Pi-Hole questions

iTestify
Member

01-10-2018, 02:51 AM

Hello all, I am getting into setting up my home network and wanted to have my own DNS server as Pi-Hole to block out ads mainly, I tinkered with it by installing Pi-Hole on an Ubuntu laptop with Gigabit Ethernet. It worked, kinda.. It didn't break my internet, but it didn't block any ads. I then tried adding block lists from ublock origin, but that didn't seem to do anything either.. Does anyone have experience with this to give me pointers? Would it run better from an actual raspberry pi instead of a Linux system? My Router is a Ubiquiti Dream machine and I have Linksys switch attached to it. I have the UDM firewall turned on, and I set the DNS server on it as the Pi-Hole machine IP and made it a fixed IP. From what I could tell, my internet traffic was being routed through the machine.. The Pi-Hole is also attached to the UDM. Any help is appreciated!

iTestify

01-10-2018, 02:51 AM #1

kotsolol1
Junior Member

01-10-2018, 03:51 PM

It doesn't matter which pi-hole platform you use. Have you confirmed your DNS configurations? Did you verify its functionality by checking various IP addresses? Pi-hole isn't as effective as a browser-based blocker because DNS alone offers limited control.

kotsolol1

01-10-2018, 03:51 PM #2

Luctony74
Member

107

01-10-2018, 05:17 PM

I thought I had configured everything correctly, but I didn’t test with specific IP addresses from the lists. It seems I’m trying to add my own custom lists to Pi-Hole so they match the blocking lists uBlock uses. Is that even feasible?

Luctony74

01-10-2018, 05:17 PM #3

Taybaybay
Posting Freak

850

01-11-2018, 02:01 AM

You won’t achieve the same result as ublock in a browser, since a browser-based ad blocker can handle far more than DNS alone allows.

Taybaybay

01-11-2018, 02:01 AM #4

You won’t achieve the same result as ublock in a browser, since a browser-based ad blocker can handle far more than DNS alone allows.

HydralordX
Junior Member

01-11-2018, 02:09 AM

Big disappointment... with DNS alone, are there other steps you can take to reduce ad exposure on your network?

HydralordX

01-11-2018, 02:09 AM #5

Big disappointment... with DNS alone, are there other steps you can take to reduce ad exposure on your network?

Lok1_
Junior Member

01-11-2018, 02:36 AM

Which gadgets should be excluded from add-ons? Is it simpler to manage this on individual devices rather than using DNS in general.

Lok1_

01-11-2018, 02:36 AM #6

Which gadgets should be excluded from add-ons? Is it simpler to manage this on individual devices rather than using DNS in general.

I_CJay_I
Junior Member

01-11-2018, 10:30 AM

I'm mainly focusing on preventing them on your Chromecast using Google TV, but I'm open to doing the same on our phones as well.

I_CJay_I

01-11-2018, 10:30 AM #7

I'm mainly focusing on preventing them on your Chromecast using Google TV, but I'm open to doing the same on our phones as well.

RJPizza
Member

01-16-2018, 09:23 PM

Consider using pi-hole instead, it won't cause any issues. However, it might not impact the chromecast since they likely run their own ads, making DNS blocking ineffective.

RJPizza

01-16-2018, 09:23 PM #8

Consider using pi-hole instead, it won't cause any issues. However, it might not impact the chromecast since they likely run their own ads, making DNS blocking ineffective.

BlueStar_LH
Posting Freak

842

01-17-2018, 07:19 PM

Could use a router that handles all port 53 requests (this is how I currently bypass Android’s forced Google DNS). However, it doesn’t seem worth buying hardware for this since they’ll likely switch to DNS over HTTPS or TLS soon (they might already have done so, not for ad blocking but for speed). You probably won’t be able to redirect it because they can link it to Google certificates.

BlueStar_LH

01-17-2018, 07:19 PM #9

Minermaster43
Member

01-17-2018, 09:13 PM

#10

Electronics Wizardy highlighted the limitations of DNS blocking. Certain services like YouTube ads often can't be fully prevented at the DNS level because they rely on the same Google edge CDN URLs or IP addresses as the videos, which is where browser extensions typically shine. Regarding Pi-hole, it includes only a limited set of default blocklists. You can incorporate adlists through the Pi-hole Web Interface > Group Management > AdLists (e.g., https://pi.hole/admin/groups-adlists.php). After adding all the lists, restart Gravity—either via the UI settings or by running pihole-g from the command line. Detailed information appears in the console via CLI, but the web interface provides a quick overview of blocked domains and active blocks.

Minermaster43

01-17-2018, 09:13 PM #10