How to assign different DNS server settings to different clients?

[Bazinga]

Hello all.....

Can anyone suggest an out of box solution preferably for issuing different DNS settings to different clients using mac address's or ports about 15 clients in all and a nas.

Ideally everything needs to be on the same network there are clients that have different DNS settings but need to interact with each other as at the moment I have two routers and the setup is not really working.

I installed Openwrt on a TP Link wr841nd and it's been a bit like opening a can of spaghetti hoops and knit a sweater out of them.

I can't do away with my ISP's router "Livebox Play" as it has a sip based telephony service which is not supported with any other router but I can put it in to bridge mode however and use a more advanced model in it's place.

 

[Bazinga]

Anyone.....? I really would appreciate figuring out the best way to achieve this.

 

[Cloud200]

The only thing i can think of that will do this is tagging VLANs on a per mac address basis.

Not really sure of any consumer level devices that can do it though.

In addition if you need inter vlan routing the hardware would have to include something like a layer3 switch or a decently fast router.


You might also be able to do this at the DHCP server level running multiple servers and blocking specific clients from talking to every server but the one you want them to talk to.


Either way, why do you need this done this way? can you not set devices with a static DNS server?

 

[stevech]

No way I know of, assuming you don't want to input a static IP for a DNS into the user/client device's NIC settings.

If the client is WiFi only, there are some possible tricks using a new AP with a different WPA password, IF you can arrange for the client device to NOT know the WPA password for the main router. But if you can do so, you can also do what's suggested above. You'd probably need the client device to not give the user admin rights so they cannot undo the DNS setup. ANd some, like Apple products, don't want to give you static DNS settings methods.

 

[Bazinga]

The only thing i can think of that will do this is tagging VLANs on a per mac address basis.

Not really sure of any consumer level devices that can do it though.

In addition if you need inter vlan routing the hardware would have to include something like a layer3 switch or a decently fast router.


You might also be able to do this at the DHCP server level running multiple servers and blocking specific clients from talking to every server but the one you want them to talk to.


Either way, why do you need this done this way? can you not set devices with a static DNS server?

Some of the devices like a Roku don't support DNS changes and will only use the dhcp supplied settings. The Roku needs to connect to a smartdns service so it can connect to services in another country. But it also needs to connect to a local NAS which does also a Apple TV which is connecting to yet another smartdns service for a second different country but the Apple TV needs to connect to an iTunes server which is using local country isp dns settings.

No way I know of, assuming you don't want to input a static IP for a DNS into the user/client device's NIC settings.

If the client is WiFi only, there are some possible tricks using a new AP with a different WPA password, IF you can arrange for the client device to NOT know the WPA password for the main router. But if you can do so, you can also do what's suggested above. You'd probably need the client device to not give the user admin rights so they cannot undo the DNS setup. ANd some, like Apple products, don't want to give you static DNS settings methods.

I have it working in a fashion with the y router configuration but have fallen at the NAS being available on all networks and the AppleTV and iTunes server are on different networks I did wonder if some internal dmz's might help. I will draw a diagram once the kids have gone to bed it might help. ;-)

 

[Bazinga]

It's not pretty But this is how its working currently, I need to sort out some inter subnet connectivity so all clients can reach the nas and where should I add the nas best to achieve this? Plus the Apple TV and iTunes server need to be able to communicate with each other.

Do any of the 8 port switches like the Netgear GS108T-200 support dhcp servers on the vlans?

 

[stevech]

My (older) GS108e does query a DHCP server on the network, or you can give it a static IP (for admin)

 

[Bazinga]

I think im going to add a Mikrotik RB2011UiAS-IN or a RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN to my network as RouterOS can subnet on a per port/port cluster basis and have a dhcp server for each port/cluster of ports as I understand it.

I theoretically would just need some help on how to set up static routes between subnets so the AppleTV and iTunes server can see each other and how the nas can be seen by everything that needs to see it. Having it all managed from one device hopefully will make it easier ish.

 

[stevech]

Mikrotik is on my black list for knowingly distributing seriously faulty firmware.
To their credit, they persist, even though they are at the scale of a large garage shop.

 

[Bazinga]

Mikrotik is on my black list for knowingly distributing seriously faulty firmware.
To their credit, they persist, even though they are at the scale of a large garage shop.

Well I'm going to give em a go, Fingers crossed

On a side note is it reasonably easy to set up static routes between subnets for two devices too see each other and sync content?