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Forum Discussion
DNS settings for Orbi clients
I am using a Pi-Hole inside my network and my previous networks (Eero, and Google Wifi before that) let me set DNS servers for my internal clients separate from the DNS servers for the WAN interface....
(As this horse is "dead", perhaps it would be better to quit beating it, however....)
I ran across this description of how to run Pi-Hole with Orbi: https://www.mbreviews.com/netgear-orbi-with-pi-hole/
How can it possibly work for him?
I did this setup, however I chickened out on running my entire house through it for DNS. Instead, I manually set DNS hosts in a couple of Windows and Linux machines that my family doesn't use. Pointed them at the local Pi-Hole DNS instead of the Orbi and set Pi-Hole to Google DNS.
On thing I noticed right away was that Pi-Hole blocks Google search results that are "Ads". Click on one and it comes up Host Unreachable (or something like that). It didn't bother ME too much, but I am REALLY glad that I did not have to explain to the family why "sometimes you click on something and it doesn't work."
I will wait until alone in the house and see what happens when I point the Orbi itself at the local Pi-Hole.
CrimpOn wrote:I ran across this description of how to run Pi-Hole with Orbi: https://www.mbreviews.com/netgear-orbi-with-pi-hole/
How can it possibly work for him?
I will wait until alone in the house and see what happens when I point the Orbi itself at the local Pi-Hole.
My (brief*) test succeeded. Local Pi-Hole resolved DNS for computers on the LAN that were pointing to the Orbi (192.168.1.1). The local Pi-Hole is on 192.168.1.27. My guess is that some network activities function only with the WAN port, such as the Orbi doing DHCP requests. But, other functions may pass through the normal network processing, "Where is xx.xx.xx.xx? Send the packet out that port." Maybe it's a "Layer 2 vs. Layer 3" type of thing?
Anyway, using Amazon AWS for $3.50/month is a really creative solution, I just do not feel certain that it is necessary.
* Although I, personally, enjoy the way Pi-Hole blocks about 25% of my DNS requests (Ads, Trackers, etc.), I am still not ready to explain the nuances to others.