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I spend quite a lot of time in a nearby coffee shop, and as a result also use their internet a lot. The problem is that the DNS servers their network offers by default are terribly slow (~1s per request), and since they use a (poorly implemented) captive portal to get customers to login, using a public DNS server like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 makes it impossible to login.

To make matters worse, the DNS server used by default seems to change every few days, so in order to use their network I have to set my DNS settings to 'Obtain DNS server address automatically', login, and then change them to something more usable.

So, how can I make this less miserable? Is there any way 'Obtain DNS server address automatically' can be used as a fallback to my preferred DNS server?

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  • Personally if I’m using public WiFi, i just VPN to my home network and use my own internet. I can log in with there dns but once I open the VPN the DNS server is my home router which has my 3 preferences and uses my outbound connection as if I’m sitting at home instead.
    – Tyson
    Commented Aug 13, 2018 at 20:35

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The DNS server you get in a coffee shop is often a reverse proxy that bounces you out to another DNS server once you are authorized. And it will not proxy you out until you are authorized. So there is no good way to resolve this by avoiding it... I'm sure if one knew the devices and software involved, it could be done. But that would certainly violate the terms of service, etc.

Rather than avoiding it, you may be able to create a script that reduces your effort each time. You would log in and authenticate. Then, run the script to update your DNS servers so you go directly to them and skip the proxy.

Note: This also might be a violation of the terms of service at the coffee shop. There may be a requirement that you use their DNS server, which may be set up to refuse to allow connections to certain sites that may make other customers uncomfortable for example. One would have to read it to find out.

Good luck.

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No, 'Obtain DNS server address automatically' can not be used as a fallback to our preferred DNS server. We either obtain DNS server address automatically or specify our preferred DNS server. We can't use the function of automatically obtaining the DNS server address and specifying our preferred DNS server at the same time.

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