Configure OpenDNS on Apple Airport with Sky broadband
It seems to be impossible to (easily) point the current Sky broadband routers to OpenDNS, but I want to make OpenDNS the default on our home network. There are too many devices and people coming and going to configure individual computers and handheld clients, so that's not a practical solution.
However, I already have an Apple Airport network running through the house with one Airport Extreme in 'Bridge' mode connected to the Sky box by ethernet. That all works fine, I do not use the Sky wireless but the Sky box handles NAT and DNS, so everything is currently on the same 192.168.0.xxx network.
I can do a lot of trial and error, but I'm sure others must have cracked this. How do I configure the Sky box and the Airport so that the Airport handles DHCP and becomes the router from which connecting devices look for DNS information by default?
Obviously I can put Open DNS's server numbers into the Airport configuration, then I imagine I switch the Airport out of Bridge mode into with DHCP or DHCP&NAT mode (but which?) and assign a new range of numbers (e.g. 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.250) for the Airport to serve. But how will the Sky box react? Does the Airport need a fixed IP address in the 192.168.0.xxx range? Or can you just keep passing DHCP services down the line? And does any of this affect performance?
Any help much appreciated!
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It looks like your AE needs to become the DHCP server for your network and also the DNS server/forwarder, and the Sky box needs to get rid of this.
Best is to start with switching the AE from bridged mode to NAT, using a separate 192.168.*.* range for the LAN behind it and enabling the DHCP server on it.
Your Sky box should run in bridged mode to prevent from double-NAT and DHCP disabled, to act as a pure modem, so that your AE gets the ISP assigned IP address. If you can't switch to bridged mode, you can leave DHCP enabled on the Sky box, because this is used then for the subnet between the Sky box and the AE only, without effect on the rest of the LAN behind the AE.
"But how will the Sky box react?"
Who can know if it's not documented? You have to find it out yourself.
"Does the Airport need a fixed IP address in the 192.168.0.xxx range? Or can you just keep passing DHCP services down the line?"
Do you mean the WAN facing IP address of the AE? This depends on the Sky box working mode (bridge or NAT, DHCP enabled or not).
"And does any of this affect performance?"
Double-NAT can have a slight negative performance effect. Also, some routers are lousy DNS servers/forwarders. You'll have to see.
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Thanks for your reply. I have now enabled this - quite simply - and all seems to be working as intended. For interest:
Turn any uninvolved devices off.
On SKY box, leave its own wireless network in place so you can get in at any time.
Advanced/LAN IP Setup. Reserve a static address for your Airport e.g. 192.168.0.2
(I tried to set top of IP range to end 09 but wouldn't stick - doesnt seem to matter.)
Allow Sky box to restart as it requestsCan turn off Sky wireless network if you think it interferes with your Apple network
On Airport
Base Station tab. Stays the same
Internet tab. Connect using: 'Static' and enter 192.168.0.2 | Subnet: 255.255.255.0 Router:192.168.0.1 | DNS Servers 208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222
Wireless tab. Stays the same (Create a wireless network...)
Network tab. Router Mode 'DHCP Only' | DHCP range 192.168.0.10 to 192.168.0.200
Restart.You will see that everything (to my surprise) is still on the 192.168.0.xx network.
It's probably not necessary to reserve and fix the Airport to a static IP address, but I wanted to take the guesswork out of that component.
The first 10 numbers are available to the Sky box for devices to join that directly, if you want.
The default for all other devices in the house is that they join the network created by the Airport and pick up OpenDNS from that.
I have to add that his wasn't exactly how I expected it to work - but it does. If anyone has any technical views I'd be happy to hear them.
Useful apps for this job: iNet for Mac and Net Analyzer for iPad. Also Airport Utility, which is terrible but what choice is there?
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