Configuring DNS Server - LAN or WAN Settings on ASUS Router?

[deHakkelaar]

@aoommen

Does this mean I have to flash custom firmware on my router to use pihole? Merlin doen't have a stable version for RT-AX86U yet, only a beta version, So I will have to wait.

I would go for option 2 below.

@aoommen

Using pi-hole for DHCP - is that recommended?

Yes as flashing could, if go wrong, brick your router.

@aoommen

Where is pihole getting its current queries from?

Preferred is to have the clients query Pi-hole directly so you see individual stats for your clients on the web GUI.

@aoommen

Should I just let is continue as is, since I don't seem to be seeing any ads on any clients while browsing?

If you configured your router WAN/Internet DNS setting to point to Pi-hole only, yes this works but you wont see stats described above.
You would only see queries coming from the router.

@aoommen

Would changing the DNS setting on the LAN page make any difference?

This is preferred if it weren't for your Asus router to advertise its own IP through DHCP alongside the IP you configured in that LAN --> DNS Server field.
The pihole-FTL dhcp-discover part that should only show the single Pi-hole IP for DNS:

Why should Pi-hole be my only DNS server?

Reduced Ad Blocking Capability The main reason you should Pi-hole as your only DNS server is that you will see increased performance in the blocking of ads. If you have two DNS servers (Pi-hole and something else), your network clients may not always query Pi-hole for name resolution. If a query happens to be answered from a non-Pi-hole DNS server, your block lists will not apply (since that DNS server doesn't know about them). All Queries Need To Go Through Pi-hole First Since other DNS se…