Month: January 2022

Info in this article can be found in EdgeRouter – DNS Forwarding Setup and Options

I have Google Fiber for Internet. $70/month for symmetric gigabit is a good deal. Speeds are consistent and service is reliable. But I don’t want to give Google the data of my DNS lookups, especially since it is so easily related to my personal information, now that they are my ISP. Here’s how I configured my EdgeRouter-X to avoid Google’s name servers.

I use the EdgeRouter as a forwarding DNS service. All clients query the EdgeRouter first. The EdgeRouter either replies from cache, or forwards the request on. Forward the request where? By default it forwards it on to the DNS server provided by the ISP. I like the forwarding setup, but I just want to forward to a different DNS server.

Your configuration may be different. Here’s my configuration that sets this up. This configures the dhcp server to tell the clients to send all DNS queries to the EdgeRouter.

set service dhcp-server shared-network-name LAN subnet 192.168.1.0/24 dns-server 192.168.1.1

One way to set a custom name server is to change the name server which is handed out to your DHCP clients. For example:

set service dhcp-server shared-network-name LAN subnet 192.168.1.0/24 dns-server 1.1.1.1

I went a different route. I set the system name servers, then configured the DNS forwarder to forward using the system name servers, not the name servers obtained from the ISP.

set system name-server 1.1.1.1
set system name-server 1.0.0.1
set system name-server '2606:4700:4700::1111'
set system name-server '2606:4700:4700::1001'
set service dns forwarding system

Confirm your settings. Here’s my output, with the Google nameservers not configured for forwarding.

admin@ubnt$ show dns forwarding nameservers
-----------------------------------------------
   Nameservers configured for DNS forwarding
-----------------------------------------------
1.1.1.1 available via 'optionally configured'
1.0.0.1 available via 'optionally configured'
2606:4700:4700::1111 available via 'optionally configured'
2606:4700:4700::1001 available via 'optionally configured'

-----------------------------------------------
 Nameservers NOT configured for DNS forwarding
-----------------------------------------------
8.8.8.8 available via 'dhcp eth0'
8.8.4.4 available via 'dhcp eth0'

The title Decasia is a play on decay and Fantasia. The allusion to the Disney film indicates a more straightforward narrative than you’ll find. The movie is made of deteriorated film clips from silent era films and newsclips. Filmmaker Bill Morrison edits them together and holds them in place with a detuned score. Nitrate film deteriorates in fascinating ways, and the juxtaposition of these scenes invites comparisons beyond the content of the original scenes. The decay itself is another layer of comparison: The text of the scenes, the decay of the world represented in those scenes, and the decay of the medium itself. People seem to decay in the most disturbing way. Sometimes a ghost, or a wraith. Was that a klan rally, or did I invent that? Decasia invites you to bring your own imagery to fill in the gaps. In his introduction to the film, Bill Morrison remarked that the Sundance premiere is touted as groundbreaking. His remembrance is that tickets to the film were easy to come by at the festival, and most people walk out before the 67 minute running time. Still, it found its small and dedicated following, and 20 years on continues to find more.