VPNs and Port 53

[mobicycle]

A VPN provider, Cyberghost, told me in their customer support that EE is blocking port 53 on my wifi router. 

Are they correct?

https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/support/articles/360015581760-How-to-disable-Port-53

Sometimes, port 53 (DNS) may be blocked by your ISP and this will interfere with the Smart DNS service. 

How to unblock port TCP/UDP 53 ?

It is worth mentioning that in some situations Smart DNS cannot be used successfully. If your Internet Service Provider diverts the DNS while using a technology called 'Transparent DNS proxy', they intercept all DNS lookup queries (TCP/UDP port 53) and transparently proxy the results. This forces you to use their DNS addresses without being able to change them. Smart DNS might have issues.

In other cases, port 53 (DNS) may be intentionally blocked.

In such a situation, we recommend that you submit a request for unblocking to your ISP's technical support department.

[mobicycle]

STEPS TAKEN

On my device, I go to Settings > Network > Wi-Fi

I select my Wi-Fi connection (or wired connection if I am connected via Ethernet)

I select Configure DNS 

I update the configuration from Automatic to Manual

I input the DNS server IP for my chosen region (The IP was provided by my VPN)

I select Done

I restart my device to apply the changes

In theory, I should now be able to access content from my chosen location

[mobicycle]

I just noticed this post from 2018 - "Change DNS on Smart Hub" https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-home-phone/Change-DNS-on-Smart-Hub/td-p/724056 "‎05-10-2018 10:51 AM - I have a simple problem: I cannot seem to change the DNS servers that the Smart Hub uses. Has anyone done this? The 'Advanced' settings are pretty poor, to be honest." I am not sure how this answer relates to my question.

[XRaySpeX]

I presume that you are looking at a mobile router, not the fixed BB Smart Hub. So you won't necessarily have the same functionality. If you can't set the DNS manually on your router then there is nowt you can do to override the mobile network's own DNS.

However you may often set your own DNS settings on the devices connected to the router, particularly PCs. 

[mobicycle]

4GEE Router Advanced Settings Configure WAN Mac clone LAN WAN ping IP filter MAC filter DMZ ALG UPnP NTP Server Virtual Server QoS Parental Control

[mobicycle]

LAN settings Gateway address: Subnet mask DHCP server: Start IP address: End IP address: DHCP lease time: Hours ApplyCancel

[XRaySpeX]

What's the DHCP got to do with DNS? The DNS settings, if present, will be on the WAN side. 

[mobicycle]

Why would I want to override how IPs are automatically assigned within my network?

DNS 

• maps the domain name to IP address

DHCP 

• is a protocol which assigns IP to the hosts in a network be it statically or dynamically
• configures hosts automatically
• contains two components i.e., a protocol and mechanism

[XRaySpeX]

I dunno! Why would you? I thought your enquiry was about DNS.

Do you really think I need telling what they are? 

[mobicycle]

"Do you really think I need telling what they are?" I dunno.

My goal is to find a way to update the DNS that allows me to access geo-restricted content. If, given EE's setup, that means updating the DHCP, I am willing to do so.