Presumably so you’ll be forced to use their DNS, which lets them know what sites you go to. So thanks for that Shaw.
You can usually set up which DNS server to use in the device settings of each of your devices. is more work but fixes it.
That would work for regular providers, but because I want to use a local Pihole instance, if a device doesn’t support setting different DNS servers for different networks, it would break as soon as I leave the house.
Pihole let’s you configure which DNS servers you want to use. After that you only need to configure your computer, phone etc. to use the Pihole as gateway and DNS server, after which the Pihole will perform the DNS lookups. https://docs.pi-hole.net/guides/dns/upstream-dns-providers/
I know, but the problem is that because it’s on a local IP, as soon as I leave my Wi-Fi network, some devices will fail to resolve DNS queries because they don’t have per-network DNS options.
I think you can set up your pihole with a VPN for remote use too.
I just searched and found this tutorial but there should be more around:
https://blog.crankshafttech.com/2021/03/how-to-setup-pihole-pivpn-unbound.html?m=1
Alternatively, you could try to set your ISPs router into Bridge mode and use another router as the main router.
You shouldn’t be using an ISP-supplied router anyway, right?
You don’t know what they’ve put in the firmware for remote management.
Even buying the same model router from a store to replace the ISP one would be preferable.
I know, but I live with my parents who don’t want to do that.
Some companies don’t allow you to change router as part of the contract. That happens here and in Latam sometimes.
Other times, they use these backdoors for technical assistance in the case you report an issue and they want to ensure is not inside or your manipulation. This can leave your issues unsolved or make you pay for something you didn’t make.
In that case I would look into switching ISPs, or maybe connect another router and put the ISP-supplied one in bridge mode if possible.
why can’t you just set your custom DNS servers on each device? do they block DNS requests to servers other than their own?
Don’t worry, things will get awesome once Rogers has bought em out.
/s
Oh yeah, super excited about that /s
You could buy a cheap router, put your modem in bridge mode, and set the Wi-Fi SSID and password combo to be the same as your modem’s and none would be the wiser. Then you’d have control over your network. That said, if you have the same modem that I do (from shaw) a cheap router will not have the same performance as the one shaw provides. But a used UniFi WAP would outshine the shaw provided modem any day.
Unfortunately in this case privacy isn’t free.
I do this. But I don’t use the same wifi SSID/passwd.
Freedom is rarely free.
Yeah, I have a different SSID/pw too (several SSIDs with corresponding VLANs) but if OP is trying to do this covertly, this would help.
I also did this, I feel it’s better this way. Also the modem restricted me in so many ways. Now my cheap router gives me far more freedom and control. Forwarding ports, no problem. DNS change, no problem. Other SSID, no problem. A separate isolated SSID for visits, absolutely. And if a I change ISP I only have to connect the new modem and no need to change any of my devices.
my veri6rou ter doesn’t let me do that either but I just disabled DHCP on it and run a DHCP server on my pihole, bypassing the restriction
You can connect your own router and set the DNS server on that. They also can’t see all the devices on your network if they are all hiding behind another router.
Changing your DNS doesn’t stop your ISP seeing what sites you visit unless you use a VPN. DNS just resolves an address to an IP. Your requests (with destination IP attached) will still pass through their network gear and be able to be logged should they wish to.
