Edit:
Panel 3: PiHole + uBlock Origin
Panel 4: PiHole + uBlock Origin and recurring donations to pay creators
Portmaster is great, but a network-wide solution like pihole that covers other devices too is invaluable imo
Yes, I know, but my whole network is my Laptop and because of this, I prefer to be able to block individual app conections, not possible with Pi Hole, in which only exist all or nothing.
pihole is not a replacement for ublock
Thanks for catching that. I have updated the description.
Use both together!
Is pi hole any better than using adguard DNS?
It’s the same technology, like how chrome and Firefox are.
pihole uses the same method of blocking as adguard dns but is more configurable, and since it’s usually self-hosted you have full control over it.
btw, nextdns is pretty good too (think of it as a managed configurable, slightly more private alternative to adguard dns, great if you’re not into self hosting).
it lacks custom domain blocklists tho. you can add your own white/blacklisted domains but not whole lists, except ones provided by nextdns.
also, it’s a paid service. free tier includes 300k requests per month, which is enough for ~1.5 devices from my experience.
pfsense with blockerng anyone?
Opnsense with unbound dns for me
This sounds like something I should look into. I already run pfsense and wanted to look into a pihole, but if I can do it all in pfsense that’ll work out even better. Thanks!
I’d recommend it, not very hard to setup and there’s tons of guides online if you need help
There are a lot of public DNS that do the stuff pihole does.
I’ve considered that too, but thanks for the reminder!
Pi-hole won’t block Youtube ads. uBlock Origin does.
Is there any router side solutions for YouTube adds? I want to block for my family, but they don’t see the point.
You have to set up a proxy.
Even for those who are technical enough to set up a pihole, it’s annoying to set up a proxy and some apps simply won’t work with it.
I would love to learn how to block YouTube ads with a proxy. Do you have a link to instructions?
Not sure if these instructions work. First result from Google.
It does not. Domain based blocking does not work with youtube.
Your link event says it:
Some ads may […] be served through the same domain as the website, making them harder to block without blocking the website itself.
There is no point in using a proxy for this, because of https it won’t be able to block more than with DNS blocking. Maybe a tiny bit more if you set up mitm but that’s really not worth it.
Nope. Youtube ads are served from the same domains as the videos so there is nothing you can to to block them via DNS. Your best bet is just installing Ublock for them. Now a days an ad blocker is a security necessity anyways.
Ublock on roku when?
When you stop using roku and just plug in a cheap used laptop or something instead
Thats about to happen, I’m just going to miss the tv remote user interface
I actually really like the unified remote app. It lets you use your phone as a remote for any computer on the same network. I think the premium version just lets you link more computers otherwise the free version is just as good.
Installing uBlock is so quick, all you need is 30 seconds of their consent to lean over their shoulder and install it. The whole process can be faster than the actual ad break, in some cases.
Doesn’t really work for all “embedded” devices, though. Phones, consoles, sticks, etc. all come with their own apps and there’s unfortunately not always a reasonable way to install solutions there.
You all, try SmartTube app on Android TV, 0 ads ever
for phones you can use firefox to get ublock on mobile and youtube revanced for an ad-free youtube app :)
deleted by creator
Follow-up question: what open source software projects do you contribute to? I like using Liberapay or Open Collective, with Patreon as a third choice.
PiHole doesn’t work with VPNs, does it?
Yep it does, most VPN software lets you configure the DNS server to be your pihole.
If you care about the privacy of your DNS requests, tunnel the pihole through a VPN too
Yes, its a DNS server. You can set up your device to use whatever DNS server you choose, including pihole.
I’ve got my VPN connected with pihole as the default DNS server so it works on my phone when I’m not at home.
No because VPNs route your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. But PiHole can filter traffic on any device on your network regardless of whether or not you can install a plugin.
Forgot unbound
Most install guides include pihole with Unbound DNS but running your own DNS server is not a requirement for ad and tracker blocking.
!boinc@sopuli.xyz is the final level. Using your Pi to cure cancer and identify asteroids
I wonder what number of cents a month is more than what content creators get from youtube or their other sites (sans donation platforms like Patreon).
It could be interesting to set aside like $5 a month to have dividends of that go out to people you actively utilize.
At least for platforms like YouTube, creators are making $0 unless they have a ton of watch ours and subscribers and can be monetized.
Also ADguard dns service for your mobile device on Mobile networks
Does anyone have a link for how to set up a pihole that a dumb dumb like me could understand?
Honestly don’t bother. Ublock is better at blocking ads. Pihole is for devices on your network that can’t use conventional ad blockers and is less effective.
If you are not so fit in this questions is better to install Portmaster, its downloading and run it, not much more to do (blocking or give permissions to connecting to the network to your apps. Maybe sellecting an DNS which fits your needs in the settings. It’s way easier to handle than Pi Hole. It even has an SPN (its like a VPN on steroids), but its an paid option.
May you recover from your stroke quickly.
Adding to the existing comments, there is also invidious which doesn’t bombard you with adds and if you have a homeserver you can easily host an instance (acts like a frontend to youtube)
If the router provided by my isp won’t allow me to change the dns server, is there a workaround for having to set the local dns server on each device that doesn’t involve getting a new router?
You can use a second router and pass through the WAN. It’s a bit complicated to explain in a comment, but it’s also not too difficult. Is your ISP ATT?
Most cable modem router combos have the ability to turn off the router part and just act as a modem in Bridge mode. If that’s an option, you can get your own router to handle local traffic, including dhcp (and thus dns) for all your local devices.
Obviously, this goes against your request not to get your own router, but I thought I’d mention it in case you thought you would have to buy your own modem as well (which you are also free to do, assuming your isp supports customer-owned modems). The modem part can stay the same while having a separate router not controlled by the isp.
If your particular unit doesn’t allow that, you can usually still locally override dns settings, though this is more for computers and phones than it is some smart home devices. iPhone and Android phones will let you specify dns ip addresses when you set up a wifi connection. Just edit the wifi config and change to a static ip. You can usually safely use the ip address given to you from dhcp, so make a note of your device ip address before changing it to static, and just use the same values. Then you can manually set the dns ip address.
Or you could just switch DHCP over to the Pi-hole. Most ISP routers support turning off DHCP even if you can’t change their DNS.
Use the pi or whatever little computer that’s presumably hosting the pi-hole software to also be a DHCP server (and turn off the DHCP server on ISP’s router). It can then advertise itself as the DNS server.
That’s a great idea! I will try it tomorrow, thank you.
Edit: Worked nicely :)
Or simply use AdGuard DNS
IMO NextDNS is a better solution if you don’t wanna roll your own pihole
I’m using Control D dns on my phone, i get better latency
ADS?
Ads, as in the stuff that is blocked by ublock and pihole.
Damm i read ABP … and was confused. Yeh sure ads are smoll brain! (Same as ABP)
