Adblock or Similar to brouse PH

[Funk]

Dave. said:

I used Pi-Hole at my old house with a Virgin SuperHub.

I'm with BT now, using a HomeHub 4, which doesn't allow you to change the settings required for the Pi-Hole to work... boo!!

Really should buy a new Modem/Router for it, so convenient once it's setup.

I'm on a HH5 and found the same; nowhere to adjust the network-wide DNS which is very irritating - I guess it makes life simpler for BT though.

I've been considering a different router with more flexibility and this could convince me to do it rather than having to alter every device on the network manually...

Can the HH5 be put into a 'pass-through' mode to function as modem-only for the fibre or would it be a case of reverting back to the (pretty mediocre) which Openreach box?

[klootzak]

Like a few here, I really don't see the problem.

I just don't find advertising on PH very intrusive. A banner at the top of a thread and an MPU about half way down. If I'm on mobile, the MPUs run every 10 posts or so. Hardly a massive imposition.

I've never had a pop-up or page takeover on the forum, and only very occasionally see a page takeover on the main site.

Yet somehow I don't run an ad-blocker or take any other measures to avoid ads.

Ultimately, Haymarket has to pay for the site somehow. If ad revenue means I don't have to be the one that's paying (not directly, at least) so be it. I probably wouldn't use PH if it required a subscription.

k

[essayer]

I don't have any problem with PH running ads, but I do when the ads are so poorly implemented they block the page while they load...

[DavidJG]

Funk said:

Dave. said:

I used Pi-Hole at my old house with a Virgin SuperHub.

I'm with BT now, using a HomeHub 4, which doesn't allow you to change the settings required for the Pi-Hole to work... boo!!

Really should buy a new Modem/Router for it, so convenient once it's setup.

I'm on a HH5 and found the same; nowhere to adjust the network-wide DNS which is very irritating - I guess it makes life simpler for BT though.

I've been considering a different router with more flexibility and this could convince me to do it rather than having to alter every device on the network manually...

Can the HH5 be put into a 'pass-through' mode to function as modem-only for the fibre or would it be a case of reverting back to the (pretty mediocre) which Openreach box?

If you can change your primary / secondary DNS servers on the router, lookup 'Open DNS', create a free account and change your settings to block whatever type of content you want to block. Some adverts will still get through this though.

If you want to go further, you can add in a hardware firewall between the router and home network (you'll also need a wireless access point). My home network contains standard router configured with Open DNS, a hardware firewall with some tightly controlled content blocking as we've got young children and hate being bombarded with c**p adverts anyway, most of the house is wired on CAT6, and a couple of wireless access points for wifi devices. Router inbuilt wifi is disabled.

I really went with this setup to ensure that the kids don't access anything that they shouldn't - the ad blocking has proved to be an added bonus

[Guvernator]

Haven't used adblocking previously, occasionally I'd get annoyed by an obstructive ad but I'd just live with it. However in the last few weeks it seems to have reached a tipping point where it is happening more and they are getting annoying so as of a couple of days ago ublock Origin has been installed.

Loving the new experience both on PH and the rest of my internet browsing, it's like going back in time 10 years to pre the time before the web got taken over by marketing. Sorry to do this to you PH but you bought it on yourselves, abuse your user bases goodwill at your peril.

[arch stant0n]

Instead of an ad-blocker, or pi-hole - I run a hosts file locally on my Windows machine that kills requests to most ad servers before they leave my PC:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Doesn't require 3rd party browser plugins, doesn't require you setting up your own DNS server.
DOES provide you the option of buggering up your internet connection if you do it wrong so PLEASE BE CAREFUL if you're not experienced with this kind of thing.

I'd honestly be a bit wary of setting up my own DNS server (pi-hole) in case it gets hijacked. Not a security expert but I know keeping that kind of thing up-to-date and secure is more work than I can be bothered with.

[surveyor]

I'm astonished at the number of us that use adblocking. To be clea I only use it because of the level of intrusiveness adverts and blatant pisstake music and video auto starts that ph has launched on us.

Too often it's done on a Friday night, and stuck with it for a whole weekend.

They need to take a long hard look at their monetisation policy, as they seem to have proven that overdoing it will actually kill the golden goose.

[9patch]

klootzak said:

Like a few here, I really don't see the problem.

I just don't find advertising on PH very intrusive. A banner at the top of a thread and an MPU about half way down. If I'm on mobile, the MPUs run every 10 posts or so. Hardly a massive imposition.

I've never had a pop-up or page takeover on the forum, and only very occasionally see a page takeover on the main site.

Yet somehow I don't run an ad-blocker or take any other measures to avoid ads.

Ultimately, Haymarket has to pay for the site somehow. If ad revenue means I don't have to be the one that's paying (not directly, at least) so be it. I probably wouldn't use PH if it required a subscription.

k

I might be completely wrong here but I think PH only gets paid per click.

Just sitting there looking at the adds doesn't generate any money.

This came up on another forum where posters said they would gladly click the adds to raise money for the forum but the owner said if you click in any sort of organised pattern Google won't pay.

Happy to be corrected as I'm not sure myself.

[eybic]

The big problem is that the "powers that be" see PH as just another HM publication rather than anything remotely special and thus they are bundled with the others when it comes to what ads can be bought. The forums have not been updated for years due to the fact that monetising them is more difficult, not because they are "sacred".

My biggest gripe when working for HM was that the forums are not considered to be that important despite them being where PH originated from, the important bits of PH are the bits that can be sold off (classifieds, editorial etc. etc.).

[9patch]

A lot of people have gone to Facebook.

In 'merica a Canadian company [Autoguide] has bought up hundreds of American forums...apparently they have little interest in the forums just the dollars they can generate.

I did hear [rumour] that they paid big money to get some of the forums.

[TooMany2cvs]

9patch said:

A lot of people have gone to Facebook.

In 'merica a Canadian company [Autogguide] has bought up hundreds of American forums...apparently they have little interest in the forums just the dollars they can generate.

I did hear [rumour] that they paid big money to get some of the forums.

VerticalScope is the company.
http://www.verticalscope.com/index.html

I had the (mis?)fortunate to encounter them at SaabCentral.

"Consumer generated media" <spit>

[Oldred_V8S]

PH on my 1st Gen iPAD is now unusable, constantly crashing.

[Goaty Bill 2]

9patch said:

I might be completely wrong here but I think PH only gets paid per click.

Just sitting there looking at the adds doesn't generate any money.

This came up on another forum where posters said they would gladly click the adds to raise money for the forum but the owner said if you click in any sort of organised pattern Google won't pay.

Happy to be corrected as I'm not sure myself.

My post on the previous page (3) explains a part of what is likely happening at a high level.
Revenue is being generated before you even see the page in most cases these days.


I have been using addblock and 'stuff' for so long, I have no idea what the forum would look like without it. I was add blocking long before I joined (originally 2011).

[eybic]

Oldred_V8S said:

PH on my 1st Gen iPAD is now unusable, constantly crashing.

If you're on the latest OS then you can now download ad blocker for safari.

[mp3manager]

eybic said:

Oldred_V8S said:

PH on my 1st Gen iPAD is now unusable, constantly crashing.

If you're on the latest OS then you can now download ad blocker for safari.

He's not, the 1st gen ipad is stuck on 5.1.1, so safari is pretty much unusable. I use Atomic Web on my 1st Gen ipad and it has ad-blocking.

[toohuge]

Until I read this thread, I never used an adblocker or similar software - I guess I got a little out of date re. current software etc.

But - I have just installed Chrome with Ublock Origin and it's wonderful. The internet is back to normal.

Thanks to this thread!

[Funk]

DavidJG said:

Funk said:

Dave. said:

I used Pi-Hole at my old house with a Virgin SuperHub.

I'm with BT now, using a HomeHub 4, which doesn't allow you to change the settings required for the Pi-Hole to work... boo!!

Really should buy a new Modem/Router for it, so convenient once it's setup.

I'm on a HH5 and found the same; nowhere to adjust the network-wide DNS which is very irritating - I guess it makes life simpler for BT though.

I've been considering a different router with more flexibility and this could convince me to do it rather than having to alter every device on the network manually...

Can the HH5 be put into a 'pass-through' mode to function as modem-only for the fibre or would it be a case of reverting back to the (pretty mediocre) which Openreach box?

If you can change your primary / secondary DNS servers on the router, lookup 'Open DNS', create a free account and change your settings to block whatever type of content you want to block. Some adverts will still get through this though.

If you want to go further, you can add in a hardware firewall between the router and home network (you'll also need a wireless access point). My home network contains standard router configured with Open DNS, a hardware firewall with some tightly controlled content blocking as we've got young children and hate being bombarded with c**p adverts anyway, most of the house is wired on CAT6, and a couple of wireless access points for wifi devices. Router inbuilt wifi is disabled.

I really went with this setup to ensure that the kids don't access anything that they shouldn't - the ad blocking has proved to be an added bonus

As mentioned, I can't change the DNS on the HH5 router. If I buy something else I'll use a Pi-Hole with it but my question was really around whether I can use the 'modem' part of the HH5 with another router or whether I'll need to revert to the white Openreach box which - luckily - I've kept.

arch stant0n said:

Instead of an ad-blocker, or pi-hole - I run a hosts file locally on my Windows machine that kills requests to most ad servers before they leave my PC:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Doesn't require 3rd party browser plugins, doesn't require you setting up your own DNS server.
DOES provide you the option of buggering up your internet connection if you do it wrong so PLEASE BE CAREFUL if you're not experienced with this kind of thing.

I'd honestly be a bit wary of setting up my own DNS server (pi-hole) in case it gets hijacked. Not a security expert but I know keeping that kind of thing up-to-date and secure is more work than I can be bothered with.

I block at hosts level already but that's only on Windows machines. It would be great to be able to block ads at network level for every device (including tablets and phones) thereby negating the primary requirement I have for rooting. I must get a recent hosts file down, it's been a while and slipped my mind as I have uBlock Origin in place so don't see them anyway...

surveyor said:

I'm astonished at the number of us that use adblocking. To be clea I only use it because of the level of intrusiveness adverts and blatant pisstake music and video auto starts that ph has launched on us.

Too often it's done on a Friday night, and stuck with it for a whole weekend.

They need to take a long hard look at their monetisation policy, as they seem to have proven that overdoing it will actually kill the golden goose.

I'm not surprised although it should be a wake-up call for Haymarket. Extrapolate those figures out and the REAL number of users who even see ads is remarkably small. A lot of goodwill was lost when things went OTT with audio and video and torturous page load times.

Given the comments about how little the forum is valued I won't shed a tear for Haymarket though, as others have mentioned it seems a lot of the useful, interesting stuff on PH is migrating away to other places as a result. Whilst PH may survive without the forum now, it's the forum that built it into what it was that made it valuable in the first place.

A shame but such is life. I've no doubt it'll be consigned to the annals of history in due course as people find less and less value in it.

[9patch]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

My post on the previous page (3) explains a part of what is likely happening at a high level.
Revenue is being generated before you even see the page in most cases these days.


I have been using addblock and 'stuff' for so long, I have no idea what the forum would look like without it. I was add blocking long before I joined (originally 2011).

Okay got ya. It's a very strange way to do business.


I've been the same with Adblock...it took me ages to find out YouTube has adds.

[.:ian:.]

On the HH5 you need to change the DNS servers given to the dhcp clients, rather than the dns servers used by the HH itself:

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/networks/1400420/ho...

Same principle, but use the ips of the pi-hole or opendns.

[stevesuk]

mp3manager said:

He's not, the 1st gen ipad is stuck on 5.1.1, so safari is pretty much unusable. I use Atomic Web on my 1st Gen ipad and it has ad-blocking.

Even if you have a newer iPad, only hardware with a 64 bit CPU supports Safari extensions. My 3rd gen iPad doesn't, so no Safari adblocking for me.