Edit:
Panel 3: PiHole + uBlock Origin
Panel 4: PiHole + uBlock Origin and recurring donations to pay creators
You must log in or # to comment.
Pi-hole won’t block Youtube ads. uBlock Origin does.
Is there any router side solutions for YouTube adds? I want to block for my family, but they don’t see the point.
Nope. Youtube ads are served from the same domains as the videos so there is nothing you can to to block them via DNS. Your best bet is just installing Ublock for them. Now a days an ad blocker is a security necessity anyways.
Installing uBlock is so quick, all you need is 30 seconds of their consent to lean over their shoulder and install it. The whole process can be faster than the actual ad break, in some cases.
Ublock on roku when?
When you stop using roku and just plug in a cheap used laptop or something instead
Thats about to happen, I’m just going to miss the tv remote user interface
I actually really like the unified remote app. It lets you use your phone as a remote for any computer on the same network. I think the premium version just lets you link more computers otherwise the free version is just as good.
You have to set up a proxy.
Even for those who are technical enough to set up a pihole, it’s annoying to set up a proxy and some apps simply won’t work with it.
I would love to learn how to block YouTube ads with a proxy. Do you have a link to instructions?
Not sure if these instructions work. First result from Google.
Pihole is a great project, but it is objectively less capable than uBlock Origin.
That is not a criticism of the software. It is just a fundamental fact that DNS based adblockers are less powerful, and less granular/precise than Browser based adblockers.
They do work well in combination though (the DNS level adblockers gives you moderately effective network wide blocking, and uBlock Origin gives you exceptional blocking but is limited to the browser.
I’m not technical enough, but why can’t pihole do as much as ublock? It’s at the router level before anything gets to the browser, it has all the same info the browser will eventually get.
Shouldn’t it be theoretically possible to do the same?
It’s at the router level
It’s a DNS server and does not have the same capabilities as the router
It has all the same info the browser will eventually get.
It does not. Not just because of the previous reason but also because most traffic is encrypted nowadays (https) which means that even the router can’t read/modify the traffic to the device.
Another issue is that some things blocked by uBlock are hard to detect with static analysis in comparison to reading the rendered HTML.
uBlock has direct access to the DOM and so can modify what the browser renders. For example, YouTube ads are hosted on the same domains as their videos and so PiHole cannot block them, but uBlock can.
I don’t understand why tho, what is it that let’s unblock distinguish ad video vs real video?
Unlock can read the code being sent to your browser and act accordingly. It’s much more granular.
Pihole can only see you’re going to YouTube.com. It cannot see what YouTube is sending you.
pfsense with blockerng anyone?
Adding to the existing comments, there is also invidious which doesn’t bombard you with adds and if you have a homeserver you can easily host an instance (acts like a frontend to youtube)
Does anyone have a link for how to set up a pihole that a dumb dumb like me could understand?
If you are not so fit in this questions is better to install Portmaster, its downloading and run it, not much more to do (blocking or give permissions to connecting to the network to your apps. Maybe sellecting an DNS which fits your needs in the settings. It’s way easier to handle than Pi Hole. It even has an SPN (its like a VPN on steroids), but its an paid option.
May you recover from your stroke quickly.
Honestly don’t bother. Ublock is better at blocking ads. Pihole is for devices on your network that can’t use conventional ad blockers and is less effective.
Does anyone know if firewalls like OPNSense can do IPS for ads and tracking instead of “normal” intrusions like malware?
Forgot unbound
Most install guides include pihole with Unbound DNS but running your own DNS server is not a requirement for ad and tracker blocking.
PiHole doesn’t work with VPNs, does it?
Yep it does, most VPN software lets you configure the DNS server to be your pihole.
If you care about the privacy of your DNS requests, tunnel the pihole through a VPN too
Yes, its a DNS server. You can set up your device to use whatever DNS server you choose, including pihole.
I’ve got my VPN connected with pihole as the default DNS server so it works on my phone when I’m not at home.
No because VPNs route your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. But PiHole can filter traffic on any device on your network regardless of whether or not you can install a plugin.
NextDNS & a VPN should be in there somewhere.
NextDNS and pihole serve the same purpose and are redundant. Personally I prefer NextDNS but it wouldn’t make sense in ops meme
Follow-up question: what open source software projects do you contribute to? I like using Liberapay or Open Collective, with Patreon as a third choice.
Also ADguard dns service for your mobile device on Mobile networks
[email protected] is the final level. Using your Pi to cure cancer and identify asteroids
I’ve ran Pihole for years but switched to NextDNS. It gives me more control over my kids access.
For example scheduled access to YouTube and Roblox. Also, since it’s a public service it means I can block them regardless of network. So for example when we are on holiday. My eldest worked out he could use network data on his phone to avoid the Pihole.Oh, and it’s DNS over TLS so queries are now encrypted rather than plain text that regular DNS.
None of this will block YouTube ads though. For that I use NewPipe or Firefox and uBlock Origin.
