Is the Linksys EA6500 router supported by OpenDNS?
I have a few questions. I have been using OpenDNS for a couple of years now. However, my router died and I just bought a Linksys EA6500 router. This model number is not listed as one of the choices on the set-up page for Linksys routers. Is this router supported by OpenDNS? If not, is there an alternative DNS out there that I can use with this router?
Also, if it is supported, do I need to configure anything differently since I have had an OpenDNS account for a couple of years now with my old D-Link router? Or can I just run the set-up for my new router to hit the ground running? Thanks in advance for anyone with any helpful information. :)
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Maybe.
If you got a static IP address from your ISP or if you operate the device in bridged mode, you can configure static DNS server addresses under
Connectivity > Internet SettingsElse you can try to configure three static DNS server addresses under
Connectivity > Local Network
Beside the two addresses 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 you enter one of 208.67.222.220 or 208.67.220.222 as 3rd DNS server address.Either way, you'll disable IPv6 connectivity under
Connectivity > Internet Settings > IPv6
Else your OpenDNS settings (dashboard for Home Basic) do not reliably take effect, because you can't register an IPv6 address with OpenDNS yet.."which allows me to keep certain devices off the internet during certain hours of the day"
This is something different and totally unrelated to OpenDNS, but seems to be supported under "Parental Controls".
You select a device from the list, select "Specific Times" from the "Block internet access" list, and "edit" the times.
When done, confirm all with "Ok". -
Thank you, rotblitz. Your option ("Else you can try to configure three static DNS server addresses") worked for me as follows:
For the EA6400:
- go to Connectivity.
- Choose "Local Network" tab.
- Under DHCP Server (which should be enabled), Add three Static IPs as you described above. (and see attached picture)
Thanks again!
linksys.JPG -
This is unfortunately a known issue with Linksys Smart WiFi routers which prevents your configured DHCP DNS settings from applying despite doing it correctly - and it is a flaw in the router software that would need to be resolved by Linksys. As a result, OpenDNS would not be fully supported on this device due to it's flaw and you'd need a working router or to manually configure OpenDNS (https://support.opendns.com/forums/21618384) as long as you're using this router with the Linksys bug.
For a faster resolution, since the bug is on the Linksys firmware, Linksys support would be the best folks to contact as we have no choice but to declare their newer routers unsupported. The options that should work are provided in the router software; however, they don't work and the settings are ignored as seen on the Troubleshooting --> Status --> Report. Linksys has been informed but does not believe this is a bug.
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I have the same problem with the Linksys EA6400 (firmware version 1.1.40.160989), but I found a workaround acceptable for me. Since my ISP changes my IP address only every couple of weeks, I configured the router with a static IP address instead of getting it dynamically with DHCP.
In Connectivity > Internet Settings, edit the connection type to "Static IP", set the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway to the same values previously obtained by DHCP, and set DNS 1 and DNS 2 to OpenDNS's addresses. And voilà, it should work until your ISP changes your IP address.
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There's a DNS 3 field, but it is marked as optional (as is also DNS 2 actually). Since when configured by DHCP my ISP fills only DNS 1 and DNS 2 I thought it was enough, especially since OpenDNS FamilyShield provides only 2 nameservers (https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/?url=familyshield) and not 4 like OpenDNS Home. Maybe to be on the safe side it would be better to use another DNS server for DNS 3 just in case OpenDNS servers would be down, for example one of those previously provided by my ISP?
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"just in case OpenDNS servers would be down"
This is very unlikely. I'm using OpenDNS since 2007 and have never faced an outage regarding DNS. There have been "outages" regarding my dashboard settings taking effect, but this is a different thing.
The problem is that you never know how your router actually handles an unused field. To be on the safe side with using OpenDNS reliably, you should fill it with another OpenDNS resolver address.
"OpenDNS FamilyShield provides only 2 nameservers"
You using FamilyShield is new information. So, try to simply fill DNS 3 with repeating one of the FamilyShield addresses. If the router doesn't accept it, use an OpenDNS Home one. You can achieve the same effect like with FamilyShield by maintaining your settings at the dashboard accordingly.
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