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Forum Discussion
R7000 Thru 'admin' interface, can't find a way to change Router's own DNS target. Modem is Bridge
I have my modem in Bridge Mode (transparent, No DHCP, etc.) and feed it to the R7000 (AKA AC1900) router. I want to select a specific DNS such as OpenDNS or others.
Using the 'admin' interface, I can find no way to change, or even display, the DNS address the router is using to resolve names. I believe that the modem is transparent, so its DNS address should be irrelevant.
How can I change the DNS address on this router I own, to the address of my choice? In two calls to the toll-free number for Netgear support, they said that they would connect me to a tech who could do that for a charge of $100. I bought the router with the expectation that it was flexible: not tied to Netgear's choice of DNS. Any charge for changing this is ridiculous, and $100 each time is highway robbery. The agents on these calls must have misunderstood, right?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but can someone set me straight?
11 Replies
Not all modem manufacturers have the same definition of "Bridge Mode". Yours may vary. What is the manufacturer and model of your Modem?
Not sure where you are looking in the configuration interface. Mine is under the Basic tab, Internet setup. About two or three rows down it shows a radio button to select to obtain an IP address dynamically from the ISP. Right under that is a radio button to select to obtain DNS services from the ISP. An option is to specify an IP address for specific DNS services. I have used Open DNS successfully as well as Cloudflare and Next.
Thanks, Kitsap (Kitsap County, Washington State?)
My Modem is a Cisco model provided by (leased from) Comcast, my ISP. In a conversation with them, I said I wanted the modem to do nothing than be a modem: No DHCP, no DNS director, and they said, "Well, that's called Bridge mode: set it to that". I was using their definition, and all was well with the Netgear R7000 doing DHCP and, I presume, doing the DNS.
I was told by people who developed a local replacement DNS server that I should change the Router's DNS, and explicitly said, "Not on the WAN side, but on the LAN side". You carefully described just how my Netgear R7000 router's admin setup looks. I think you are pointing out the WAN side alternative to the choice the ISP would make (if it were handling the DNS). I thought that "bridge" mode made this entry irrelevant. Also the local DNS developer specifically said to change the router's designation of DNS, not the modem's (giving me the impression that the router would resolve names and there would be no need for the modem to do it).
I hope you can resolve what must be a misunderstanding.
Today I talked to Support at Netgear and they said that I could not change the router's DNS designation thru admin, but they would do it for me for a mere $100 per change. Since I am only experimenting, I might have to change it back, so this "solution" isn't at all attractive, not to mention that they seem to be trying to make money by designing-out the ability for the user to change it.
Clearly, all these ideas cannot all be true. I hope you can piece things together in a way that makes things consistent.
Thanks again for your understandable detailed response.
Python2k wrote:
My Modem is a Cisco model provided by (leased from) Comcast, my ISP.
That tells us nothing useful about your modem/router.
As Kitsap says, "bridge mode" is widely abused term. And some devices are not very good at achieving it. Your description of what you did is not convincing.
Python2k wrote:
Today I talked to Support at Netgear and they said that I could not change the router's DNS designation thru admin, but they would do it for me for a mere $100 per change.
Saying it twice doesn't make it any more useful.
Netgear does not post "toll free" numbers – or direct paid-for support – so I wonder if you just fell for one of those web search scams that exist to part people from their money and to wreak havoc on their hardware.
It might help if you explained what you are trying to achieve, and why, rather than your idea of the possible solution.
Did you read the manual for the R7000 and its stuff on OpenDNS?
Visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.Is the Model: A7000|Nighthawk AC1900 WiFi USB Adapter - USB 3.0 listed in your footer involved in this in anyway? Or did you just click the first thing that popped up when you wrote your message?
Don't know where you got the phone number or who you are talking to on the phone that wants to charge you $100. If you have not figured it out by now, it is a scam.
The specific and full BRAND AND MODEL number of your modem would be very beneficial to all who are trying to help you. Look on the tags on the devices, do not guess. Take a picture if you have to. You are being helped here for free, it still takes somebody's time. Why waste it by being incomplete with your responses?
With your modem in bridge mode, your router is the default gateway for your LAN and it determines the path for your DNS requests to the internet.
Not sure what you are trying to accomplish with a DNS for your internal (LAN) requests vice a DNS for your external (WAN) requests. The devices on your LAN are identified by a local IP address and not a URL. DNS for your LAN is not required to translate between URL and a local IP. A better description of what you are trying to accomplish with your experiment would be helpful.
