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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 5, 2022 16:46:56 GMT
A discussion that was a bit off topic in the money saving thread so I thought I'd start its own topic.
What's it all about?
Pi-hole is free, open source software that allows you to block ads across your whole home network and (if you add a VPN,) even beyond. It'll run on something as cheap and low powered as a Raspberry Pi, hence the name. It does this by acting as the DNS provider for your network.
My browser already has an ad blocker, why should I care?
Because it covers all devices, even those that don't have access to those tools. For example we have smart TVs and Mrs Vader uses the ITV, C4, C5 and UKTV on demand apps. All insert ads during the programmes, all of which are blocked by the Pi-hole. We just see the title card as they cut to ad break, then it moves straight to the title card welcoming you back to the show. Seamless. You can also add custom blocklists for things like malware, illegal content, fake news, pornography etc or manually add your own if you want to say, entirely block facebook.
It also works on mobiles (while they're on your home wifi,) and stops/minimises the phoning home that smart devices can do. Our Rokus, Smart TVs, Smart Bulbs etc don't send telemetery home any more, or show ads on their app/home pages. You can also whitelist certain domains if it breaks stuff. I have to allow our smart speakers to phone home to Google or they go on strike.
Finally as its network wide you only have to configure it once, you don't tweak anything on any of your devices. If its blocked on one, it's blocked on all.
That sounds awesome, how do I get started?
Buy/borrow/steal a Rasberry Pi, you can download and find instructions on how to set up the software at: pi-hole.net/
A few people maintain very extensive blocklists you can import, I use some of the following:
Only add a few lists at a time and see if anything breaks. My total blocklist is just short of half a million domains and it blocks around 15% of all requests made from my network. If anything really borks you can reset to defaults. If you post in this thread I'll try to help out too.
Cool, but you sound like a shill. Are you on commission for this?
I bloody wish.
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Post by dfunked on Feb 5, 2022 17:00:08 GMT
I've gone for the very similar Adguard home this afternoon.
Dug out my old Pi model B with the intention of sticking pihole on it, then spent ages looking for something that I can pop the full size SD card into before giving up. Then had the brainstorm of checking if I can just do this on my router instead (Asus Merlin)
All good so far. Imported a couple of lists specifically for consoles and smart TVs and its chugging away happily blocking requests. I'll have a look at those lists too.
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 5, 2022 18:22:10 GMT
Yeah, it's scary just how many requests go to these domains. We have a couple of Roku and they try to phone home once a minute.
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askew
Full Member
Posts: 6,831
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Post by askew on Feb 5, 2022 18:28:14 GMT
You might find they are polling that frequently because they are being blocked. But yes, it is scary how chatty our devices are. Most tend to be very talkative overnight.
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Post by jonsend on Feb 5, 2022 18:30:08 GMT
I also have a OG model B somewhere, no idea what OS. What's my best option if starting from scratch. Presumably I want something which will automatically boot after power loss.
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Post by dfunked on Feb 5, 2022 18:37:38 GMT
Open to correction, but I'd say grab the raspberry pi imager and use that to stick the lite version (32 bit too) of the raspberry pi os.
Boot it up and enable SSH (think you can edit a file on the SD card before you put it in the pi to do that) and then connect with Putty or whatever and follow whatever guide is handy (it's just a one liner command to install really)
It'll run as a service and Pi's will always auto power on after a power cut, so no need to worry about auto recovery.
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 5, 2022 18:38:22 GMT
The default raspberry pi OS (used to be called Raspbian,) is fine, the lite version that's CLI only is all that's needed. Only need to enter a couple of commands and the rest is done via a Web interface.
By default it restarts after a power failure.
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Post by harrypalmer on Feb 5, 2022 19:06:52 GMT
Will be doing this asap, thanks for the reminder.
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Post by jonsend on Feb 5, 2022 21:02:07 GMT
Thanks fannies!
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Post by jonsend on Feb 6, 2022 19:05:34 GMT
I've had a crack today. I had hoped I could turn over the router DNS primary to PiHole so I could leave the secondary as default (I.e. if the Pi dies I don't have to remember what the hell to do) while leaving DHCP on the router. Doesn't seem possible, at least on Virgin Hub 3. Instead of turning over DHCP to the Pi for now I've set up a couple of devices to be static IPs and use the Pi as the DNS to try it out. If all OK I'll turn over DHCP and DNS to Pi. Using the default list seemed to block YouTube ads but not 4OD (or whatever its called now). Grabbed some more lists from here, just waiting for them to update. firebog.net/ |
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Post by Danno on Feb 6, 2022 19:10:03 GMT
@spacein_vader Top banana.
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 6, 2022 19:39:32 GMT
I've had a crack today. I had hoped I could turn over the router DNS primary to PiHole so I could leave the secondary as default (I.e. if the Pi dies I don't have to remember what the hell to do). Doesn't seem possible, at least on Virgin Hub 3. Instead of turning over DHCP to the Pi for now I've set up a couple of devices to be static IPs and use the Pi as the DNS to try it out. If all OK I'll turn over DHCP and DNS to Pi. Using the default list seemed to block YouTube ads but not 4OD (or whatever its called now). Grabbed some more lists from here, just waiting for them to update. firebog.net/You don't have to wait for the lists to update, force a refresh by going into Tools > Update Gravity. Can't remember which list sorted 4OD but I've found Googling "*Name of service* pi hole" often gives you the relevant domains. For All4 the following seem popular: https://gist.github.com/georgesale/e80ac2bf88357de2eafbce9ebd0e979f https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/comments/oa7re8/all4_ads/ You may need to do some whitelisting though. |
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Post by jonsend on Feb 6, 2022 19:44:53 GMT
I've had a crack today. I had hoped I could turn over the router DNS primary to PiHole so I could leave the secondary as default (I.e. if the Pi dies I don't have to remember what the hell to do). Doesn't seem possible, at least on Virgin Hub 3. Instead of turning over DHCP to the Pi for now I've set up a couple of devices to be static IPs and use the Pi as the DNS to try it out. If all OK I'll turn over DHCP and DNS to Pi. Using the default list seemed to block YouTube ads but not 4OD (or whatever its called now). Grabbed some more lists from here, just waiting for them to update. firebog.net/You don't have to wait for the lists to update, force a refresh by going into Tools > Update Gravity. Can't remember which list sorted 4OD but I've found Googling "*Name of service* pi hole" often gives you the relevant domains. For All4 the following seem popular: https://gist.github.com/georgesale/e80ac2bf88357de2eafbce9ebd0e979f https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/comments/oa7re8/all4_ads/ You may need to do some whitelisting though. Thanks, I had forced the update, it was just underway. Took the top 3 ad lists from FireBog and that has sorted out All4 now. Next thing is to change the smart TV. Looks like youtube ads (on Android at least) are not blocked. |
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Post by Dougs on Feb 7, 2022 8:22:50 GMT
I have a spare Pi, I really should do this. I am a techno-cretin though.
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 7, 2022 9:06:19 GMT
I have a spare Pi, I really should do this. I am a techno-cretin though. It's not too bad, 2 lines of code to copy and paste into a Pi and then 1 setting change on your router. After that it's all done through a Web browser. Give it a go, happy to help if you get stuck. |
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Post by grizzly on Feb 7, 2022 9:13:40 GMT
Heh, I always felt like this stuff was a bit too much work, but after the recent GDPR rulings making it blatantly clear that stuff like Google Analytics and add companies that most websites use are just violating the law perpetually, stuff like this might just be a necessary step to prevent companies from doing crimes to me.
Now where to get one of those Raspberries...
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 7, 2022 9:27:20 GMT
Heh, I always felt like this stuff was a bit too much work, but after the recent GDPR rulings making it blatantly clear that stuff like Google Analytics and add companies that most websites use are just violating the law perpetually, stuff like this might just be a necessary step to prevent companies from doing crimes to me. Now where to get one of those Raspberries... To be honest it was that kind of stuff (I'm a data protection officer by trade,) as much as the ads that got me started. Its quite scary just how many different domains are contacted when you go to a website which you can see from the logs. Some bigger sites load over 100 different domains worth of ads, trackers, beacons and other analytics and shadyness. Just to show you 1 text article. As for pis, The Pi Hut or Pimoroni are well established if you're in the UK. Even a basic model is enough. |
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Post by Dougs on Feb 7, 2022 9:31:07 GMT
I have a spare Pi, I really should do this. I am a techno-cretin though. It's not too bad, 2 lines of code to copy and paste into a Pi and then 1 setting change on your router. After that it's all done through a Web browser. Give it a go, happy to help if you get stuck. Thanks, I managed to get Kodi going on the Pi in the past, sure I can manage this! Will check out the guide and try and find some time this weekend to have a bash. |
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 7, 2022 9:52:08 GMT
It's not too bad, 2 lines of code to copy and paste into a Pi and then 1 setting change on your router. After that it's all done through a Web browser. Give it a go, happy to help if you get stuck. Thanks, I managed to get Kodi going on the Pi in the past, sure I can manage this! Will check out the guide and try and find some time this weekend to have a bash. If you can get Kodi going on a Pi, this is much easier. |
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Post by jonsend on Feb 7, 2022 20:35:02 GMT
I have a spare Pi, I really should do this. I am a techno-cretin though. It's not too bad, 2 lines of code to copy and paste into a Pi and then 1 setting change on your router. After that it's all done through a Web browser. Give it a go, happy to help if you get stuck. My hints: Use the raspberry pi imager to install a command line version of the radpberry pi os (I installed the desktop version first and it took forever to boot on my OG model B) The default login is U:pi P:raspberry I did a couple of things which perhaps weren't necessary: Enabled SSH using 'sudo raspi-config' and connected from my windows laptop. Best to change the default password though I guess if doing this using 'sudo passwd'. You dont need this as you can access pihole through a web server. Set the IP to static by editing a config file (sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf). I think the pihole installer might do this for you. |
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Post by Dougs on Feb 7, 2022 21:29:32 GMT
Thanks chaps.
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Post by Danno on Feb 7, 2022 22:05:11 GMT
I get horny clicking on this
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Post by Danno on Feb 7, 2022 22:06:21 GMT
I get horny clicking on this (only a lil' bit) |
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 8, 2022 0:56:10 GMT
It's not too bad, 2 lines of code to copy and paste into a Pi and then 1 setting change on your router. After that it's all done through a Web browser. Give it a go, happy to help if you get stuck. My hints: Use the raspberry pi imager to install a command line version of the radpberry pi os (I installed the desktop version first and it took forever to boot on my OG model B) The default login is U:pi P:raspberry I did a couple of things which perhaps weren't necessary: Enabled SSH using 'sudo raspi-config' and connected from my windows laptop. Best to change the default password though I guess if doing this using 'sudo passwd'. You dont need this as you can access pihole through a web server. Set the IP to static by editing a config file (sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf). I think the pihole installer might do this for you. Enabling SSH does allow you to run updates which you can't do from the UI. SSH in and "pihole -up" will do it. |
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Post by dfunked on Feb 8, 2022 7:37:26 GMT
Yeah, you might want to do general updates once in a while too (sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y)
SSH is pretty essential if you're going to run it headless tucked away somewhere.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2022 8:42:19 GMT
So... clueless person here.
I would need to buy a Pi (from Pi Home I assume) and that can be whatever the base version is. I would then have to have that plugged in somewhere all the time (and this is a bare circuit board in the cheapo versions I think). I assume you need to connect a keyboard and monitor and mouse for the initial setup. Then install an OS (via an SD card?). The OS sounds a bit like Linux which I've messed with a little.
Then you install Pi Hole (again I assume via an SD card) and then various blocking lists. You then change your router so that it points to the virtual DNS of the Pi (which I assume has wi-fi so doesn't need to be ethernetted into the router) and you're done.
At that point, Youtube, All 4 etc on a smart TV will be Ad free as long as you leave on the Pi. If the Pi dies, your network dies. However, I assume there are also block lists for porn sites and such like which would be handy as those are currently blocked here, but when I switch to FATCO, that might not be the case. I was considering Open DNS (used it before) for when this happens, but this might be a better fix.
I assume that the Pi can't be used for anything else while its running pi hole, so it would be the cost of one of them, setup swearing and minimal running costs (As you'd not need the monitor keyboard etc plugged in once its going).
I don't know as much about SSH as I should, but assume that is for accessing it remotely from another PC on my network. I don't know how to do that, but I know an internet that does.
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Post by spacein_vader on Feb 8, 2022 9:37:03 GMT
So... clueless person here. I would need to buy a Pi (from Pi Home I assume) and that can be whatever the base version is. I would then have to have that plugged in somewhere all the time (and this is a bare circuit board in the cheapo versions I think). I assume you need to connect a keyboard and monitor and mouse for the initial setup. Then install an OS (via an SD card?). The OS sounds a bit like Linux which I've messed with a little. Then you install Pi Hole (again I assume via an SD card) and then various blocking lists. You then change your router so that it points to the virtual DNS of the Pi (which I assume has wi-fi so doesn't need to be ethernetted into the router) and you're done. At that point, Youtube, All 4 etc on a smart TV will be Ad free as long as you leave on the Pi. If the Pi dies, your network dies. However, I assume there are also block lists for porn sites and such like which would be handy as those are currently blocked here, but when I switch to FATCO, that might not be the case. I was considering Open DNS (used it before) for when this happens, but this might be a better fix. I assume that the Pi can't be used for anything else while its running pi hole, so it would be the cost of one of them, setup swearing and minimal running costs (As you'd not need the monitor keyboard etc plugged in once its going). I don't know as much about SSH as I should, but assume that is for accessing it remotely from another PC on my network. I don't know how to do that, but I know an internet that does. 1. Correct, a Pi is less than £30, another £5 for an AC adaptor and you need a minimum 16gb (another £5 if you don't have one already. You can run it without a case, or buy one, or make one out of lego, or just cut holes in a cardboard box. 2. It does need to be on all the time but the power draw is tiny, a Pi can run on AA batteries for a day or so for example. 3. I usually borrow the keyboard/monitor from my PC for setup, mouse optional if you stick to the command line. 4. The OS is a version of Linux aimed at new users (the setup is called NOOBS for New Out Of Box Software,) and will be pre installed if you buy the SD card from a Pi shop or a 5 minute download if not. The lite version is fine as you won't use the GUI. 5. Installation is one command on the command line and then Web browser based. It's worth a second command to enable SSH too. 6. You do change your routers DNS. Most routers allow you to set a primary & secondary, if you keep the secondary DNS as a public one your Internet will keep working even if the Pi breaks. 7. Correct, there are porn block lists, fake news ones, religous ones, social media ones you name it. 8. Not sure what FATCO is sorry. 9. It uses the same techniques as open DNS but because you host it locally you can customise it to your own needs with both whichever mix of blocklists you use but personal black/whitelisting. 10. Check the spec but allodetn pis have WiFi except the base Zero (zero W does,) and all have ethernet except the Zero series. 11. You can use the pi for other stuff, dns is not taxing. My pi 3 is blocking a million domains and according to the dash using 3% CPU and 9% of its 2gb memory. 12. SSH is a remote login that gives you access to the pis command line from anywhere on your local network. SSH clients are available for PC, Mac, Android and iOS so you can use anything. |
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robthehermit
Junior Member
Subjectively amusing
Posts: 2,468
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Post by robthehermit on Feb 8, 2022 12:19:06 GMT
So which one of you arseholes bought the last starter kit from Pi Hut that I had my eye on?
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Post by Dougs on Feb 8, 2022 12:35:45 GMT
Amazon have some
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dmukgr
Junior Member
Posts: 1,531
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Post by dmukgr on Feb 8, 2022 13:03:33 GMT
I too am going to have a crack at this, but not for a few weeks as I'm busy moving into the house etc. Out of interest, what does one of those local newspaper type web sites look like after all of this? presumably just a blank page pretty much with very little text  |
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