orbi add dns server

Not just in ORBI routers. This is a feature that has been in DD-WRT for a long time. This is needed in any home router, including the Nighthawk series.

It is needed to correctly perform PTR lookups (reverse DNS) on the local network. The only device that knows all the DHCP names is the DHCP server (duh!). So it's either this or turn off DHCP in the router and run it somewhere else where the DHCP implementation actually knows how to do reverse DNS.

Thanks for this post. I'm looking at a AX4200/RBR750 bought in 2020 that still lacks this feature, oddly enough.

I can run

awk '/ip/ { printf "%s ", $2 } /hostname/ { print $2 }' /tmp/dhcp_info_for_fing/*

to get a rough list of devices.

But if I clean this list up and place it in say /tmp/addh.txt and then run

dnsmasq -h -n -c 0 -N -H /tmp/addh.txt -i 'br*' -r /tmp/resolv.conf -u root

it doesn't work.

(I've added '-H /tmp/addh.txt' here, the other flags are as when the router starts dnsmasq)

This is

# dnsmasq -v
Dnsmasq version 2.78  Copyright (c) 2000-2017 Simon Kelley
Compile time options: IPv6 GNU-getopt no-DBus no-i18n no-IDN no-DHCP no-scripts no-TFTP no-conntrack no-ipset auth no-DNSSEC loop-detect inotify

This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
Dnsmasq is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2 or 3.

This is a standard router function.  It was built into the WRT code over a decade ago.  I can't remember for sure, but it seemed that it worked for a while after I bought my Orbi rbk50 last year (2018).  And then it didn't.  I can't pin it down to a firmware update, but that is the most likely scenario. 

mvdp's solution above does work (although I personally merged the two lines with a && function), but it doesn't survive a reboot.  (Many thanks mvdp, I was not looking forward to implementing a roll-your-own dnsmasq on a spare BeagleBone Black!)

I'll tag this post with "DHCP client name resolution issue" to help others find it.

I thought this was a fairly standard features on routers nowadays?

Update on my own description.

login to the router as described in in step 1: How-to-set-a-separate-SSID-for-the-5-GHz-network-on-your-Orbi and run the 2 commands below: 

kill $(pidof dnsmasq)
/usr/sbin/dnsmasq --except-interface=lo -r /tmp/resolv.conf --addn-hosts=/tmp/dhcpd_hostlist

That's it, no editing of /etc/dnsmasq.conf required. 

Hi,

I’ve experiencied as well that a restart removes the improved config file. 

This is something Netgear needs to resolve. Which they will not as it ruins the “user experience”. 

Hi,

I did the modification in the /etc/dnsmasq.conf and it worked great until I restarted the ORBI. Then the file reverted to the original file.

I also added some files in the /home directory, they also disappeared after a restart.

Is this something you experienced as well ?

any workaround ?

i also agree. that would be a great addition.

my personal opinion: i have bought the orbi rbk53. this i a truly high priced product. i couldn't compare to other products and brands but the signal strength of my wifi in the upper floor is now good and also the speed is good (could it be better?). the price is high but the functionality of the web gui is quite poor. i wished there were some more pro options - so that the high price tag will "match"

markus

I agree completely that this is a missing feature and that the manual action is far from ideal.

I'll connect with netgear support directly to ask them to optionally add the addn-hosts config parameter.

Shame there isnt a dns server built into the orbi for local dns.

adding to an etc/hosts file isnt really an ideal approach.