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Forum Discussion
sfung83
Dec 28, 2021Aspirant
RBK852 behind DDWRT VPN
Hi network gurus. Bit of a confused networking novice here. I've got an R7000 running DDWRT mainly for the policy based routing for specific IPs through a VPN client. I'd like to relieve it of DH...
sfung83
Dec 29, 2021Aspirant
Thanks for the quick replies! I'll look into those suggestions
- ducs4rsDec 30, 2021Tutor
For a completely different approach have you considered using Pihole as your dns/dhcp server? You can run it in a container on any system or pick up a RaspberryPI Zero and set it up there.
- sfung83Dec 31, 2021Aspirant
Hmmm...that's an interesting solution. What would be the benefit (appart from add blocking) of using pihole as the dhcp server? I'd assume I'd still have to put the R7000 and the RBK852 into AP/bridge mode and might not be able to get the policy based routing on the R7000 still? I'd forgotten that pihole can also be a dhcp server. I've got a couple of piholes as dns servers (primary and backup) but don't have the dhcp enabled. Thanks for the reply!
- CrimpOnDec 31, 2021Guru - Experienced User
sfung83 wrote:
What would be the benefit (appart from add blocking) of using pihole as the dhcp server?
Well, this would be a "growth opportunity" as you learn how to manage DHCP IP reservations on a different system.
There are users who seriously maintain that the Orbi DHCP process is flawed*. Maybe the Pi-hole DHCP process is flawed in different ways? If you have invested much time and effort into the R7000 DHCP setup, I don't see much gain from switching.
* The biggest complaint (which I agree with) is that creating an IP reservation for a device will not cause the device to switch from an existing IP address to the one the user wants it to have. Every time the device goes to renew the lease, the Orbi says, "oh, you are using that IP? Cool. Keep using it." When what it should say is, "oh, no you don't. says here in my tables that you need to use this other IP. Change now!"
(I paraphrase a bit.)