also are you using the OpenVPN Mac client?
    
    https://openvpn.net/
    
    BSG

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Orbi router not pushing DNS to VPN client