# Lancom routers - resolving individual clients instead showing only router

**URL:** <https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [October 13, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351 "2020-10-13T00:12:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DanSchaper](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/danschaper/32/91_2.png) [@DanSchaper](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/DanSchaper)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 8:02am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/21 "2020-10-15T08:02:22Z")

</div>

Just use the two `/24` networks. You can't do it with the web interface, you'll need to create a custom config file.

You've chosen two subnets that do not naturally group. You've split the networks across a binary domain.

If you had chosen 192.168.142.0/24 && 192.168.143.0/24 then you could have a single `/23`. But even that would not help here as `dnsmasq` requires a `/8`,`/16`,`/24` natural mask for historical reasons. Use those two `/24` networks, each pointing to the same upstream authoritative resolver and the same domain name.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/22 "2020-10-15T08:13:28Z")

</div>

we cannot change our networkaddresses just because pi-hole webinterface can't deal with them.

1. what were two sample networks in the 192.168.x.x range that combine the way pi-hole webinterface can deal with?

2. where and how to set things up with our actual networks in the 'custom config file' is there a howto? and will doing it via custom config file then break the whole web-interface?

moreover found this - seems that i'm not the only idiot who needs something like this:

> [@More than one "Conditional Forwarding" entry in the GUI](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/more-than-one-conditional-forwarding-entry-in-the-gui/11359/29):
>
> Work-in-progress [https://github.com/pi-hole/AdminLTE/pull/1542](https://github.com/pi-hole/AdminLTE/pull/1542) [Screenshot at 2020-08-02 20-55-58] Note that this is not yet functional as the underlying settings saving still needs to be adjusted for this (needs a core change).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bucking\_Horn](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/bucking_horn/32/18719_2.png) [@Bucking\_Horn](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Bucking_Horn)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/23 "2020-10-15T08:54:21Z")

</div>

_`pihole-FTL`_ - Pi-hole's embedded tailored _`dnsmasq`_ - can be configured in any way [_`dnsmasq`_](http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html) would allow, unless a configuration option would conflict with Pi-hole's own configuration.  
(_If done correctly, it wouldn't in your case_).

You'd have to create a new file under `/etc/dnsmasq.d/`, e.g. `42-conditional-fwd.conf`.  
You need two entries `rev-server` (for reverse IP lookups) and `server` (for hostname lookups matching your local domain) in there, and you could use the respective lines from Pi-hole's existing configuration (resulting from your UI _CF_ setting) as a template.

If you are uncomfortable and/or unfamiliar with applying custom configurations for _`dnsmasq`_, you could also disable _CF_ and set your router as Pi-hole's **only** upstream DNS and an unchecked _Never forward reverse lookups for private IP ranges_ and _Never forward non-FQDNs_ under _Advanced DNS settings_.

EDIT:  
Of course, this and _Conditional Forwarding_ would only work if you would indeed have found a way to address your initial issue, i.e. your router using Pi-hole as upstream DNS.

If the latter would still be the case, either approach will create a DNS loop, immensly slowing your DNS resolution or killing it completely.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/24 "2020-10-15T09:10:50Z")

</div>

hello bucking\_horn,

thank you for your helpful and again datailed answer. i have to look into these things a little deeper as i'm not too familiar with all this networking stuff so it will take a little until i can reply 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/25 "2020-10-15T15:30:48Z")

</div>

ok - i had a look at the thing on our pi. in /etc/dnsmasq.d/ i currently have 01-pihole.config that will be the config-file automatically created by the installer or webinterface? and there are also the current entries for rev-server and server. is '42-conditional-fwd.conf' a magic name for a manual config-file that is automatically loaded at startup and overrides the settings in '01-pihole.config'?

well, that doesn't seem to be difficult with your good description of what and where and what the parameters are called.

i'm always a bit worried that things like this will break with the next update and you have to fiddle around with it again so i found a workaround with the web-gui which works quite well for our small net(s).

under 'Use Conditional Forwarding' i first typed in one network with only a few workstations all with the fixed ip via bootp from the router. after 1 hour i typed in the other network with the more often changing clients. somehow it seems to remember this in some table/cache because it now shows all clients in both networks by name.

that's enough for us for now - and apparently the change in the webinterface for entering multiple networks is already in progress on github.

i managed to do the thing with the lancom routers - thanks to the help of the chief developer there at lancom it was easy for me to implement.

i will write down both solutions again tonight and post them here in the forum to make it easier for the next one. best here at the end of the thread - right?

in any case thank you very very much for your friendly and competent help!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jfb](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/jfb/32/4332_2.png) [@jfb](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/jfb)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/26 "2020-10-15T16:00:42Z")

</div>

> [@TomMuc1](#):
>
> is '42-conditional-fwd.conf' a magic name for a manual config-file that is automatically loaded at startup and overrides the settings in '01-pihole.config'?

No. You can name your new configuration files any name you wish, but you don't want to overwrite or modify any of the existing Pi-hole configuration files. Any changes you make to the Pi-hole files will be overwritten by Pi-hole.

Note that dnsmasq reads all the files in directory _ **/etc/dnsmasq.d** _. Make sure you don't have conflicting entries, which can cause dnsmasq errors on startup or unexpected results when file x (read after file y) changes a setting made by file y. This command is a quick check for syntax problems:

`pihole-FTL dnsmasq-test`

> [@TomMuc1](#):
>
> i'm always a bit worried that things like this will break with the next update and you have to fiddle around with it again so i found a workaround with the web-gui which works quite well for our small net(s).

As long as you have separate/new configuration files, your files will not be overwritten by a Pi-hole update.

> [@TomMuc1](#):
>
> best here at the end of the thread - right?

Yes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/27 "2020-10-15T17:52:04Z")

</div>

hardware/software:  
lancom 1781ef+ / lcos 10.12 ru15 (but should work for all lancoms of the last 10 years)  
raspberry pi 4 2gb / pi-hole v5.1.2 web interface v5.1.1 ftl v5.2 (works even with pi zero)

there are two ways to use lancom router with the pi-hole:

1. with simple forwarding of the dns to the pi-hole

- advantage: very fast setup and automatically dsgvo compliant
- disadvantage: the single requests are all assigned to the router on the pi-hole and can't be distinguished in the statistics and settings (the filtering of advertisements works completely).

configuration-\>ipv4-\>dns-\>forwarding  
Domain: ?\*  
Routing Tag: 0  
Remote Station: ip-pi-hole, ip of secondary dns

1. transmit the pi-hole as dns server to lancom clients in the course of dhcp

- advantage: all statistics evaluations and settings on the pi-hole can be used
- disadvantage: a bit more complex and if the pi-hole fails the dns resolution falls out aka 'the internet doesn't work anymore'.

configuration-\>ipv4-\>dhcpv4-\>dhcp-networks  
First DNS: ip-pi-hole  
Second DNS: ip-pi-hole

if redundancy and fail-safety are essential, a second pi-hole with the same configuration and a different ip-address can be used.

if you have further questions about the lancom you can find very competent help in the lancom forum:

> **[LANCOM-Forum.de - Foren-Übersicht](https://www.lancom-forum.de/index.php)**
>
> LANCOM-Forum.de Ankündigungen, LANCOM Management Cloud, Fragen zur LANCOM Systems Routern und Gateways, Fragen zu LANCOM UMTS/LTE Router, Fragen zum Thema Firewall, Fragen zum Thema VPN, Fragen zum Thema IPv6, Fragen zu LANCOM Systems VoIP Router,...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/28 "2020-10-28T14:22:28Z")

</div>

ok. so in /etc/dnsmasq.d i have the config-file (01-pihole.conf) that is auto-generated by the webinterface an says:

```auto
rev-server=192.168.144.0/24,192.168.144.254
server=/intern/192.168.144.254

```

if i want to add a second internal network i have to create a second config-file eg xyz.conf with the second network (both use the same dhcp server)

```auto
rev-server=192.168.143.0/24,192.168.144.254

```

right?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DanSchaper](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/danschaper/32/91_2.png) [@DanSchaper](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/DanSchaper)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/29 "2020-10-28T14:31:17Z")

</div>

> [@TomMuc1](#):
>
> right?

If the DNS server at 192.168.144.254 will respond to PTR queries for the 192.168.143.0/24 range then that is the correct action.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TomMuc1](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/tommuc1/32/18969_2.png) [@TomMuc1](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/TomMuc1)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/30 "2020-10-28T14:37:04Z")

</div>

thanx!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/7/c/7c8792f649eeb921c5d2b4c41564ffa873d9a2b8.png) [@system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351/31 "2020-11-18T14:37:12Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 21 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

[Previous page](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/lancom-routers-resolving-individual-clients-instead-showing-only-router/39351.md?page=1)