Windows DNS setting will override the router's setting

[#1]

Hi saw the title above another post

is this correct Windows DNS setting will override the router's setting.

Q.

so if you  have your Router   set to say  DNS1.1.1.1 and Windows network cards set to use Google 8.8.8.8 or whatever

you will you bypass the Router as it were? . and be using 8.8.8.8

[#2]

No bypass per se, you computer will default to using whatever it's given by the network it's attached to.
Setting it manually will force the PC to use the one you set.

[#3]

Well ... it depends whether whoever setup your router is a control freak like me !

Typically DNS works as @dvorak described.

HOWEVER

EXAMPLE 1.

When my kids were younger, I filtered their DNS using OpenDNS age appropriate categories and whitelist/blacklist to limit what they could browse to.

Pre-empting that someday they would discover that setting an alternative (say Google) DNS on their devices would bypass the restrictions,  I repurposed old Netgear routers used as wireless access points for kid specific WiFi SSID.  These Netgear routers had the ability to intercept every DNS lookup and re-write the packet to exclusively go to OpenDNS address rather than any other DNS.  This was further enforced by the main internet router having rules that only allowed DNS lookups from the kids WiFi router to go to OpenDNS addresses and no others.

This setup was great, and neither they or their friends ever managed to bypass it ! LOL

Because the kids had their own WiFi SSID, it was also trivial to get their router to enforce time restrictions at bedtime.

EXAMPLE 2

I have on occasion run a caching proxy server on my main internet facing router,  where ALL traffic passes through the proxy (for dramatically improved website loading times, and almost zero download times on repeat fetches of update files).

One of the settings of the proxy, is to enforce fetching website traffic from DNS settings that are specific to the proxy - making maintaining the cache easier - as the same DNS is always used rather than let the client machine choose where to fetch the data from.  In this mode it doesn't matter what you have your PC DNS set to, because the proxy will override the DNS lookup to ensure optimum performance.

That being said,  for normal home router usage, configuring static DNS addresses in the network settings on a device, will usually override whatever the router's DNS is set to,  unless someone has gone out of their way to do something different.

So to answer the question -

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@Empire wrote:

if you  have your Router   set to say  DNS1.1.1.1 and Windows network cards set to use Google 8.8.8.8 or whatever

you will you bypass the Router as it were? . and be using 8.8.8.8

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Yes that is what would happen in most cases.

[#4]

Dear  boys and girls thanks for replying,  i am grateful for your replies.  but ................................

Moderators Note

Offensive political remark removed as per Forum rules

To my question.   

Answer: Yes that is what would happen in most cases.,

excuse my lack of  understanding 

surely all traffic is thro'  ones router and if that DNS is whatever then ones pc/laptop whatever may indeed use whatever it is set to, to query via what the routers DNS is.   ie the ultimate query appears to come from YOUR ROUTERS DNS. as viewed/seen from the other side.

[#5]

not sure ive  expressed myself clearly..........    not being rude just one of the curious.

[#6]

@Empire Please desist from spouting your political views in this part of the forum, there are other areas for such nonsense.☹️

[#7]

@Empire  Think of a DNS sever as a phone book. By default converting web address to IP address will be done by the Plusnet phone book. If. You change DNS settings, either on router or a device, then a different phone book will be used.

[#8]

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@Empire wrote:

surely all traffic is thro'  ones router and if that DNS is whatever then ones pc/laptop whatever may indeed use whatever it is set to, to query via what the routers DNS is.   ie the ultimate query appears to come from YOUR ROUTERS DNS. as viewed/seen from the other side.

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If you manually set your PC's DNS configuration, then your PC will attempt to fetch DNS records from those addresses.  Typically those fetches will go directly out to the internet without the router taking any part in the lookup process other than simply passing through the DNS request and reply packets.  However on some router configurations (like the examples I gave) then it is possible to alter or redirect the PC's DNS request packets to achieve different effects - such as filtering safe content for children, or blocking adverts, in which case the manually set PC DNS will itself be overridden by the router.

If your PC gets it's network settings automatically from the router (using DHCP), then the PC will fetch DNS records from whatever DNS address it has been given by the router.  If the router has set the PC's DNS to (for example) Google DNS, then all the DNS lookups from the PC will go directly out to Google (without the router interfering).  Alternatively, the router might set the PC's DNS to the LAN network address of the router, in which case the PC asks the router to do a DNS lookup, the router then sends it's own DNS lookup out to the internet using the addresses found in it's own DNS settings, the internet DNS replies to the router, and finally the router sends the answer back to the PC.  The advantage of this last method is that some routers can cache thousands of previous DNS lookups, so the next time a PC asks the router for a repeat DNS lookup, then it can reply instantly without the delay of waiting for a DNS on the internet to reply.

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@Empire wrote:

so if you  have your Router   set to say  DNS1.1.1.1 and Windows network cards set to use Google 8.8.8.8 or whatever

you will you bypass the Router as it were? . and be using 8.8.8.8

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Yes,  unless someone has intentionally changed the network at any point between the PC and the configured DNS servers, to override how the DNS requests are processed.

In my previous answer, on my home network, my routers can redirect any/all DNS lookups to any address I choose.

In a  more distant case, if you use Plusnet DNS, then Plusnet can intercept your DNS lookups in order to facilitate their 'adult content' filtering, or theoretically redirect customer DNS requests anywhere they wanted to.

If you really want your PC to directly access internet DNS servers, then sending DNS requests over an encrypted VPN means that your local router, your ISP, and any devices between you and your VPN provider, will not see DNS traffic, and therefore cannot interfere.

It is easier to figure out how DNS works, than understand why anyone in their right mind would volunteer to become the next PM

[#9]

@Anonymous @Champnet   thanks boys that is much clearer now,   so auto DHCP on Network card will follow router, if manual will resort to what ever you have chosen or card is set to. 

I get it........... although i manually assign on the cards which in my case is same as the router 1.1.1.2 

i am a bit obsessed with the Cloudflare 1.1.1.2 DNS as it is a Malware setting. That said i have no way measuring/testing/knowing  if it works etc etc

Thanks again

[#10]

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@Empire wrote:

i am a bit obsessed with the Cloudflare 1.1.1.2 DNS as it is a Malware setting.

I'd not seen Cloudflare 1.1.1.2 ,

I've previously looked at Norton DNS ,

and still use OpenDNS  for my 'guest' WiFi

[#11]

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@Empire wrote:

... Cloudflare 1.1.1.2 DNS as it is a Malware setting. That said i have no way measuring/testing/knowing  if it works etc

With OpenDNS if you browse to a 'dangerous' website, the blocked page with is replaced by a message or image of your choice !

also the OpenDNS account dashboard keeps a two week log of every DNS lookup, along with which ones were blocked, blacklisted, etc

I've just run two DNS benchmark tests, and OpenDNS is faster in every way than Cloudflare 1.1.1.2, and both beat Google

[#12]

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Insulting post removed as per Forum rules.