DNS and Time Capsule

Ok folks, I've got a survey question / troubleshooting question. When I bought the Time Capsule, it specifically stated that it can do DNS Proxy - which is essentially what I would like. I have a rather full home network including a file/DNS server which I am replacing with this Time Capsule...

I've discovered that DNS Proxying only seems to work when you setup DHCP and NAT translation with the Time Capsule sharing an internet connection. I am using the time capsule as an access point and was hoping to use it as a file server (no problem) as well as the DNS proxy for every machine on my network. Alas, I can't seem to figure out how or if this is even possible when used as a wireless access point - Bridge mode to be exact.

Lastly, as a survey part -- what are those of you doing for DNS out there who do not get DNS servers assigned from your local DSL/cable company because you have a spread out network similar to mine below...

My setup: Comcast Cable Modem --> Cisco Router --> connected to switch serving internet access through my network
Time Capsule and other devices connected to switch and no longer a DNS server. For those of you who have a cisco or are familiar with it, sadly my router is running version 12.2 and the "ip dns server" option is only available in version 12.3 (yes, it s*cks to be me...)

Thanks all and sorry for the geeky thread!
- Eric

sjb said:

I think the issue you are having is that once you put the TC into 'bridge' or access point only mode, it essentially becomes a layer 2 device and does not do layer 3 routing.

What device on your network are you using to hand out DHCP addresses? Is it the Cisco? If so, you can use the 'dns-server x.x.x.x y.y.y.y z.z.z.z etc" command under the dhcp scope on your Cisco and it'll hand out the DNS servers you specify. If you do this, you can hand out your ISP's DNS servers. Obviously, you won't have a local cache or won't be able setup your own local zone, but it still gives you DNS.

If you are doing static IP addresses on all of your devices, you just specify your ISP's DNS servers.

And lastly, I run a FreeBSD server on my network that handles all network services on my LAN, including DNS.

Oh, and what Cisco router are you running? Can you upgrade to 12.3? You can probably get a free copy from Cisco because of exploits and vulnerabilities.

Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head... I don't use DHCP, so my only resort is to really set the DNS on every device on my network... I'm running a Cisco 1721 and its not only out of warranty, but I don't have any maintenance contracts on it -- It was for my own small business when I was doing hosting, but now I use it for my cable modem connection . I'd love to upgrade that to 12.3 as it would surely solve things, but I have no clue where/how I could get access to that version.

I used to run a Linux server for all of my DNS and filesharing needs, but now that I have the TimeCapsule, I was hoping to trim down my hardware to one small device (and also get rid of an extra monitor, keyboard, mouse and battery backup unit!). Thanks for the thoughts, but I'm not planning to start giving out DHCP via the router at this point - I kind of like having each machine have its own IP address that I know, but then again - I suppose it wouldn't be that bad at this point to do that since I'm no longer running custom DNS.

- Eric