Learn how to install and configure Pi-hole, the self-hosted DNS sinkhole that blocks ads and trackers for every device on your network. No p
Complete Guide to Self Hosting Pi hole for Network Wide Ad Blocking
What is Pi hole
Pi hole is a powerful, open-source DNS sinkhole that protects your devices from trackers and advertisements at the network level. By acting as a central DNS server, it intercepts and blocks requests to known ad-serving domains before they ever reach your browser.
Benefits of Network Wide Blocking
Implementing a self-hosted DNS solution offers several advantages for your home network security and performance.
Blocks advertisements and tracking scripts across all devices including phones, tablets, and smart TVs.
Improves overall browsing speed by preventing resource-heavy ad content from loading.
Reduces total bandwidth usage by filtering out unnecessary telemetry data.
Getting Started with Deployment
You can easily deploy Pi hole on a variety of low-power hardware, such as a Raspberry Pi or a virtual machine running on your home server. The installation process is streamlined through a single command-line script provided by the official project.
Ensure your host device has a static IP address configured.
Run the official installation script and follow the on-screen configuration prompts.
Point your router's DNS settings to the IP address of your Pi hole device to begin filtering.
Maintaining Your DNS Sinkhole
Regular maintenance ensures your ad-blocking lists stay current and effective against evolving web tracking methods.
Update your blocklists frequently within the Pi hole web interface.
Monitor your query logs to identify and whitelist legitimate sites if necessary.
Perform periodic system updates to keep your server secure.
websites usually contain ads, most are very annoying and distracting, some even harmful, even on non-piracy sites. so an adblock is absolutely essential. here’s a guide!
Desktop/PC:
for Chromium-based browsers, like Google Chrome, Opera, or Edge: use ublock origin lite https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home . not the best though. you can also use Brave browser (has a built-in adblocker).
for Gecko-based browsers, like Firefox: use ublock origin https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock . offers better compatibility than Chromium-based.
Phone/Mobile devices:
for Android: use Firefox + ublock origin
for iOS: either use Brave, or use Safari and follow this guide https://youtu.be/yrXRC3COvVU?si=-bjYhlFoL0_bfQlQ
BONUS:
scan any software you download with an antivirus before you execute it, even if you download from official sources (since sometimes there are sites disguised to look like the official).
it’s also recommended to scan the file with virustotal https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload (sometimes there are false positives, aka non-malware that flags as malware. use this scan guide for that https://clarasguide.valeena.workers.dev/Guides/vtguide/ ), and run it in Triage https://tria.ge/dashboard .
and no matter who tells you otherwise, having an antivirus (that has good reputation!! very important!!) other than the base one that comes with your OS (for example Microsoft Defender on Windows) is always a good idea. a lot of malware is designed with the knowledge that Microsoft Defender is already on a victim’s Windows pc, so they design it to be harder to detect by Microsoft Defender.
last piece of advice: when in doubt about something, always research (aka look it up). and make sure the info you’re getting is confirmed in multiple (trusted) sources !
Oh, by the way, if you hate Youtube but can't find any good alternatives, I'd recommend Freetube. It lets you watch Youtube without ads. It also has sponsor blockers and other neat features. I've been using it for years and the only problem that I've had with it is that it stops working sometimes. But I think it's worth it.
Country of Origin: Unclear, likely somewhere in the E.U.
Languages Supported: English
License: Free and open source
Download Link: GitHub
Note: this app is different from ones that I've recommended before in that it requires some familiarity with the command line AND is intended to be always running, that way it can automatically connect to your smart TV anytime you launch the YouTube app. Ideally, you would run this on a NAS/server, but any computer that you never/rarely turn off or put to sleep will work.
More details under the readmore, including how it works AND some issues I ran into and how I solved them.
How It Works
Some of you may be familiar with SponsorBlock (completely different app from a different developer) as a browser addon that automatically skips parts of videos that have been identified through crowdsourcing as being paid promotions/filler/otherwise potentially unwanted. iSponsorBlockTV brings that functionality to the YouTube apps on smart TVs, along with automatic ad-muting and skipping features.
You know how the YouTube app on a smart TV can link to your smartphone so you can use it to pause/play things in the TV app, add videos to your queue, etc.? This program runs on your computer and tricks the YT smart tv app into thinking it is your smartphone, which gives it the ability to automatically detect when an ad starts playing and issue commands to the YT app.
Installation
The main issues you might have with this is that it requires at least some familiarity with the command line, AND it really needs to run all the time for it to be seamless. Even I probably wouldn't get up off the couch to wait for a laptop to turn on and Windows to fully boot up and launch this just to watch a video without 2 ads.
If you can get past those requirements though it is HIGHLY worth it imo. The developer has written good installation instructions here, but I did get tripped up by one thing - running the setup command in a docker container that I was managing through my Synology NAS. More on that below.
The setup command walks you through a wizard and then generates a text file (template here) that tells iSponsorBlockTV how to link to your YouTube TV app and what you want it to do once it's linked. If you just installed the program directly using pipx or uv, you can just run:
isponsorblocktv --setup
The tricky part is that if you download the Docker container like I did, it's not intuitive to run the command; you have to log into the running Docker container, figure out the container's directory structure, run the command, and then figure out how to extract the file from the container so it doesn't disappear the next time the container is restarted.
Running the setup wizard from a docker container:
If you have access to the CLI on the OS that is running docker, you can just run this command:
If the resulting wizard looks really weird on your screen, just press q or Ctrl+C to exit it and then try the plain text config wizard by running this instead:
Either of those will walk you through linking one or more YouTube smart TV apps for it to skip ads in. Note that I had to attempt linking a couple of times for each YT app before it worked. This should store your preferences as a file called config.json in the folder location that you passed in the docker command, but definitely double-check that worked before you exit and have to do everything all over again.
Running setup on docker hosted on servers you don't have CLI access to:
However, what happens if you don't have easy access to the CLI on the docker host, like say a NAS, or a cloud environment like Amazon ECS? I was running on a NAS that I hadn't set up SSH access to yet, so I needed to use either Portainer or my NAS's built-in Container Manager UI to run the setup command. Through trial and error, I determined that I needed to log in to the container as the root user using the shell located at /bin/sh, then run this command:
python3 -u main.pyc --setup
And same as above, if the resulting wizard looks really weird on your screen, just press q to exit it and then run the command again but with --setup-cli at the end instead.
Welp. This got away from me again, but I just had to share this program, and I hope the docker idiosyncracies stuff save someone some time 🤷♂️
This advanced ad-blocking app is only $19 for life
TL;DR: Tired of ads? Protect yourself and your loved ones from tempting ads, malware, and unsafe content with a lifetime subscription to AdGuard Family Plan, just $18.99 (reg. $169.99) with code FAMPLAN.
As technology finds innovative ways to integrate itself into our daily lives, escaping the presence of ads can feel near-impossible. Even more so, when you have a house full of family…
Because I keep meeting android users who allow themselves to suffer ads through this and similar apps for no reason here's how to not do that to yourself:
Download and open the firefox app
Tap the three dots on the bottom right and hit Extensions
Tap Extensions Manager then scroll down and tap Find More Extensions
Search "adblock" for and install a decent adblocker like ublock origin or adguard
Go to the website you wish to de-app and de-ad e.g. YouTube.com, Tumblr.com etc.
Tap the three dots on the bottom right, scroll down, and hit "Add app to home screen"
This will add an icon to your phone's home screen just like the official app used to have, but now you can access the platform without any ads
Congrats, this literally takes less than a few minutes!
