Every month or so all my devices lose internet and the only way to connect them all back is to disconnect them from the DNS server that Pihole is running.

I set my Pihole to have a static IP but for some reason after around a month or maybe longer, it just fails. This has happened 4 times over the last while and the only fix is to essentially uninstall everything on my Pihole, disable it, and then reconfigure it from scratch again.

I’m not sure what’s going on so any help would be appreciated.

  • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    394·
    9 months ago

    If you can’t access your server and your router’s web interface, that’s a subnetting/DHCP allocation issue. Nothing to do with Pi-Hole.

    For reference, there’s 2 ways to allocate static addresses to devices:

    1. Define DHCP range, and configure the application to use a static address outside of the allocation pool.
    2. Give out static addresses by MAC.

    “Skill issue bro” /s

      • fuzzy_feeling@programming.devEnglish
        13·
        9 months ago

        I vote for 60 day lease time, iirc the clients try to get a new lease when half of the time is over, so they can keep the ip.

        • NaibofTabr@infosec.pubEnglish
          3·
          9 months ago

          Maybe, but I suspect it’s working like this:

          • Pi boots then requests locally configured IP from DHCP server
          • DHCP server grants 30 day lease for requested IP
          • Pihole runs fine for awhile, DNS requests are properly handled
          • IP lease expires, DHCP server returns IP to available address pool but doesn’t reassign it to anything yet
          • time passes
          • Random wireless device connects to router, DHCP server assigns IP to new device
          • DNS requests to Pihole fail because the IP was assigned to the recently connected wireless device

          This would explain why Pihole appears to cause problems every month, sometimes a little longer.

    • PerogiBoi@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      14·
      9 months ago

      Definitely a skill issue haha. I’m brand new to this stuff so I’m trying to learn as fast as possible. Appreciate the help and the explanations!

      • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        9 months ago

        It’s alright, most computer geeks (even professional ones) can’t even figure out how IP addressing works. That’s why networking is its own sub group in enterprise environments.

        • Scott@lem.free.asEnglish
          15·
          9 months ago

          If you’re a computer geek (even a professional one) and struggle with IP addressing, you won’t be having much of a career.