---
title: "Configuring Cloudflare for Families on an ASUS Router"
description: "In this post I’ll walk through how I configured Cloudflare for Families on my ASUS router, why I think it’s a good idea, and what each parameter really means. Setting this up is simple, but the benefits for security, privacy and peace of mind are surprisingly strong."
author: "Carlos Luengo Vera"
date: "2025-08-29"
lang: "en"
category: "Cloudflare"
tags: "networking, security, home lab, cloudflare, asus, dns"
canonical: "https://carlosluengo.com/blog/configuring-cloudflare-for-families-asus"
---
# Configuring Cloudflare for Families on an ASUS Router

> In this post I’ll walk through how I configured Cloudflare for Families on my ASUS router, why I think it’s a good idea, and what each parameter really means. Setting this up is simple, but the benefits for security, privacy and peace of mind are surprisingly strong.

### Summary

Using Cloudflare for Families DNS inside an ASUS router provides a layer of protection against malware and adult content across all devices at home, without installing any software individually.

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#### What is Cloudflare for Families?

Cloudflare offers a free DNS service with built-in filtering. Instead of your ISP’s DNS servers, you point your devices (or better, your whole network) to Cloudflare’s servers.

- **1.1.1.1** is Cloudflare’s fast, private DNS.
- **1.1.1.2 / 1.0.0.2** block malware.
- **1.1.1.3 / 1.0.0.3** block malware + adult content.

By setting this up at router level, every device connected to your Wi-Fi automatically benefits from it.

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#### How to Configure on an ASUS Router

Here’s the configuration I applied (screenshot below):

![Cloudflare for Families ASUS Router config](https://media.carlosluengo.com/blog/configuring-cloudflare-for-families-asus/cloudflare_asus-fbf55537ed-1600.webp)

1. **WAN DNS Setting**
   - Set **DNS Server** manually to `1.1.1.3` and `1.0.0.3`.
   - This ensures all requests go through Cloudflare’s Family filter.

2. **Forward local domain queries to upstream DNS** → _Yes_
   - Lets the router forward even internal lookups to the upstream server, ensuring consistency.

3. **Enable DNS Rebind Protection** → _Yes_
   - Blocks malicious responses that try to reroute internal queries to external IPs.

4. **Enable DNSSEC support & Validate responses** → _Yes_
   - Adds cryptographic validation that DNS replies haven’t been tampered with.

5. **Prevent client auto DoH** → _Yes_
   - Stops clients from bypassing router DNS settings by using their own encrypted DNS.

6. **DNS Privacy Protocol** → _DNS-over-TLS (DoT)_
   - Encrypts DNS traffic so your ISP can’t snoop on the sites you’re visiting.

7. **DNS-over-TLS Profile** → _Strict_
   - Forces encryption and validation of the DNS server identity.

8. **Server List**
   - Added `1.1.1.3` with hostname `family.cloudflare-dns.com`.
   - Port `853` is the standard for DoT.

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#### Benefits I’ve Noticed

- **Peace of mind:** All devices are automatically protected, even IoT gadgets.
- **Performance:** Cloudflare is fast; I didn’t notice any slowdown.
- **Security baseline:** DNS filtering won’t block everything, but it cuts down exposure to phishing and shady content.
- **Parental control without hassle:** Instead of configuring each child’s device, I set it once on the router.

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#### My Personal Take

For me, configuring **Cloudflare for Families** was a no-brainer. It’s free, fast, and adds a meaningful extra layer of security and filtering. I like solutions that work at the network edge rather than on each device — they’re easier to maintain and harder to bypass.

This won’t replace full parental control or endpoint protection, but it’s a very strong starting point. If you have an ASUS router, I highly recommend enabling it.

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Author: Carlos Luengo Vera — https://carlosluengo.com/about