RT-AX86U on 386.5_2 DNSLeak with OVPN and NordVPN

[CRussel]

I've worked through all the supposed fixes with 2nd tier NordVPN support (Marina), and I'm still getting a DNS leak on my AX86U router with either 386.5_2 or 386.7_beta2 firmware. When I connect to Seattle (from Canada), the dns ends up resolving to Singapore. This, obviously, causes Amazon video to fail. The connection is clearly up to Seattle, the DNS servers are correctly configured to theirs (103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100), DNS Configuration is set to Strict on the OVPN Client. And traffic is set to route all through the tunnel. Frankly, I've run out of ideas.

 

[JTnola]

I've worked through all the supposed fixes with 2nd tier NordVPN support (Marina), and I'm still getting a DNS leak on my AX86U router with either 386.5_2 or 386.7_beta2 firmware. When I connect to Seattle (from Canada), the dns ends up resolving to Singapore. This, obviously, causes Amazon video to fail. The connection is clearly up to Seattle, the DNS servers are correctly configured to theirs (103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100), DNS Configuration is set to Strict on the OVPN Client. And traffic is set to route all through the tunnel. Frankly, I've run out of ideas.

Are there any DNS-specific lines in your OVPN config file?

 

[CRussel]

Are there any DNS-specific lines in your OVPN config file?

block-outside-dns

ETA: One I added, based on a post on DNSLeakTest.com

 

[eibgrad]

Tutorial - How to monitor DNS traffic in real-time

The following script allows for real-time monitoring of DNS on the router for the purposes of knowing what DNS servers are in use, and which network interfaces are being used. https://pastebin.com/AGNF8cC8 Overview One of the most difficult aspects of the router for users is managing DNS. DNS...

www.snbforums.com

 

[RMerlin]

onfiguration is set to Strict on the OVPN Client.

You need to use Exclusive.

block-outside-dns

ETA: One I added, based on a post on DNSLeakTest.com

That parameter only works on Windows.

 

[CRussel]

You need to use Exclusive.

Yes, we did try exclusive, but it didn’t help.

As for the block-outside-dns parameter, I wasn't aware that was only Windows, but I get it and will remove from the config file.

 

[RMerlin]

Yes, we did try exclusive, but it didn’t help.

Exclusive forces DNS traffic to use the servers provided by the VPN through firewall rules. If it somehow gets bypassed, then either you have an IPv6 connection (which will entirely bypass the whole VPN), or your browser is using DoT/DoH, bypassing regular queries.

 

[JTnola]

I found that when I updated to 386.5_2,

​

​ WAN DNS Setting > Connect to DNS server automatically

somehow reverted to to “YES” (even though all my custom settings still showed … normally I think when it’s set to ”yes,” those custom options go into hiding) …

I had to set it back to “NO.”

then it was all good again.