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DNS leak test fails with merlin/asus nordvpn setup?

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Silent-OCN

Occasional Visitor
I'm having trouble when using latest version of merlin firmware in my asus rt86u router.

I tried to set it up using instructions from nord and it seems to work OK with my ip showing as the nord server location. However when I do a dns leak test it goes to a server in Germany not owned by nordvpn?!

Soon as I remove merlin firmware and install nord open vpn the dns leak test works fine on udp and tcp?

Anyone know why this is please?

Thanks
 
What DNS servers does it go to?
For some reason ONLY on my mobile phone connected via WiFi, it shows a German DNS. The ip address doesn't match what any other website showing my ip shows.

On ethernet standard and extended dns leak test both show the correct ip and no dns leak.

Any idea why my phone does this?
 
For some reason ONLY on my mobile phone connected via WiFi, it shows a German DNS. The ip address doesn't match what any other website showing my ip shows.

On ethernet standard and extended dns leak test both show the correct ip and no dns leak.

Any idea why my phone does this?
They may be the servers geolocated closest to the nord vpn exit point that the client is using. That maybe why you are seeing a German DNS on the leak test.
 
what servers does it show?
Names? IP’s?

What OS is your phone and what browser are you using?
The ISP is called data camp Ltd, based in Munich Germany.

My phone is samsung galaxy s21 running android 12. My ip address on first page of dnsleaktest.com starts 105.xx.xx but when I click standard or extended test it shows ip as 195.xx.xx.

I just find it bizarre that this only happens on my phone connected to WiFi. I'm in UK and have selected a UK NORDVPN server.

On ethernet this 'leak' doesn't occur.

FWIW I spoke to nordvpn tech support about this last time and they confirmed that the German server is not theirs. But every device ethernet and WiFi I go on shows me as having the correct UK based ip address, and nordvpn website says my ip is protected.

I use brave browser on phone. Tried Firefox same result.
 
The ISP is called data camp Ltd, based in Munich Germany.

My phone is samsung galaxy s21 running android 12. My ip address on first page of dnsleaktest.com starts 105.xx.xx but when I click standard or extended test it shows ip as 195.xx.xx.

I just find it bizarre that this only happens on my phone connected to WiFi. I'm in UK and have selected a UK NORDVPN server.

On ethernet this 'leak' doesn't occur.

FWIW I spoke to nordvpn tech support about this last time and they confirmed that the German server is not theirs. But every device ethernet and WiFi I go on shows me as having the correct UK based ip address, and nordvpn website says my ip is protected.
Try changing the DNS accept policy of the vpn to Exclusive. If that doesn't solve the problem, try using some of the other dns policy modes.
 
I just find it bizarre that this only happens on my phone connected to WiFi. I'm in UK
It's not odd the phone is using secure DNS to bypass the VPN. I have this issue with pinhole being bypassed periodically and just toggle it in and off for chrome and it's back to normal blocking things.
 
This might sound stupid, but in the asus router login under VPN there is a few headers.

VPN STATUS - Shows connected to openvpn.
VPN CLIENT - Shows ON and connected.
VPN SERVER - Shows OFF and nothing there. Should there be something under this heading on also?

How do I know for definite that this isn't just a bug and the vpn actually isn't working properly?
 
This might sound stupid, but in the asus router login under VPN there is a few headers.

VPN STATUS - Shows connected to openvpn.
VPN CLIENT - Shows ON and connected.
VPN SERVER - Shows OFF and nothing there. Should there be something under this heading on also?

How do I know for definite that this isn't just a bug and the vpn actually isn't working properly?
Vpn client is what you are concerned with.
 
Ok thanks. So how do I know for sure then that this is just something to ignore, and that my vpn is actually working properly? It's funny how this issue only arises when I use merlin. On stock asus firmware it doesn't happen.
 
Ok thanks. So how do I know for sure then that this is just something to ignore, and that my vpn is actually working properly? It's funny how this issue only arises when I use merlin. On stock asus firmware it doesn't happen.
Use a different browser on the phone.

same result?
 
I'm having trouble when using latest version of merlin firmware in my asus rt86u router.

I tried to set it up using instructions from nord and it seems to work OK with my ip showing as the nord server location. However when I do a dns leak test it goes to a server in Germany not owned by nordvpn?!

Soon as I remove merlin firmware and install nord open vpn the dns leak test works fine on udp and tcp?

Anyone know why this is please?

Thanks
I just came across this forum looking for answers to the exact same issue, down to the German server! I spent hours troubleshooting myself, as well as via chat with Nord, all to no avail.

I also did several tests (similar to you Silent) testing different settings on different devices (using the Nord VPN) which generated wildly different results.

Without knowing what "good" looks like, it's hard to determine if there is actually a DNS Leak occurring or not. As a "recovering IT professional" the worst issues to fix are ones with multiple links that could cause an error and varied results during analysis. This is that to the Nth degree.

At somepoint in the future I plan to reengage with Nord about the issue, starting with "are you using these (German) servers"? Hopefully that steers the conversation in the right direction.

Thanks for making me realize I wasn't crazy (yet).
 
This ought to be a FAQ because it's come up so many times. DataCamp Ltd is NordVPN servers. It's perfectly normal to see this.
It ought to be top level in Nord's knowledgebase because they continue to say that it is not.
It's also peculiar that behind the same router, different devices are returning different DNS leak test results.
 
It's also peculiar that behind the same router, different devices are returning different DNS leak test results.
So many devices nowadays default to using "private" DNS services (e.g. DoH or DoT), Android, Apple, Firefox, etc. So these devices will report different DNS servers.
 

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