moving the dnsmasq to 55 really takes down internet browsing. I initially figured this was an openvpn issue but when the vpn was disconnected with dnsmasq set on port 55, the browser would still fail to resolve names. It was only when I reset the port back to 53 when things became normal.

What would happen if I were to disable dnsmasq altogether so that it doesn't start at boot? is that feasible?