Pi-hole

What does a Pi-hole do?

Pi-hole is a general purpose network-wide ad-blocker that protects your network from ads and trackers without requiring any setup on individual devices. It is able to block ads on any network device (e.g. smart appliances), and, unlike browser add-ons, Pi-hole blocks ads on any type of software.

Is Pi-hole free?

Pi-hole is free, but powered by your support.

Is Pi-hole a firewall?

Pi-hole functions similarly to a network firewall, meaning that advertisements and tracking domains are blocked for all devices behind it, whereas traditional advertisement blockers only run in a user's browser, and remove advertisements only on the same machine.

Can Pi-hole be a VPN?

This tutorial walks you through the installation of Pi-hole combined with a VPN server for secure access from remote clients. Via this VPN, you can: use the DNS server and full filtering capabilities of your Pi-hole from everywhere around the globe. access your admin interface remotely.

Does Pi-hole still work in 2022?

It was superseded by Debian Buster on 2019-07-06. Stretch received Long-Term-Support since 2020-07-06 but only until 2022-06-30. It cannot be considered safe to continue running Stretch and, hence, Pi-hole dropped Stretch support – now also for the pre-compiled binaries.

Is Pi-hole effective?

Pi-Hole has been deemed as one of the most effective ways to block ads network-wide since it works at the DNS level, which means that it doesn't affect the network performance and it can actually improve it considering that some ads can slow down the loading time for websites or apps (and with Pi-Hole, they don't get ...

Does Pi-hole slow internet?

Pi-hole has no effect on your internet speed. None of the data traffic from a client goes through Pi-hole; that traffic is solely between the client and the router. Only the very low bandwidth DNS traffic goes to the Pi-hole. Pi-hole also has zero impact on the WiFi stability on your network.

What hardware is best for Pi-hole?

We recommend the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ because it works well as a fanless computer with no moving parts. For storage the SanDisk Extreme MicroSD 32GB or larger. We also recommend the see-through Zebra Classic Case from C4 Labs.

Can I run Pi-hole on my PC?

cmd · Pi-hole for Windows. Install script to help Pi-hole run semi-natively under Windows 10/11 and Server 2019/2022 by leveraging the Windows Subsystem for Linux, renamed later to WSL1. Because WSL1 does not require a hypervisor and full Linux kernel it's the most lightweight way to run Pi-hole on Windows.

Is Pi-hole a DNS server?

Pi-hole includes a caching and forwarding DNS server, now known as FTL DNS . After applying the blocking lists, it forwards requests made by the clients to configured upstream DNS server(s).

Can Pi holes block malware?

It will also stop access to malware sites and phishing websites. Furthermore, Pi-Hole will stop devices from leaking personal information out of your network so if your IoT Fridge is spying on you going to be able to find out.

Is Raspberry Pi enough for Pi-hole?

Pi-hole will work on any Raspberry Pi. For our tutorial, we'll be using a Raspberry Pi 4, and you will need a USB-C power supply. Older models will require a micro USB power supply. Because we are going to be running a headless setup, we won't need extra peripherals.

Can Pi-hole block websites?

Request: Block a domain of subpages on the network. To filter specific URLs you would need a transparent proxy server like Squid. Pi-Hole is a DNS resolver that blocks whole domains and sub-domains.

Is Pi-hole encrypted?

Recently, I upgraded my Pi-Hole server to make its DNS requests over HTTPS. This technique encrypts DNS queries in the same way that web pages are requested securely.

Does Pi-hole work on mobile?

Pi-hole is a custom DNS server for Raspberry Pi devices running Raspbian. It blocks ads from being displayed on the devices on your network, just like the popular browser extensions Adblock Plus and uBlock Origin. It can block YouTube ads and some in-app advertisements on mobile devices.

Can Pi holes block malware?

Does Pi-hole reduce network speed?

Is Pi-hole a DNS server?

Pi-hole includes a caching and forwarding DNS server, now known as FTL DNS . After applying the blocking lists, it forwards requests made by the clients to configured upstream DNS server(s).

What Pi is used for PI holes?

Pi-hole will work on any Raspberry Pi. For our tutorial, we'll be using a Raspberry Pi 4, and you will need a USB-C power supply. Older models will require a micro USB power supply.

Can Pi-hole block websites?

Request: Block a domain of subpages on the network. To filter specific URLs you would need a transparent proxy server like Squid. Pi-Hole is a DNS resolver that blocks whole domains and sub-domains.

Can I run Pi-hole on my PC?

Is Pi-hole encrypted?

Recently, I upgraded my Pi-Hole server to make its DNS requests over HTTPS. This technique encrypts DNS queries in the same way that web pages are requested securely.

Who competes with Pi-hole?

Beats, Wireshark, LibreNMS, PRTG, and Riemann are the most popular alternatives and competitors to Pi-hole.

What are the drawbacks of Pi-hole?

Pi-hole limitations

Because it's based on DNS and domain matching, Pi-hole can't block ads that don't use DNS. Games on mobile devices are notorious for this. Many games have ads baked right in to the code. Additionally, ads that have the same domain as legit traffic won't be blocked.

Does Pi-hole block all ads?

To block ads on your entire home network, all you need is a DNS filter like Pi-hole running on a low-power computer, like a Raspberry Pi. Then, simply configure your router to send all future DNS queries to the Pi-hole computer instead of the default setting.