The really annoying thing about the NVG510's DHCP implementation is that it can't be configured to tell clients to use any DNS server other than its own version of dnsmasq! To get a more reliable DNS resolution you have to either set up each client with a static network configuration or use some other machine on your network as a DHCP server.

As if the ridiculous DNS problems weren't enough, I also found a problem with the NVG510's WiFi service which is, to date, inexplicable. Randomly, as far as I can figure out, devices connected via WiFi will lose their connections and, when you try to re-connect, they'll just say they can't do such a thing.

The modem doesn't report a problem and the table of wirelessly connected devices just shows them all as "off", but after stopping and restarting the WiFi service (restarting the entire modem isn't required), wireless devices can immediately reconnect.

I've sent copious notes and dumps of the NVG510's log to AT&T but, so far, no solution or even acknowledgment of the existence of either the DNS or WiFi problems have been forthcoming after more than one week.

The Motorola NVG510 DSL modem and AT&T support both get a Gearhead rating of 1 out of 5.