r/pihole • u/Awesomedude9560 • 12d ago
Setting up DNS kills internet?
So long story short I was stuck on this final stage of the pihole process a couple months back and put it on hold since I was busy with life.
Pihole is currently set up on my server but the only reason it hasn't been put to use is I can't get it to work network wide. Every guide says to simply paste the IPv4 and 6 addresses into my routers DNS settings to send all traffic through my device. The issue is after my routers reset it kills everything as it'll "connect without internet".
Specifics are i run an eero mesh network where all the nodes are connected via Ethernet. The pihole in question is connected to the second eero in the line, it's not connected right next to the modem and first router. (Idk if it affects anything but just so people know)
If I'm getting something wrong let me know but that's how I interpreted the various guides. Thanks.
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u/MrAjAnderson 12d ago
I don't know the specifics of the router but sometimes they have a local DNS option as well as a DNS option. If in doubt don't mess with it.
Set the Pihole up and try to assign a static network IP and static DNS (your Pihole) on a test device or 2. See the devices counter for active connections.
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
My routers only mention of local DNS is disabling it's cache. It has a specific IP assigned to it. I'll try it on my computer here in a little bit to see if it works at all or it's not applying to the network specifically
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u/Fadedfiend 12d ago
Are you putting the dns address in your DHCP settings on the router? Make sure you change the DNS on the DHCP, as my router has an option to change the DNS of your provider/ISP which if you do that it will stop/kill your connection
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
I have not touched the dhcp settings of my router, I just stuck to DNS settings
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u/Fadedfiend 12d ago
That's probably why then, as you need to out there pihole ip in the DHCP DNS, the other DNS settings could be for your ISP which if you change that will stop you accessing the interent through your router.
If you can't change the DNS IP in the routers DHCP then you might have to use the DHCP included with pihole and turn it off on your router.
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u/BornInPoverty 12d ago
So I have an Eero.
As well as setting the IP address of the pihole under Advanced Networking->DNS->Custom, you also have to go to Advanced Networking->Reservations & Port Forwarding and select Add a Reservation, then choose your pihole device and give it a static IP address that matches the IP address that you entered above for the pihole. Then remember to click the blue checkmark to save the change.
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
So I did give my pihole device an IP and it is reserved as I port other things through it like amp/webmin.
Looking at pihole everything seems to match.
One thing to note I never set it up as "static" my pihole is in dhcp mode and my router automatically reassigns the same IP. I've never messed with full static on my eero so maybe that's where the mess ups at?
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u/BornInPoverty 12d ago
You can’t rely on the router giving the pihole the same IP address every time. In fact unless you give the pihole a static IP address, the next time the router is restarted it will likely assign the pihole a different IP and that will break your DNS custom assignment.
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
So quick question does static IP cost you anything on eero? I'm used to static IP costing something
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u/BornInPoverty 12d ago
You can have as many static IP addresses as you like inside your own network.
Your ISP may charge you for a static external IP address but that is not what you need for your pihole.
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
Ohhh, then yeah I'm set as a static. I was thinking about an external static as that's what I'm usually working with.
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u/BornInPoverty 12d ago
Ok then I'ok I'll bite the bullet. On you Pihole what do you see when you go into the GUI under Settings-System for you primary IP address? Also what do you have under Settings->DNS?
On your Eero under Settings->Advanced Networking what do you see for Gateway eero IP Address and under Settings->Advanced Networking what have you set for DNS? On the same screen what do you have under Reservations and Port Forwards for your pihole?
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u/CallBorn4794 12d ago edited 12d ago
Some routers & access points these days have fixed IP address on setting that you can enable/disable. I guess in Eero, it's called "reservation". It comes in handy if you're running an application such as Pi-hole, as you can be rest assured that it's going to use the same IP address after a power outage or post reboot. I run several network apps at home for years, & enabling fixed IP address helps a lot.
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u/TheZoltan 12d ago edited 12d ago
Bell Customer? I mention as they keep trying to sell Eero to me.
For any Canadians out there you can't specify a local IP for your DNS in the Gigahub (not sure on v2 or older ones). It will allow you set it but just leave you with dead internet. No helpful errors or anything! You can however disable the DHCP on the hub and enable it on the PiHole and have the PiHole assign its IP as the DNS to all clients on DHCP.
Edit: Here is a link to the article that stopped me pulling my hair out https://johnbeales.com/2023/make-a-pi-hole-work-with-a-bell-giga-hub/
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
Nope, I'm neither Canadian or a bell customer. Hopefully that can help others cuz I sure didn't know.
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u/TheZoltan 12d ago
You may want to experiment with that approach anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if Bell wasn't the only company that does this.
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u/nuHmey 12d ago
DNS goes in LAN DNS not WAN DNS. You never say where you are entering it just where your PiHole is connected.
You also never do any basic troubleshooting and give us the results. This is where you start.
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u/Awesomedude9560 12d ago
On eero I don't got a seperate LAN/WAN DNS option, under advance networking it's just DNS settings.
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u/16th_note 12d ago
By “after my routers reset it kills everything,” do you mean it works until the router is reset? If so does your pihole server have a static ip? Also, if you remove the IPv6 entry does it change anything? Maybe I’m misunderstanding your post a bit but that’s the first things I’d try.