VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
> Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:
>
> > VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:
> >
> >> Interesting. I didn't know you could modify the base network settings
> >> without rooting the phone. When the private DNS setting showed up,
> >> users could change which DNS server they used. Before that setting
> >> appeared, there was yet another setting that let users specify a DNS
> >> server other than the one assigned by DHCP?
> >
> > Yes, the latter is a per connection setting, i.e. one for each of the
> > 'networks' you have configured, the 'Private DNS' setting is a
> > system-wide setting.
> >
> > BUT, (sofar) we can only set the DNS servers for a connection if that
> > connection has its 'IP settings' set to 'Static'. If it's set to 'DHCP'
> > I/we have not yet found a method to set the DNS servers. (I thought
> > that Patrick had found a way on his phone, but it turned out that his
> > screenshot was also for 'Static', not for 'DHCP'.)
>
> Without the upstream DHCP to get your IP address, you would need a
> static IP address. I know some users can get a static IP address from
> static IP address. I know some users can get a static IP address from
> their ISP. Some get it free, some have to pay for it. With my ISP, I
> have to pay more for a business-class account to get a static IP
> address. However, I never looked into getting a static IP address from
> my carrier for cellular data (unless we're talking about static IP on
> the phone to your own wifi access point, like at home).

Oops, sorry for the confusion.

'We' didn't spell this out, but both Patrick and I are indeed talking
about Wi-Fi connections to our *router*. In the router, you can specify
a static *local* IP address, i.e. 192.168.X.Y or some such.

So the "upstream DHCP" (server), is the DHCP server in our router, not
a DHCP server at our ISP.

For a mobile data ('cellular') connection, things are ofcourse
different, because there's no local router, but we have not yet looked
into (the DNS settings of) such connections (and I'm not planning to,
because I'm on relatively expensive pre-paid PAYG).

> I getting jealous of you guys, and phone envy, too. I'm still back on
> my c.2016 LG V20 phone with Android 8.0 the latest I can get on it. I
> won't play around with rooting it until I get another phone that has all
> those features I keep hearing about, like DNS settings and private DNS.

Well, my phones were Android 4.1.1 and 5.1.1. Only when the last one
became too slow (for (changing) car navigation), I bought a new one,
which came with Android 10 and is now on Android 13. I'll probably not
buy another/newer one unless I have too.

So like you, I'm not part of the "Let's buy another phone every other
year or so!" crowd.

IIRC, you drive an old car. So do I, well over 20 years old.

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

> 'We' didn't spell this out, but both Patrick and I are indeed talking
> about Wi-Fi connections to our *router*. In the router, you can
> specify a static *local* IP address, i.e. 192.168.X.Y or some such.

Ah, I get it. Yep, you can have your router's DHCP server assign
dynamic IP address to your intranet hosts, or assign a static IP
(reserved) address to a host usually based on the host's MAC address.

Alas, if you evern call tech support, they don't have a clue about
customized settings in the router/modem. They'll tell you to smash your
custom config by a reset to go back to DHCP-assigned dynamic IP
addresses.

>> I getting jealous of you guys, and phone envy, too. I'm still back on
>> my c.2016 LG V20 phone with Android 8.0 the latest I can get on it. I
>> won't play around with rooting it until I get another phone that has all
>> those features I keep hearing about, like DNS settings and private DNS.
>
> Well, my phones were Android 4.1.1 and 5.1.1. Only when the last one
> became too slow (for (changing) car navigation), I bought a new one,
> which came with Android 10 and is now on Android 13. I'll probably not
> buy another/newer one unless I have too.

I also had a Kitkat (4.4.1) flip phone. One day I was at the doctor's
office, and needed to make another appointment for later. Took so long
for the phone to come back up to check my calendar that I had the
counter gal just give me an appointment, and I went home to check my
calender on my desktop PC. That was the turning point to get a newer
and faster smartphone. When I need to use the phone, I can't be waiting
around for it to get ready.

> So like you, I'm not part of the "Let's buy another phone every other
> year or so!" crowd.
>
> IIRC, you drive an old car. So do I, well over 20 years old.

My prior car was 24 years old before it got scrapped when repairs got
too expensive. One of my current cars is now 22 years old. The other
is only 4 years old. I drive the oldie, and the family gets to use the
newey. I remember when the FCC change OTA television to digital
encoding, so I used the converter on my old TV for about 6 years before
finally getting a new TV (which had plenty of USB and HDMI inputs to get
rid of the old switchbox for multiple input sources). I might've had to
get a new suit, except I lost weight, so the old suit fits again. I
keep old rusty hammers, too.

I miss my old Motorola Razr flip phone which was forced out of service
when the FCC killed the 2G band (except for some emergency services).
They eventually came out with the same model name, but at 10 times the
price of my old one, and with a virtual keyboard instead of a real one.

"New and improved." So, they had me using old and crappy before.
"Twice the cleaning power." Compared to what? Water?
Nike: Just do it. What, have sex in public while wearing their shoes?
Apple: Think different. Yep, and why I have an Android phone.
McDonalds: I'm lovin' it. Have you ever eaten their, um, food?
L'Oreal: "Because you're worth it" aka "We're expensive".
Google: Don't be evil. Sure makes me grin wide and laugh.
Car commercials: no details about the car, just emotional tugging.
Jean commercials: Whose fucking brand was the ad selling?

On Thu, 7 Mar 2024 13:43:00 -0600, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:

>Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:
>
>> 'We' didn't spell this out, but both Patrick and I are indeed talking
>> about Wi-Fi connections to our *router*. In the router, you can
>> specify a static *local* IP address, i.e. 192.168.X.Y or some such.
>
>Ah, I get it. Yep, you can have your router's DHCP server assign
>dynamic IP address to your intranet hosts, or assign a static IP
>(reserved) address to a host usually based on the host's MAC address.

Keep an eye out for Android's Random MAC Address feature. You might wonder why
your DHCP address reservation is being ignored. It's not being ignored by the
router, it's just that phone never presents the same MAC address when requesting
an IP.

On 7 Mar 2024 16:13:19 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>> I replaced the 8.8.8.8 with 192.168.1.1 but I didn't bother changing that
>> second slot because if the router isn't working, neither will the Wi-Fi.
>
> But theoretically it could be that you ISP's DNS servers aren't
> working, but Google's are, so leaving 'DNS 2' point to a Google DNS
> server is better than also setting it to one of your ISP's DNS servers.

Thanks for that advice as I don't know this DNS networking stuff well.

Based on your advice above that the second DNS could be useful, I just
changed the static Wi-Fi DNS IP address from 192.168.1.1 to the quad9 IP
address of 9.9.9.9 and for the second DNS address I set it to the Control D
IP address of 76.76.2.11.

If someone knows what happens when you set BOTH the Private DNS to
dns.quad9.net and you also set the static Wi-Fi DNS IP to an encrypted ad
blocking DNS server, which DNS server Android actually takes, it's not me!

But I just did it anyway.
:->

On Thu, 07 Mar 2024 15:11:13 -0600, Char Jackson wrote:
Char Jackson wrote on 07.03.2024 15:11>>> 'We' didn't spell this out, but
both Patrick and I are indeed talking
>>> about Wi-Fi connections to our *router*. In the router, you can
>>> specify a static *local* IP address, i.e. 192.168.X.Y or some such.
>>
>>Ah, I get it. Yep, you can have your router's DHCP server assign
>>dynamic IP address to your intranet hosts, or assign a static IP
>>(reserved) address to a host usually based on the host's MAC address.
>
> Keep an eye out for Android's Random MAC Address feature. You might wonder why
> your DHCP address reservation is being ignored. It's not being ignored by the
> router, it's just that phone never presents the same MAC address when requesting
> an IP.

+1.

That's a good warning about the randomized MAC address all devices do now.

Depending on your Android version, Android now randomizes the MAC address
of EVERY Wi-Fi access point connection - which remains the same until you
"forget" the connection (as I recall).

If you're assigning the static IP address of your phone via your home
router, then the router can be taught to use that static random MAC address
using "Address Reservation" options.

But modern Android versions also can randomize the MAC address for every
single connection to any access point - which instantly kills the ability
of the router to figure out the MAC address.

On my Android 13, it's in Developer options and the official name for it is
"Wi-Fi non-persistent MAC randomization" which has a description of
"When this mode is enabled, this device's MAC address may change each time
it connects to a network that has MAC randomization enabled".
https://i.postimg.cc/fy9sZGgt/random-mac.jpg

Given that Android setting, the MAC address of my phone's Wi-Fi connection
changes upon every connection to every Access Point which means the normal
method of setting the static IP address in the home router no longer works.

I forget how I did it in the router, so let me log into 192.168.1.1 to see.
Oh. The static IP address & MAC are not even set in the router anymore.

The router is set to be a DHCP server but only for addresses above those
that I use for the static Android IP addresses. So if my neighbor's phone
connects to my router, that phone gets an address from the router DHCP
server.

But the static IP address for the phone is managed totally from the phone.
I had forgotten how I did that. The router won't give out addresses in the
range that the static IP addresses are. So that's how I addressed it.

With all that in mind, the warning to VanguardLH is that the MAC address
nowadays is not reliable (on purpose) so it's no longer used in router
setup (unless your MAC is static, but by default, it's not static anymore).

On Wed, 06 Mar 2024 22:31:11 -0000, VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

> Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:
>
>> That assumes that DHCP is used, which is indeed (very) common, but not
>> neccessarily the case, as one can configure 'Static' in Android's IP
>> settings.
>>
>> In the Static case Android has to know/remember the DNS server
>> address.
>
> Interesting. I didn't know you could modify the base network settings
> without rooting the phone. When the private DNS setting showed up,
> users could change which DNS server they used. Before that setting
> appeared, there was yet another setting that let users specify a DNS
> server other than the one assigned by DHCP?
>
>> But nevermind, it's not important (except for the gratuitous Google
>> bashing).
>
> I've never felt the need for uber-privacy,

There are some things the government objects to you doing.