verizon DNS "helper"

Rob Lembree rob at jumpshift.com
Wed Nov 14 17:22:12 EST 2007


Verizon recently (I think) put in a handy DNS "helper" that redirects  
DNS requests that result in a "not found" to their own servers.
This completely breaks lots of stuff, and they should be lashed 50  
times with a wet noodle for doing so.   It breaks the internet.

To their credit, they have an "opt out" option that you can use.  If  
you go to the configure page for your router, note your DNS settings.   
Get to the point where you can choose to take DNS settings from DHCP,  
and hard code your own DNS settings to the same addresses that DHCP  
had given you, but replacing the '.12' with '.14', e.g.,  
"192.168.0.12" would become "192.168.0.14".

So I wanted to tell Verizon what a stupid move this is, and at the  
same time tell them thanks for making opting out so relatively  
painless, but I found that Verizon internet doesn't actually let you  
speak with people.  Maybe those big windowless buildings *are* a sign  
that the phone company is really and truly run entirely by machines.

 >sigh<


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