Lets talk Pi-hole / AdGuard Home setups

[mattkime]

Ad blocking is something that slipped off my radar and I'd like to make another attempt at it.

Pi-hole and AdGuard Home are oft cited solutions. Who has experience with these? Any downsides? Any config concerns?

I'm debating whether I should run either one on my existing home automation Raspberry pi 4 or whether I should buy a new pi for that. If I need a new pi, then which one, case, power, etc.

At first blush it seems I might start with running AdGuard Home on my existing Pi. Some people run these on separate machines but I don't see ad blocking as critical. I think this requires having fallback DNS set appropriately.

The main thing I'm curious about is how many complaints I might get from my wife and kids about things not working and what I might need to put in place to accommodate any issues.

[gadje]

Pi-Hole is very, very efficient. My 2012 Pi1 model B (not even model 1 B+) runs just fine. I installed the CLI only OS (no GUI) and did the setup remotely via SSH.

At the moment, I only use it on my laptop and phone, since wife and kids sometimes complain if they search something in google and when they click on the ads, it does not load. I think the Pi 1 probably has enough power to handle my entire household if I wanted.

Whatever model you get, it mush have ethernet built in. Do not try WiFi, or USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

No experience with AdGuard, let me know if yo find that better than Pi-Hole, I am curious.

[Forrest]

I found two guides suggesting setting up Pi Hole over Wi-Fi
https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/running-pi-hole-on-a-raspberry-pi/

https://learn.adafruit.com/pi-hole-ad-blocker-with-pi-zero-w/overview-adafruit2

[gadje]

to be clear: I recommend a wired connection between the Pi-hole device and the router. Then you can use WiFi for any device in your house, of course.

What I do not recommend: a WiFi connection between the raspberry Pi-hole and the router. You should be able to place the Pi next to the router and plug it in.

[RAMd®d]

Are there any downsides to the Pi-hole approach?

So this blocks some (?) ads from getting through the router?

I get popups when using ad blockers in Safari, and if I'm of a mind (seldom) I can unblock to read the content, assuming Reader View isn't an option, and the content is worth my time.

Is this an issue with a Pi-hole?



What I do not recommend: a WiFi connection between the raspberry Pi-hole and the router.


Because... ?

Because Then you can use WiFi for any device in your house, of course.

That reads like an additional reason.