Pi-hole

[BigTZ4M]

Paper Lawyer said:

Keen to understanding which of those blacklists knock out the ITV ads as I'm currently simply relying on the default blacklists from the installation process I linked in my earlier post. Do you know which blacklist in particular stops ITV ads?

I don't know which does, sorry. However if you play something in the ITV hub you could look at your DNS request logs when the adverts come on an get a source to block. On PiHole you could have the log being 'tailed' on one screen while watching the Hub on the other to get it.

[ARHarh]

budgie smuggler said:

Is anyone using Pi-Hole in DHCP server mode?

My router is a HH5, so I can't change the DNS directly and will need to move DHCP duties to the Pi instead.

Yep that was the main reason for adopting pihole for me. HH5 was falling over due to the large number of wifi connected chinese *@!"£ i have around the house. Been working fine since September.Average of 64 things connected to the DHCP server.

[budgie smuggler]

ARHarh said:

Yep that was the main reason for adopting pihole for me. HH5 was falling over due to the large number of wifi connected chinese *@!"£ i have around the house. Been working fine since September.Average of 64 things connected to the DHCP server.

Thanks

[paulrockliffe]

BigTZ4M said:

Paper Lawyer said:

Keen to understanding which of those blacklists knock out the ITV ads as I'm currently simply relying on the default blacklists from the installation process I linked in my earlier post. Do you know which blacklist in particular stops ITV ads?

I don't know which does, sorry. However if you play something in the ITV hub you could look at your DNS request logs when the adverts come on an get a source to block. On PiHole you could have the log being 'tailed' on one screen while watching the Hub on the other to get it.

What happens if the route to the advert fails? I'd have thought they would have had the sense to have the app sit with a black screen for 3 minutes rather than let you block it.

I'm not aware that my setup blocks those adverts, but it would be great if it was possible. Mind you if I want to watch something I just download it into PLex to avoid adverts.

[BigTZ4M]

paulrockliffe said:

What happens if the route to the advert fails? I'd have thought they would have had the sense to have the app sit with a black screen for 3 minutes rather than let you block it.

It stutters for a millisecond (just about perceptible) at the advert break and then just carries on playing the programme.

[V8mate]

nmd87 said:

peterperkins said:

As some may know Google is planning to break ad blocking for Chrome in due course.
So things like ad blocker, ublock origin etc etc will fall over and we will be deluged with ste..

I've been reading about the cleverly named 'Pi-hole' project and would welcome PH IT Gurus inputs on it for us mere Windows mortals.

https://docs.pi-hole.net/

What's the best cheapest hardware to run it on?
Any setup tips?
Is it any good?

Thanks for any input..

You can get Ublock Origin on Microsoft Edge browser now. I've been using and it's pretty good. Certainly as good as Chrome.

The Brave browser, which has ad-blocking built-in, is undetectable to websites, so you'll never get a 'We notice you're using an ad-blocker' pop-up, or a third of the page being stolen as a punishment.

[paulrockliffe]

BigTZ4M said:

paulrockliffe said:

What happens if the route to the advert fails? I'd have thought they would have had the sense to have the app sit with a black screen for 3 minutes rather than let you block it.

It stutters for a millisecond (just about perceptible) at the advert break and then just carries on playing the programme.

Idiots!

Mine is playing adverts - how do I make it stop?

[BigTZ4M]

paulrockliffe said:

Idiots!

Mine is playing adverts - how do I make it stop?

Add the lists I posted earlier to your blocklists

[paulrockliffe]

BigTZ4M said:

paulrockliffe said:

Idiots!

Mine is playing adverts - how do I make it stop?

Add the lists I posted earlier to your blocklists

Good plan. I did that, all updated, now ITV still has adverts (playing in Chrome) and Channel 4 (also in Chrome) is bhing about an ad blocker, refusing to play at all!

The Channel 4 App plays, without ads. The ITV app plays with adds.

At least the wife will get 10 mins back overnight when she watch Hollyoaks. That's got to be worth something.

Edited by paulrockliffe on Friday 31st May 15:57

[sjg]

This was a good reminder to get around to this.

Used a DietPi VM image (it's running on Win10 Hyper-V on my Microserver), then installed pi-hole via dietpi-software. Done in about 30 minutes total.

[Baldchap]

If you're running a Raspberry Pi, be sure to do the first few basic steps in the link below to secure it (like change the default password).

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configur...

Pi Hole itself is essentially a single line command and a few options. Mine has been in for several months now and works perfectly alongside a Draytek modem/router. The only single issue I have had is a Samsung smart TV wouldn't connect up until I whitelisted Samsung domains. I have since blocked them again as Netflix is all I use on that TV.

[spants]

I also use unraid and put together the original template for the pihole docker

It runs really well - you forget how many adverts are on the typical web page.

BTW, anyone looking for a home server, look at unraid.net and explore the friendly forums. The software is excellent!

[budgie smuggler]

Dug out my old Model B Rev 2 and installed this on it. Works very well indeed. Impressed!

Performance of the web ui etc is amazing considering the mediocre speed of the model B. I haven;t even bothered enabling the overclock.

[PF62]

budgie smuggler said:

Dug out my old Model B Rev 2 and installed this on it. Works very well indeed. Impressed!

Good to know, as coincidentally had ordered one to use for this just before this thread started.

[peterperkins]

PF62 said:

Good to know, as coincidentally had ordered one to use for this just before this thread started.

Link for the order please?

Thanks for all the contributions to the thread looks like this is the way forward.

[PF62]

peterperkins said:

Link for the order please?

Secondhand from CEX as they seemed to be the cheapest, plus I had a trade-in voucher going spare.

[PF62]

Received my pi today and after quite a bit of fiddling around have got it set up -

Initially couldn't get in as ssh is turned off by default so needed to add a blank file called 'ssh' to the card and then finding the keys were missing on the pre-configured disk I bought so ended up installing raspian again anyway.

Then its DNS not working (have to use its DHCP as have a BT hub) so nothing had internet access.

But seems good now.

Edited by PF62 on Thursday 6th June 07:35

[Order66]

PF62 said:

Received my pi today and after quite a bit of fiddling around have got it set up -

Initially couldn't get in as ssh is turned off by default so needed to add a blank file called 'ssh' to the card and then finding the keys were missing on the pre-configured disk I bought so ended up installing raspian again anyway.

Then its DNS not working (have to use its DHCP as have a BT hub) so nothing had internet access.

But seems good now.

I run a Pi with pihole on my home network and about to install one in the office. When setting it the pi I recall it was very straightforward and took around 10 mins all-in, but I didn't try to do it headless - plug it into a monitor and attach a usb keyboard and life is a lot easier. That was around 6 months ago and I can't remember where the pi physically is - its just sitting there blocking the ads very effectively.

[PF62]

Order66 said:

When setting it the pi I recall it was very straightforward and took around 10 mins all-in, but I didn't try to do it headless - plug it into a monitor and attach a usb keyboard and life is a lot easier.

Unfortunately I didn't have any suitable cables to connect it to a monitor so had no choice.

Anyway, after a bit of playing around with it, it seems a couple of devices connected to the network are not happy being routed through the Pi Hole so I have gone down the route of setting individual devices to use it as their DNS and for that it seems to work fine.

I found through trial and error that the https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Perflyst/PiHoleB... blacklist in the list suggested by BigTZ4M killed the network connection for my (oldish) Samsung TV.

[Order66]

PF62 said:

Unfortunately I didn't have any suitable cables to connect it to a monitor so had no choice.

It's HDMI - unplug the sky box, use that cable on your big telly

PF62 said:

Anyway, after a bit of playing around with it, it seems a couple of devices connected to the network are not happy being routed through the Pi Hole so I have gone down the route of setting individual devices to use it as their DNS and for that it seems to work fine.

Seems odd, they shouldn't know the difference between the pi.hole and any other DNS server - only if (as per your TV) the specific sites they use are blocked, but then you just find those out (can see the logs on pi.hole) and let that through, but for all other devices if they can't hit normal sites like google etc then there's something else wrong. As I said, mine has been completely fit and forget and if I look at the dashboard it blocks an amazing 46% of all requests....shows how much of your internet speed is sucked up by marketing bks.