Setup in a Master/Slave Router Configuration

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Expected Behaviour:

In a perfect world, I would like all traffic connected to the slave router to use Pi-Hole as their default DNS without any extra setup on the device.

Actual Behaviour:

I've had to set the IP and DNS options in each device statically to force their traffic through the Pi-Hole.

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/egcxbyjeb2

Full Story

The main router (master) provided by my ISP is the definition of bare bones, and therefore has poor wifi encryption and no custom DNS options. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with this router so I have a second router (slave) in access point mode for all the devices on my network. I would rather change the slave back to normal router mode so everything connected to it uses the Pi-Hole for the DNS, but can't quite get the settings just right. Any guidance on what the values should be would be much appreciated.

  • The main master router has an IP of 192.168.1.254 and has DHCP enabled.

  • The Ubuntu server running Pi-Hole is connected to the master with an IP of 192.168.1.250.

  • The slave router (Netgear Nighthawk r6700v3) has an IP of 192.168.1.253 and has limited options in AP mode.

  • It seems any device that connects to the slave router wired/wirelessly gets an address assigned from the 192.168.1.xxx pool, which the master router is keeping tabs on in its device list.

  • WHEN I tried to configure the slave as a "router", here's what I tried:

  • Internet options: "Set IP statically"; IP Address: 192.168.1.253; Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0; Gateway Address: 192.168.1.254; Primary DNS: 192.168.1.250; Secondary DNS: (blank)

  • Router options: "Use router as a DHCP server": unchecked

  • Router options: router IP address: changed default "10.0.0.1" to "192.168.1.253"

Apply-ing that last line bricked the router and I had to factory reset it. This option is where I'm hazy on what it should be. In the end, I just want all my wired/wireless devices to be on the same network and protected by the Pi-Hole. Before incorporating the Pi-Hole, the slave router was a typical router handing out addresses on the 192.168.10.xxx pool, and a device could still hop up a level and see anything in the 192.168.1.xxx pool.

In a perfect-perfect world, I would generally like the final settings to look like:

  • All devices on the network connected to the slave router have an IP of 192.168.10.xxx, and use the Pi-Hole as their DNS by default.
  • ...with the exception of the server running Pi-Hole, which I would like to keep connected to the master router and retain its 192.168.1.250 address, for another reason unrelated to this Pi-Hole problem. But if the server needs to be connected to the slave instead, then that's okay.

Thanks in advance!

Put the master router in bridge mode and the slave in router mode.

Thought this would be much more painful to pull off because my particular brand of [master] router doesn't have a "bridge mode". A quick search revealed that the Arris brand of routers can do a bridge-mode-adjacent operation called IP Passthrough which essentially just forwards all traffic to another router.

Anyway, searching for a bridge mode alternative led me to this guide which ultimately did the deed: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/b1x5l6/how_to_properly_configure_the_arris_bgw210_for/

Now I can resume browsing the web for cat pictures in peace

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