Recommend a small wireless access point / router

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#2343376 25-Oct-2019 09:03

Hi, you say you have an ethernet port beside the Roku (ie behind or beside the TV) so would an inwall WAP do, this would use no real space. A Mikrotik inwall WAP that would give you the ability to stand up another net on that device which is bridged to a seperate SSID, and that net have a different DNS record.

Also you retain your data feed as its got front side ethernet ports aswell

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/accesspoints/rbwsap-5hac2nd.html

Cyril

timmmay

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#2343377 25-Oct-2019 09:07

bignose:

timmmay:

I'll look into how difficult doing DHCP / DNS allocation from Pi Hole is. I have a toddler, I have about four free hours per week that aren't committed for everything I need to do outside work / family stuff, so if it's difficult at all I'll just throw in a WAP.

fair enough - I'd go the tp-link re350 in that case - it's the form factor you want, relatively cheap locally (pbtech), can run openwrt so will do what you want, and avoids the general iffy-ness of network gear out of aliexpress (massively variable quality/reliability)

Looks good, maybe a good trade-off for time / money. I might try an ali express cheap one first...

cyril7:

Hi, you say you have an ethernet port beside the Roku (ie behind or beside the TV) so would an inwall WAP do, this would use no real space. A Mikrotik inwall WAP that would give you the ability to stand up another net on that device which is bridged to a seperate SSID, and that net have a different DNS record.

Also you retain your data feed as its got front side ethernet ports aswell

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/accesspoints/rbwsap-5hac2nd.html

Cyril

Looks like a pretty nice unit. If I end up using the Pi Hole to assign DNS it might work well thanks.

bignose

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#2343381 25-Oct-2019 09:12

timmmay:

cyril7:

Hi, you say you have an ethernet port beside the Roku (ie behind or beside the TV) so would an inwall WAP do, this would use no real space. A Mikrotik inwall WAP that would give you the ability to stand up another net on that device which is bridged to a seperate SSID, and that net have a different DNS record.

Also you retain your data feed as its got front side ethernet ports aswell

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/accesspoints/rbwsap-5hac2nd.html

Cyril

Looks like a pretty nice unit. If I end up using the Pi Hole to assign DNS it might work well thanks.

just remember it needs POE on the rear port to run - so since you don't currently have a POE capable switch you'll need a POE injector at the far (router) end to power it.

timmmay

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#2343645 25-Oct-2019 21:10

bignose:
timmmay:

I use Pi Hole on an old R.Pi1 as my DNS server, which can also do DHCP, but not sure if it can do per-device settings.

Just checked and as I expected pihole is also using dnsmasq - so yes you could actually get that to do the per-client DNS settings you need and then run everything off the fritzbox

https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/things-you-can-do-with-dnsmasq/2595

A bit of reading (after I put my toddler to bed) finds this thread, which goes into some detail about how to have specified clients (by MAC address) be given different DNS servers. It links to this config which explains things well. I've also configured DHCP reservations in Pi Hole so my current "static" IPs stay the same.

I'll enable DHCP on the pi hole when my wife isn't using the internet, then try putting the dnsmasq settings in so the Roku goes to the unblocker but others go to regular DNS.

Good tip thanks bignose :)

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#2346534 30-Oct-2019 22:25

bignose: Of course the other option - rather than spend money on a new access point, why not just upgrade from the roku stick to the roku ultra (which has an ethernet port so no issues with wifi)

This seems like a tidier solution all round - apart from perhaps cost?

timmmay

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#2346572 31-Oct-2019 05:28

Yeah, even with the main router the Roku stick wireless isn't great, maybe because of its small size. A new device with ethernet is on my radar.

That doesn't help my wife with her laptop, though I may use the DNSMasq on the pi hole to work around that or by using a windows DNS switcher.

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#2346643 31-Oct-2019 10:19

timmmay: That doesn't help my wife with her laptop, though I may use the DNSMasq on the pi hole to work around that or by using a windows DNS switcher.

Fixing the laptop DNS as you mention could be done in software - on router or on laptop - so no new hardware needed for that.

timmmay

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#2346647 31-Oct-2019 10:28

phrozenpenguin:

timmmay: That doesn't help my wife with her laptop, though I may use the DNSMasq on the pi hole to work around that or by using a windows DNS switcher.

Fixing the laptop DNS as you mention could be done in software - on router or on laptop - so no new hardware needed for that.

Yeah that's what I meant. There's probably software around to do quick switching of Windows DNS servers.

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#2346654 31-Oct-2019 10:44

Hardly elegant though.

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#2346716 31-Oct-2019 11:32

Spyware:

Hardly elegant though.

The DNS switcher? I don't really see another option, but happy for you to provide one.

The situation is most of the time the laptop uses the Pi Hole, which gets its DNS from the ISP. This makes use of the local caches, which might include Netflix, Youtube, etc. Sometimes we want an unblocker, which uses a third party DNS. It can resolve any domain name, but won't resolve to ISP caches, reducing download speed and increasing latency.

phrozenpenguin

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#2347071 1-Nov-2019 09:45

Is the reason for the DNS switcher always the same service? Can't you set the routing to send your traffic you need switched out through the switcher and then normal traffic to the Pi? Do everything on the router and not on the client. I used to do this, although didn't have a Pi-Hole in place.

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#2347099 1-Nov-2019 10:10

phrozenpenguin:

Is the reason for the DNS switcher always the same service? Can't you set the routing to send your traffic you need switched out through the switcher and then normal traffic to the Pi? Do everything on the router and not on the client. I used to do this, although didn't have a Pi-Hole in place.

I don't think so. Their DNS server returns standard IPs for most websites, but for unblocked websites give you the IP of one of their proxy servers. To achieve this you'd need selective DNS based on what you're querying, which wouldn't work. You could use their DNS service for everything, but then you don't get the benefit of any ISP caches.

cyril7

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#2347102 1-Nov-2019 10:23

Hi, have not followed the detail of what you have tested so far, but can you not use conditional forwarders, in dnsmasq its the -S switch that lets you specifiy particular domains to use specific forwarder servers as opposed to a default or other. So with that you add domains that you want to use your DNS4ME forwarder as opposed to your ISP.

Cyril

timmmay

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#2347107 1-Nov-2019 10:32

cyril7:

Hi, have not followed the detail of what you have tested so far, but can you not use conditional forwarders, in dnsmasq its the -S switch that lets you specifiy particular domains to use specific forwarder servers as opposed to a default or other. So with that you add domains that you want to use your DNS4ME forwarder as opposed to your ISP.

If I moved my DHCP to the PiHole then I possibly could, but I don't know all the domains that are required. My wife uses a few UK streaming video services, I would have to discover all the domains they all use, which is possible but a bit of a PITA.

cyril7

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#2347108 1-Nov-2019 10:36

Hi, cannot be too hard, if you are using DNS4Me then just enable logging and quickly run through the various streaming services, it will quickly show you what domains you need to seperately forward

Cyril

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