Any routers natively support a configurable DNS server?

[Patrick9876]

I know Asuswrt-Merlin supports user-modifiable Dnsmasq (via SSH). Are there any routers that support this - or something equivalent - in their native firmware? I'm perfectly satisfied (more than satisfied!) with Asuswrt-Merlin, but some day I may need a non-Asus router. And some day Mr Sauvageau may decide he has better things to do with his time. I'd rather not have to deal with OpenWrt or DD-Wrt (or Tomato, if it still exists). Are there any routers that allow modification to their native DNS server via SSH or (better yet) with their admin GUI? I need to add a couple CNAME records to the DSN server. The router would also need to include an OpenVPN server and support DDNS.

 

[Crimliar]

There are plenty of options for running your own DNS server - they don't have to be on the router, but they're all "open" platforms that run in exactly the way you don't want! I'm sure someone will suggest something better, but the closest I can come up with would be to get a Raspberry Pi, use a Diet-Pi image on it, and have that auto-configure Pi-Hole or Ad Guard Home for your (you'd still need to point the DNS settings on the router at it! Keep everything as vanilla as you can!

 

[coxhaus]

Microsoft's DNS server is a very good one. It was the fastest one I have run in the old days.

 

[Tech9]

I'd rather not have to deal with OpenWrt or DD-Wrt (or Tomato, if it still exists)

Basically you don't want anything that has this option and expect to have it on a router made for people who don't needs this option. OpenVPN server is available on many routers as well as DDNS support. And FreshTomato still exists, the last update is from Sep 2023 for supported hardware.

 

[Patrick9876]

Basically you don't want anything that has this option and expect to have it on a router made for people who don't needs this option.

I'm afraid I don't understand this comment. I'm sure any router that has user-configurable Dnsmasq (or something equivalent) is built for people that might need that option.

But maybe my question was based on ignorance. Maybe any router firmware that is, or was originally, based on OpenWrt or DD-Wrt uses Dnsmasq. If so, my question is really whether or not the Dnsmasq config is user modifiable. Is is in Merlin by creating a /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add file, but I can find nothing about that ".add". (Doesn't help that I don't know Linux.) Is it standard that a abc.add file gets appended to the abc file, or is that something specific to the Merlin copy of Dnsmasq?

 

[ColinTaylor]

It is in Merlin by creating a /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add file, but I can find nothing about that ".add".

Custom config files

Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

 

[sfx2000]

I'm sure someone will suggest something better, but the closest I can come up with would be to get a Raspberry Pi, use a Diet-Pi image on it, and have that auto-configure Pi-Hole or Ad Guard Home for your (you'd still need to point the DNS settings on the router at it! Keep everything as vanilla as you can!

That is actually a very good option - PiHole on Raspbian works fine as a caching DNS host - and one can either use the adblocking functionality or not...

It can be any Raspberry Pi - a Rpi2 can handle this kind of traffic without breaking a sweat...

 

[Patrick9876]

Custom config files

Third party firmware for Asus routers (newer codebase) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

Well, more praise to Merlin for making things easy for us. (I assume that's Merlin only since Eric wrote it the article.) Is there a similar function built into OpenWrt or DD-Wrt?

@Crimliar and @sfx2000, I'll consider the move to an external DNS server if Asuswrt-Merlin stops being supported (or if I suddenly need a non-Asus router), but don't feel confident that I know enough yet to go that route.

@coxhaus , in addition to my general uncomfortableness with running an external DNS server, I don't have any "always on" Windows computers. I have a low-end Synology NAS that can run a DNS server, but I'm not sure it has the cycles for that. And a reboot takes a long time so I could be without a DNS server for a while using that configuration.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Well, more praise to Merlin for making things easy for us. (I assume that's Merlin only since Eric wrote it the article.) Is there a similar function built into OpenWrt or DD-Wrt?

Those scripts/configs are Merlin-only. OpenWrt and DD-WRT have their own way of customising things. Check their respective documentation for the details.

 

[glens]

I have a low-end Synology NAS that can run a DNS server, but I'm not sure it has the cycles for that.

Ought to be sufficient. Heck, an old 386-25, if you could afford the electricity for it, has enough oomph to run a DNS server.