DNS problems with SafeDNS
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:10 pm
I am attempting to use SafeDNS as my DNS. This DNS has a schedule, so when it reaches a certain time some categories of sites are blocked and others are unblocked. It's a bit like OpenDNS but with a schedule.
In the last little while I have been having bad problems with this in that when the time is reached, the sites that were blocked don't turn back on. There are a few reasons this may happen, one of which is caching by either the PC or the router.
I found out that Gargoyle does DNS caching, so I turned this off by adding the following line to dnsmasq.conf.
I logged directly into gargoyle via putty (thus removing any interference with the windows dns cache) and did a nslookup of twitch.tv, which is a site that is blocked in the morning but should not be blocked in the afternoon. That command produced:
Clearly this is wrong as it's returning the blockpage. I even tried specifying the dns to use (as below) which I understand forces nslookup to use the dns at 195.46.39.39 (is that correct?).
But again it's returning the wrong page!!
The basic confirmation I'd like to get from the forum is. Is my logic correct? I don't believe caching is turned on at the router level, so I believe the problem exists at the SafeDNS end. Perhaps there is a way to check and see if the router cache is indeed turned off?
Many thanks for anyone who can provide help, this problem is driving me mad!
P.S. - If from my Windows PC I go into cmd screen, flush cache (ipconfig /flushdns) and do similar nslookups, I get the following:
The thing that confuses me is that it indicates Non-authoritative answer which implies caching is happening somewhere, but where???
In the last little while I have been having bad problems with this in that when the time is reached, the sites that were blocked don't turn back on. There are a few reasons this may happen, one of which is caching by either the PC or the router.
I found out that Gargoyle does DNS caching, so I turned this off by adding the following line to dnsmasq.conf.
Code: Select all
cache-size=0
Code: Select all
# nslookup twitch.tv
Server: 127.0.0.1
Address 1: 127.0.0.1 locahost
Name: twitch.tv
Address 1: 195.46.39.1 blockpage.safedns.com
Code: Select all
# nslookup twitch.tv 195.46.39.39
Server: 195.46.39.39
Address 1: 195.46.39.39 dns1.safedns.com
Name: twitch.tv
Address 1: 195.46.39.1 blockpage.safedns.com
The basic confirmation I'd like to get from the forum is. Is my logic correct? I don't believe caching is turned on at the router level, so I believe the problem exists at the SafeDNS end. Perhaps there is a way to check and see if the router cache is indeed turned off?
Many thanks for anyone who can provide help, this problem is driving me mad!
P.S. - If from my Windows PC I go into cmd screen, flush cache (ipconfig /flushdns) and do similar nslookups, I get the following:
Code: Select all
C:\Users\paula>nslookup twitch.tv
Server: Gargoyle.lan
Address: 192.168.1.1
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: twitch.tv
Address: 195.46.39.1
C:\Users\paula>nslookup twitch.tv 195.46.39.39
Server: dns1.safedns.com
Address: 195.46.39.39
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: twitch.tv
Address: 195.46.39.1