[bug report/help?] Spaces in hostnames break DNS of verizon fios routers

Power & Lighting
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1

TL; DR - Please use more boring default hostnames
I’ve got a Verizon FiOS router that seems to disagree with something in its’ configuration - and I have reason to suspect it’s my Wyze gadgets.
I got on this topic because I am no longer able to change the domain name of my router. It complains about spaces, and they didn’t come from me. Also, this pile of messed up hostnames seems to point a finger :laughing:

In the immediate term: is there a way for me to change the hostname on my gadgets? (bulbs, hub, and cams, in my case)

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<snip>
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.210
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.212
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.212
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.209
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.209
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.211
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.211
wyze.                   0       IN      A       192.168.1.212
packy@wanda:~$ dig wyze @192.168.1.1 | grep A | wc -l
1114

(couple extra lines from dig’s output, but you get the gist)

2

No, no we don’t. Spaces don’t go in host names, and nothing you’ve shown indicates any attempt at spaces in host names. Also your router and your Wyzecams really don’t care about their own hostnames, if any. So I’m not at all sure what you’re talking about.

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1123

See also RFC1035, 2.3.1: “[Domains] must start with a letter, end with a letter or digit, and have as interior characters only letters, digits, and hyphen.”

/could be wrong
/but I don’t think so?

2 Likes
3

Spaces don’t go in host names

correct - this is the thesis of the entire bug report, but you seem to be missing the point that Wyze is shipping firmware that causes devices to put “Wyze Cam v3” in their DHCP client ID field, and the buggy Verizon router with a 10 year old Linux on it behaves in all kinds of funky ways. Obviously the Verizon router shouldn’t have the bug - but Wyze shouldn’t break the RFC either.

nothing you’ve shown indicates any attempt at spaces in host names

ah yeah, sorry… only allowed to attach one image and I removed the wrong one, here:
image

So I’m not at all sure what you’re talking about.

That is clear.

4

Wyze is shipping firmware that causes devices to put “Wyze Cam v3” in their DHCP client ID field

gave myself an idea! I’ll be back after a shower for some wiresharking

5

Having the hostname reported to the DHCP server should not matter at all - nor is one even required. All that the DHCP server cares about is the MAC. Other than making it a bit harder for you to tell which camera is which in your list of DHCP clients (workaround below), it’s a non issue.
The workaround is to show the MAC addresses for your DHCP clients and assuming your DHCP server is capable of it, give a static reservation that normally also allows you to put an alias for that MAC. Here is an extract of a screen capture of some of my Wyze cameras. I do note with interest that apparently a new firmware version does put a different host name than the old generic WyzeCamera. The last part of the hostname is not the MAC…

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2 Likes
6

Hm, I must be doing a terrible job of explaining:
I only set the names of the devices in the app.
I do not care about their actual hostnames.
My wyze bulb requests a host name with a space, which is invalid. (picture, Option 12)
The Verizon router hands it an IP (ok), but then adds an unquoted/unescaped(/untrusted…) string to its config (stupid).
Eventually, the Verizon router falls over because it will end up with ~1100 hostnames in its DNS server.

Wyze can help by either not sending option 12, or by using an RFC 1035 compliant name. RFC 2132: DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor Extensions

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