DNS Proxy on RV180 doesn't work?

[JSLehrer1]

I have enabled the DNS Proxy under Networking/Lan/IPv4 LAN.

The documentation sates:

You can also enable a DNS proxy. When enabled, the router then acts as a proxy for all DNS requests and communicates with the ISP's DNS servers. When disabled, all DHCP clients receive the DNS IP addresses of the ISP.

I would expect that after checking this box and having a client reacquire it's IP address from the DHCP server that the client's DNS server would be reported as the router (in my case, 192.168.2.1).  However, this is not the case, and the client's DNS server is the DNS server from the ISP.

Am I misunderstanding this feature or is this a bug?

I can confirm that with this box checked that the router does server as a DNS proxy if I hard code the IP address of the router as my DNS server.  Using the unix tool "nslookup" and specifying the router, 192.168.2.1, as the server, the router is able to translate DNS names.  After unchecking the box, the router no longer responds to DNS requests.

However, again, if the feature is enabled then the DNS address given out to DHCP clients should be the IP address of the router, right?

Thanks,

josh

[JSLehrer1]

Anyone? Bueller?

[JSLehrer1]

And, what is worse, if you enable the DNS proxy and specify custom DNS servers in the WAN and/or LAN settings, then use the RV180 as your DNS server, it fails to use the custom DNS servers and always uses your ISP's DNS servers.  So, there is no way to use the RV180 as a DNS proxy to google DNS or opendns, totally defeating the purpose of the setting to begin with!

WAN setting: DNS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 <-- google DNS

LAN setting: DNS Proxy enabled, DNS server 192.168.1.1 <-- router's IP

nslookup goes to router, 192.168.1.1, which goes to ISP's DNS, not to 8.8.8.8 as it should.

-josh

[SamirD]

Definitely sounds like a bug.  Have you tried setting the WAN addresses staticly as well as the DNS and see what happens?

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[JSLehrer1]

Even if I switch the router to static IP from DHCP the DNS proxy still doesn't use the hard coded DNS servers, it uses the ISP's DNS servers.

How do we get Cisco to acknowledge this bug and fix it in a firmware release?

-josh

[SamirD]

Bummer--that's the only idea I had.

You'll have to call into support, start a trouble ticket and wait a undefined amount of time.  If you need this working soon, I'd call in and get a feel for their timeline, and then make the decision of whether to wait or not.

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[NokiaFan2]

I have the same problem.

Using WAN DYNAMIC IP Address and STATIC DNS with RV180W as proxy,

The RV180W seems to "lose" the STATIC DNS proxy after about a day of up-time and it reverts to my ISP's default DNS.

A Reboot or Release/Restore the WAN lease does restore the proper DNS function, but it gets "lost" again after some indeterminate time, approx 24-48 hours.

The RV180W status page does show the correct OpenDNS address, but the router behavior actually seems to ignore that and use the ISP's DNS.

I use OpenDNS static IP's as my DNS, IPv4, my ISP requires dynamic IP address so I cannot set static IP address.

[JSLehrer1]

I'm not sure I follow 100% what you are saying.  Here is my experience:

the router itself does not use the static DNS entries you provide, it always uses the DNS servers provided by your ISP via DHCP.

Enabling the RV180 as DNS proxy seems to have no effect except that the router now responds, when queried, to DNS requests by passing along the request to the ISP's DNS servers regardless of the statically assigned DNS servers.

There are two bugs with the above paragraph:

1) with DNS proxy enabled the router should give out itself as the DNS server to DHCP clients

2) when queried as a DNS server the router should query the static DNS servers, not the DNS servers provided by the ISP via DHCP

Unfortunately, nobody from Cisco seems to monitor these boards.  Or, if they do, they have not acknowledged this as a bug.  The #1 review on Amazon points out these bugs and is probably detrimental to their sales.

[NokiaFan2]

What I'm saying is that in my setup, the static DNS entries initially work properly for a short time (pointing to OpenDNS) after a Reboot or lease renew; but after 24-48 hours it fails and then uses my ISPs default. So after 24-48 hours my setup failure mode is as you describe your symptoms.

Wish I had read more deeply the Amazon reviews instead of skimming.

[JSLehrer1]

If you bought it from Amazon you can return it.  They've never refused a return from me.

However, other than the DNS proxy feature (which I didn't even know about until I bought this router), I am very pleased with the RV180.  I am not aware of any other router in the price range that is as fast and has so many features, most of which I don't even use.

The RV180 blows any consumer oriented router out of the water in terms of speed.  My current setup is the RV180 as the router with multiple consumer based wifi routers running in access point mode dispersed throughout the house.

The DNS proxy, for me, was an afterthought.  While I am frustrated that it doesn't work, and frustrated that nobody at Cisco seems to care, it isn't a show stopper for me.

-J

[SamirD]

This is why I reboot my rv series routers daily.  All the problems stop happening. 

It does sound like a programming issue (something eating up memory until a process dies), but waiting for a fix might take over a year if it's even done.

Try this.  Factory reset the configuration.  Set up the DHCP relay and connect only one computer so there isn't much traffic.  Check after 72hrs and see if relay is still working.  If so, add more systems and see if it's related to the LAN traffic.  That might help you diagnose what other setting you can turn off to make sure relay keeps working. 

Otherwise, if DNS relay is essential for you are needing to do, you may have to look at another product.

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