Pi-Hole 101: Set Up Your At-Home Ad-Blocker

Every browser has a seemingly infinite number of plug-ins available to block ads. However, websites are getting smarter. Everything from online publications to YouTube is catching sight of these sneaky disruptors to their ad revenue, forcing people to disable them to enjoy content. What if there was a more permanent and reliable solution? Meet Pi-hole. 

What Is Pi-Hole, and What Does it Do?

In the simplest terms, Pi-hole is a software-based ad-blocker. It also stops the Internet from tracking your activity, exposing you to malware, and more. This occurs at a network-wide level instead of just your browser on a single device, which is what most plug-ins are capable of doing. This is the main difference between it and other ad-blockers.

With the advent of smart devices and having interconnected device ecosystems, a blanket solution might be more appropriate to protect your devices. Pi-hole gives everything connected to a server more holistic defenses.

Many call Pi-hole a DNS sinkhole. In layman’s terms, this is a cybersecurity mechanism. DNS refers to a domain name system — a type of server. This is like an internet directory, taking the names of digital destinations and converting them to IP addresses. Sinkholing is another measure to protect servers from malicious content. Imagine throwing hackers into a well so they can’t access your devices — DNS sinkholing does this in cyberspace. It reroutes data in the network away from dangerous places toward legitimate, safe sources.

Therefore, a DNS sinkhole is a server setup primed to identify bad hosts and divert traffic away from them. Pi-hole software achieves this.

Some people may have heard of the Raspberry Pi or its alternatives, which is a small yet powerful computer. Even though they share similar names, you don’t need to run anything off of a Raspberry Pi to run Pi-hole. All you need is Linux.

How Do You Set Up Pi-Hole?

As mentioned, you don’t need a Raspberry Pi for setup — just a Linux operating system on the machine. Follow these instructions to get started.

1. Download Pi-hole

There are several ways to do this based on your preferences. The website offers a one-step install solution or a more manual option if you want to be more precise on configurations. The manual setup also allows installers to read the code they are installing before they commit to it. This provides additional peace of mind if you’re wary of injecting rogue scripts into your system. Regardless of what you decide, it will eventually generate the installer.

2. Follow the Installer Instructions

The prompter guides the installer on exactly what they need to do to set everything up correctly, such as establishing a static IP address. If you need help with this, there are tons of tutorials out there to explain how to do this in a router or alternative methods. Then, connect it to your network — whether wireless or ethernet. You can also choose your privacy settings at this stage.

3. Curate the List

Pi-hole has its default blocklist, but you can seek out third-party blocklists to make it as comprehensive as you want. You can manipulate this at any point throughout your Pi-hole journey.

4. Test It

You’ll need to test two things — the DNS lookup functionality and how well it blocks. Testing how it alters IP addresses requires specific prompts to see how the Pi-hole interacts with the default. Then, testing the ad-blocking potential is easy. Type any product into Google and try to open an ad. The Pi-hole should automatically prevent the user from accessing the website.

5. Interact with the Web Interface

Pi-hole comes with an interface so you can see all the data before your eyes. It explains how many requests it has blocked, how many domains are on your blocklist and more. This will give you an idea how safe your traffic is.

Are Pi-Holes Illegal?

Blocking ads is completely legal on your server and browser. This protects you from countless suspicious links and hacking attempts. Many cybersecurity and tech experts trust Pi-hole, so the average person curious about boosting their defenses can be rest assured the download is safe. 

Are There Any Downsides?

This sounds like a perfect solution for keeping ads away from your everyday internet browsing. But, are there any downsides?

The biggest downside is the jargon required to understand setup. You can watch video tutorials for assistance, but installing a Linux-based operating system and testing the DNS effectiveness is a whole other can of worms. It may demand you expand your tech savviness. This makes ad-blocking at a server-level a bit restrictive to those who have the schooling or time to invest in deepening their know-how. 

The Pi-hole is so effective that it might block content that is not a direct advertisement. Users may experience this primarily on social media platforms like Facebook, where ads are woven so seamlessly into user-generated content. The inconsistency may cause general frustrations among other people in the household unfamiliar with what Pi-hole is achieving. 

The final concern is that Pi-hole can go down sometimes. Some set up a secondary DNS server in case it goes out of commission temporarily. However, some could argue this defeats the purpose of Pi-hole to begin with. This makes some wonder how secure Pi-hole really is, because hackers could work around it. It should not be used as the only cybersecurity solution. It must be joined with a tough firewall, among other security measures, to protect connected devices in the Pi-hole server.

Reliable Ad-Blocking Solutions

The Pi-hole is one of many ad-blocking methods, but it is one of the most effective. You can even combine it with other ad-blocking techniques, such as browser plug-ins and other software. Setup isn’t as complex as the jargon would make it seem. Who knows — you might even learn a thing or two about networks and servers in the process to spark curiosity for more projects like these.