Feature Request for NR5103E Firmware: Remove Requirement for 2 Static DNS Servers

[boogaloo]

The NR5103E router's current firmware (b12) requires that two static DNS servers are entered. It won't work with just one, or with the second set to 0.0.0.0. This makes it impossible to ensure that all DNS requests are sent to the one and only server.

In terms of usage, this means that I cannot guarantee that all DNS requests are routed through my pi-hole.

I would very much like to request that it be possible to leave the second DNS server blank.

Many thanks 🙏

[krixon]

You should be able to get around this by using pi-hole for DHCP rather than the router: https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-use-pi-holes-built-in-dhcp-server-and-why-would-i-want-to/3...

You may also find it's not an issue - on Linux the second DNS server is used as a fallback when the first can't handle a query. In that case you may want to use an external DNS server anyway in case the pi-hole is down. I haven't tested the behaviour of this router though.

[PeteG]

Hey, boogaloo. 

Oh, that's an interesting one. It was my understanding that on the Zyxel router, changing the DNS address wasn't an option. I wonder if this is something that was changed with the latest version of the software. 

I haven't had a chance to test it here, but since you can change it, is it not possible to just enter the same DNS address into both primary and secondary sections? 

Pete.

[boogaloo]

Hi Pete,

I am running firmware b12 and under Network Setting -> Home Networking, you can change the DNS server under the DNS Values heading. Click on Static and then two fields appear: DNS Server 1 and DNS Server 2.

I can confirm it doesn't accept duplicates - it pops up with a warning about duplicate DNS entries when you hit apply. If you click OK, navigate to a different page and pop back to check, the previous DNS entries are still there.

Would you be in a position to feedback to the developers that allowing one DNS entry would be helpful for those who want to run in-home DNS filters?

Many thanks

[PeteG]

Thanks for getting back to me and letting me know how it currently behaves on the latest Firmware, Boogaloo.

Of course, I'll make sure to feed it back. Fingers crossed we'll see something shift there with the next version. 

Pete. 

[boogaloo]

Thank you 🙂 Appreciate it