Post by mslo79 on Mar 23, 2020 18:49:38 GMT
it's completely free (as long as you have a device you can run it on, like say a old laptop your not really using and it collects dust etc) as all you basically need is a device that can run Linux (Ubuntu/Debian etc. I am currently using Linux Mint (which is Ubuntu based) ; which is also free) and you can install that to the device with the following two commands from the terminal as shown here (which is simple enough)... github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/#method-2-manually-download-the-installer-and-run ; then follow on screen instructions which are simple enough. make sure you setup a static IP address.
after your done there all you need to do is change your routers DNS server to the device running Pi-Hole's IP address (NOTE: the Pi-Hole device is using Google's DNS server in my case), which you should setup a static IP on the device you want to use, which can be done through that installer. NOTE: you can then access the Pi-Hole interface through "http://192.168.1.x/admin" (adjust the 'x' to whatever you set yours up as) in your browser. just make sure you write down the password it generates for you as you will need that to configure/tweak anything further if you need to.
once you do this, you will get a solid level of ad-filtering on ANY device connected to your router (or your routers WiFi connection to automatically) since your router basically runs all websites you try to access through it's DNS and anything in the filter lists will be blocked. so it will filter ads on someones smart phone for example without them needing to do anything to their smart phone (as long as their smart phone is using the Wifi connection and not their mobile network, obviously).
so basically, in my case... I just got a old laptop that was collecting dust connected to my router with a standard ethernet cable and that's all you got to do as far as hardware connections go to get this to work.
NOTE: I had to do a small tweak on Linux installation I was using on the old Toshiba NB 305 laptop, which is what I am running Pi-Hole on, in that I had to get it so the laptop does not go into hibernation mode etc when the laptop lid is closed otherwise it will suspend the DNS server which we don't want as it will interfere with your internet access. so I made it so when the laptop lid is closed the computer runs just like someone was using it normally.
NOTE: this Pi-Hole device needs to run 24/7 (as in all of the time) along with your router (for those who don't know... a router is what one accesses their Wifi from at home).
p.s. briefly testing this Pi-Hole setup on IMDB2, it filters out a lot of the junk with no ad-blocker whatsoever installed on your web browser.
NOTE: for those using uBlock Origin (by Raymond Hill), which I suggest most people use as a general rule, this Pi-Hole option is not that important (it's more of a bonus) as Pi-Hole is not as thorough with ad-filtering like uBlock Origin is but it's a solid alternative/backup option as anything blocked by Pi-Hole simply won't be downloaded to your computer at all, like the ad servers blocked by Pi-hole will just return a response to your browser like the website is offline even though it's not actually offline.
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A quick screenshot of what it looks like if you need to access the interface to configure stuff...