Adguard dhcp server not able to enable

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

Hi there,
i followed the adguard home guide to set up adguard on my router: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/services/dns/adguard-home?s[]=adguard.
i do the steps and after making an account it asks me to configure DNS or DCHP server to adguard.

Screenshot 2025-03-09 at 06.32.01
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when i hit save nothing happens, and when clicking check dhcp, I'm getting these messages:

Screenshot 2025-03-09 at 06.28.32
Screenshot 2025-03-09 at 06.28.321285×609 56.8 KB

How can i configure this in openwrt?
Does this issue have anything to do with an existing openvpn setup ?
i've set the ip to static on my computer, still no luck

Any advice is welcome!

2

You already have a DHCP server on OpenWrt - dnsmasq. Why do you want to use Adguard instead?

3

Thank you for the reply Dante, adguards UI looked great so i tought i'd give it a try. I am not familiar with dnsmasq, thanks for the tip. Any advice on a dnsmasq usage guide ?

4

dnsmasq is turned on by default and integrated into OpenWrt UI - LuCi. You can leave the defaults and everything will work. However if you want to use Adguard Home with it as a DNS server, you'll need to do some adjustments.

1 Like
5

Great, thanks Dante, this is what i previously followed and hence, where it got me. Thinking it could be because off a vpn config running simultaniously?

6

The OpenWrt Wiki guide doesn't switch from dnsmasq DHCP to Adguard DHCP, so leave that part of Adguard alone. Did you follow every other step in the OpenWrt Wiki and is Adguard your main DNS server now? What is not working aside from the DHCP screen in Adguard?

1 Like
7

Ok, will do. When i add blocklists, it is not blocking trackers and ads (the ui shows they are still allowed)

8

Instead of Adguard consider using an Adblocker see:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/services/ad-blocking
I use Adblock which works well

and use https-dns-proxy for secure DNS:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/services/dns/doh_dnsmasq_https-dns-proxy

Adguard has a nice GUI but that comes with a price (it takes up more resources)

1 Like
9

Ok Thanks Egc, ill have a look at Adblock, can i add blocklists in Adblock ? will these solutions work alongside a tunnel ?

10

That should be possible but Adguard also should work regardless of a tunnel.
note some VPN providers also provide DNS servers , those are usually not compatible with secure DNS (but DNS53 via your tunnel can be considered secure already)

1 Like
11

Alright great insight thanks, (DNS on port 53, is it a standard for my tunnel ?)
And if a vpn provides dns, this shouldn't affect adguards functionality ?

12

Adguard can also deal with DNS53 (which is the regular unsecure DNS) but if you are using DNS53 than you can also just use DNSMasq instead of Adguard.
But it is perfectly fine if you want to try and tinker with Adguard :slight_smile:

1 Like
13

You were right here Dante and Egc, it's working now, without tinkering with any of dhcp settings.

All i had to do is set my computers dns and my browsers dns to the adress adguard is listening on.

Works like a charm!

14

You can also just set DHCP option 6 on your router to point to your Adguard Home, so you don't have to set the DNS server manually on each device.

15

Great , thanks, that takes a lot of effort out of it.
Could you point me to what menu / place that settings lives ?

16

Network ⇒ Interfaces ⇒ you LAN interface like lan ⇒ DHCP Server ⇒ Advanced Settings ⇒ DHCP-Options

Add 6,10.0.0.1 where 10.0.0.1 is the IP of your Adguard Home.

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17

if my adguard home would be 150.140.0.0 i would need to add 6,150.140.0.0 to one of the options field correct ? And i do not need to include the port to the adguard UI to this ?
only the DNS adress ?

18

Correct. You don't need to include the port, if Adguard Home is running on the default DNS, DoT, DoH ports: 53, 853, etc., your clients will figure that out themselves.

1 Like
19

great thanks for that, so it would look like the second option here ?

Screenshot 2025-03-11 at 13.31.59
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Anything else i'd need to do to auto send the adguard dns to my clients ?

20

First of all, 150.140.0.0 is not a valid IP address. And you don't need the 6,150.140.0.0:8080 line. 8080 looks like the UI port and not the DNS one. And DHCP option 6 doesn't need a port specified.