Shut your Pi-Hole.

[dodgy]

Lots of blocks relating to Samsung. We have 2 Samsung TVs in the house!

 

[SydZ]

My top three domains bei blocked relate to requests from my LG TV, Philip Hue Hub and my Amazon Echo devices.

Currently experimenting with block lists and, with just over 2.8 million domains blocked (resulting in over 1/3 requests being denied by Pi-Hole, I’m still see no side effects on my network

 

[dodgy]

My top three domains bei blocked relate to requests from my LG TV, Philip Hue Hub and my Amazon Echo devices.

Currently experimenting with block lists and, with just over 2.8 million domains blocked (resulting in over 1/3 requests being denied by Pi-Hole, I’m still see no side effects on my network

I’m ‘only’ blocking 93000 domains. Where did you source your blocklist’s from?

 

[SydZ]

I’m ‘only’ blocking 93000 domains. Where did you source your blocklist’s from?

This site is a useful source. https://firebog.net/

 

[dodgy]

This site is a useful source. https://firebog.net/

That’s where I got mine from.

 

[sasquath]

According to specs, the Pi 2 Model B draws only 400ma under 400% CPU. That's why I quoted that figure, it's about as much as it's ever going to demand. But yeah, if it doesn't work I have millions of USB power adaptors, but I prefer the simplicity of taking the power from the router if it works.

Are you sure? I see 1.8A and my pi 2B overloads 1.5A supply on boot when ethernet is plugged in.
https://docs.rs-online.com/5109/0900766b814bcef0.pdf

 

[dodgy]

Are you sure? I see 1.8A and my pi 2B overloads 1.5A supply on boot when ethernet is plugged in.
https://docs.rs-online.com/5109/0900766b814bcef0.pdf

Positive. Working fine and I do have a usb power meter that measures it. On boot it’s about 100 ma, idle about 40ma. My router can only put out 900ma.

and there’s this https://www.pidramble.com/wiki/benchmarks/power-consumption

edit to add. My Pi is bare bones, no ssd, no video out, no wifi or other accessories plugged into the USB ports on it.

 

[yello]

I wouldn't be without Pi-Hole. I've had it for donkey's years, pretty much since it it began... and my how it's changed and grown over the years.

Installation is a doddle; run the 'curl' command and 'click, click, next'. Mine is, and always has been, a vanilla install. I don't use the DHCP (that's on my own DD-WRT router) and use the default block lists. Oh, hang on, no - it's configured for unbound and zerotier too. The latter to give me adblocking and access to my file server on my mobile phone when away from home.

I also use RaspPis as media servers/players (both Kodi and Logitech) and use one as a WAP. Cool, cool little boxes of goodiness. 😊

 

[dodgy]

Aha, the reason I was 'only' blocking 93000 domains is because I hadn't updated gravity within pihole, it's a simple one button and done job, takes a few seconds to take effect. I've now gone from 93000 to 237000 and massively improved my score on this ad blocking test site https://d3ward.github.io/toolz/adblock.html

 

[dodgy]

Thanks to @SydZ for reminding me about Pi-hole, it's definitely a better tool now and it will be staying on my network 👍
Nothing adverse noted yet, there is a huge improvement when browsing rubbish local newspaper websites from a phone or tablet, instead of the page jumping all over the place with ads trying to load it's much smoother and usable.
About 4% of outgoing requests are blocked now, it was 2% before updating gravity. I'd be interested in your score from https://d3ward.github.io/toolz/adblock.html I got 93% and before updating gravity it was about 12% !

 

[Milkfloat]

I have a NowTV router so I am pretty sure I cannot use this - although thinking about it, I do have a Deco mesh system, so I might be able to. How are people finding this with YouTube ads?

 

[dodgy]

I have a NowTV router so I am pretty sure I cannot use this - although thinking about it, I do have a Deco mesh system, so I might be able to. How are people finding this with YouTube ads?

Pihole won't stop ads in the video stream, you know the type that you skip past when allowed. This is because they're hosted in the same place as the video comes from. The only effective way to block youtube ads is to use adblock or some other browser based tool.

 

[chriswoody]

Pihole won't stop ads in the video stream, you know the type that you skip past when allowed. This is because they're hosted in the same place as the video comes from. The only effective way to block youtube ads is to use adblock or some other browser based tool.

The other way to block you tube adds is to copy the url of the video that you are watching, then open a new browser tab. Copy the code into the address bar, then before pressing enter, put a - into the text between the t and u of tube, eg:

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=BdcFv-Th_bE

The above link is to a random GCN video that I copied the url for, incase anyone was wondering.

Back to the original post though, I've now fallen down a new rabbit hole, I already use a Pi on my home network using Kodi to push media from my NAS to the smart TV. I've been pondering other uses for a Pi as well and this looks really interesting, maybe Santa will bring me a new Pi for Christmas, I just need to get my head around it all now.

 

[dodgy]

Nice hack @chriswoody
If you don't have a spare raspberry pi, you can always host your own pihole for free on Amazon's servers
View: https://medium.com/@dion315/setting-up-a-free-pi-hole-on-aws-c24511888973