AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server • Hacker News Board

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#181

Post by pseufaux » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 1:57 AM UTC

hbcondo714 wrote: post #152

There are a few mostly positive comments here about NextDNS but I'll start a new comment since I'm thinking about switching away from NextDNS. Why? I'm on a Mac / Safari now and would like to enable their "Hide IP address from trackers" feature but if I do, then I start seeing advertisements on websites that would normally be blocked by NextDNS. So I have to uncheck this option and can't use Apple's feature. Overall,…

Are you referring to iCloud Private Relay? If so that's expected behavior for with any DNS based ad blocker. Turning on the relay proxies your connection and your local network's DNS server will not be used. Doesn't matter if it's PiHole, NextDNS, or AdGaurd.

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#182

Post by readscore » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 1:58 AM UTC

muppetman wrote: post #164

readscore wrote: post #124

I'm experienced in DNS but have never seen the point in DNS blocklists. It feels like the wrong layer. I do adblocking with a browser extension. The adblocking has more context, can modify the page, and has easy UI integration for debugging and turning it off. What else are DNS blocklists for? Clients except browsers? For the record, on my desktop I use systemd-resolved (for DNSSEC) and dnscrypt-proxy2 (for encryptio…

Adblocking via the browser is the best option if it's available. All the games the kids play on their iPad try to insert ads, track them, all that sort of stuff and DNS based Adblocking stops that. My wife's iPhone isn't subject to ads when she's reading the news in Safari. On my Google Pixel I don't see ads in browsers either, Firefox I use uBlock but even the Google Newsfeed uses Chrome for webview, so DNS adblocki…

> There's so many places other than "the browser" to see ads, to even question that seems like not really having knowledge of what the Internet is used for in 2024.

I understand that many people use apps and smart TV sticks, but I'd forgotten that many have ads. I use some apps, but none that have ads.

My family use apps but say that they appreciate targeted ads.

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#183

Post by zikduruqe » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:01 AM UTC

progbits wrote: post #159

zikduruqe wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have an automatic WireGuard VPN set up on my devices to VPN into my home network when I'm not connected to my SSID, so my local DNS still works remotely. Exact same setup for me also. I also run Tailscale since I have run into some remote networks that blocked wireguard's port.

How's the latency? I like the idea and might set that up but my residential ISP doesn't have great peering and latency isn't great. I wonder if that extra roundtrip would be noticable or not.

I'm on a 2 Gbps fiber link at home, so none as far as I'm concerned.

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#184

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:16 AM UTC

ittan wrote: post #34

Unsure if anyone here uses Technitium DNS(Opensource and free). It works on minimal hardware. I am running it on an Orange Pi 3 LTS. https://technitium.com/dns/

Decided against it due to being written in C#/NET and being relatively new. Went with Unbound

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#185

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:20 AM UTC

NL807 wrote: post #172

How effective is AdGuard against YouTube ads? Pi-Hole doesn't work as its filtering is at the DNS level, I suspect AdGuard has the same issues?

Doesn’t work for YouTube ads – they no longer load ads via DNS and instead embed them directly into the video feed. Ublock origin via the browser is the best way to block them. If you wish to use a client app, best bet is to sideload a 3rd party app like like SmartTubeNext for Android TV or YTLitePlus for iOS.

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#186

Post by shiroiuma » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:21 AM UTC

johntash wrote: post #151

JoshTriplett wrote: post #92

Standing reminder that any device smart enough to run a real web browser shouldn't use one of these and doesn't need one. uBlock Origin works much better for any device capable of running it, both in terms of user experience (the browser understands a block rather than a mysteriously failing request) and because it can block first party ads and clean up page layout. The primary use case for these is for blocking ads…

> Standing reminder that any device smart enough to run a real web browser shouldn't use one of these and doesn't need one. Why not? Or why not use both? > The primary use case for these is for blocking ads on devices that don't allow running a real browser and yet still shows ads, such as "smart home" devices, TVs, etc. What about non-browser apps on mobile devices or even desktops? Lots of apps have invasive ads an…

>What about non-browser apps on mobile devices or even desktops? Lots of apps have invasive ads and are unlikely to offer an extension api to block them with.

Simple answer: don't use those apps. Do you really need them?

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#187

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:23 AM UTC

LeoPanthera wrote: post #108

35mm wrote: post #98

Those who are using DNS level ad blocking: how much do sites break? And how easy is it to unblock them? I currently use browser based blocking and find a lot of sites don’t work at all. Typically SPAs. But if I have to use them, I can disable the adblocker in two clicks. How does that compare?

It entirely depends on which blocklist(s) you use. I had to stop using the StevenBlack list because it started breaking a lot of things, apparently intentionally. I recommend using only one list, rather than a combination of several. I switched to the https://oisd.nl Big List, which has been great... although it did break GitHub yesterday. That was the first breakage since I switched, and it was fixed when I reported…

Hagezi blocklists are the current standard now: https://github.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists

You could go for one of the Lite blocklists for the network wide, family friendly (non-breaking) list.

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#188

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

evanreichard wrote: post #68

JadoJodo wrote: post #3

I ran a competing project[0] on my home network for a few years before I discovered NextDNS[1]. What I lost in performance (requests don't leave my house) I gained in portability: ALL my devices can take advantage – at home and away – and time-saved. PiHole works 90% of the time, but when it did stop working, I'd have to spend a bit of time fixing it. At $20/year, I simply couldn't compete with NextDNS. Note: This is…

I'm curious what issues you ran into with Pi-hole? I was running my instance for years without a single hiccup. I ended up moving to AdGuard Home about a year ago though because I wanted to run it on my OPNSense box. I have an automatic WireGuard VPN set up on my devices to VPN into my home network when I'm not connected to my SSID, so my local DNS still works remotely.

This is the way. Added Unbound as my upstream DNS server in recursive mode for extra privacy!

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#189

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:29 AM UTC

progbits wrote: post #159

zikduruqe wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have an automatic WireGuard VPN set up on my devices to VPN into my home network when I'm not connected to my SSID, so my local DNS still works remotely. Exact same setup for me also. I also run Tailscale since I have run into some remote networks that blocked wireguard's port.

How's the latency? I like the idea and might set that up but my residential ISP doesn't have great peering and latency isn't great. I wonder if that extra roundtrip would be noticable or not.

I do the same thing and am on 500mbps - don’t experience any issues

Re: AdGuard Home: Network-wide ad- and tracker-blocking DNS server

#190

Post by vin047 » Wed, Feb 07, 2024, 2:31 AM UTC

therealmarv wrote: post #11

JadoJodo wrote: post #3

I ran a competing project[0] on my home network for a few years before I discovered NextDNS[1]. What I lost in performance (requests don't leave my house) I gained in portability: ALL my devices can take advantage – at home and away – and time-saved. PiHole works 90% of the time, but when it did stop working, I'd have to spend a bit of time fixing it. At $20/year, I simply couldn't compete with NextDNS. Note: This is…

+1 for nextdns definitely, that would be also my preferred choice. Alternative and free for private usage is to set DNS to: dns.adguard-dns.com on your devices to block ads with DNS. UPDATE: it seems the old one was dns.adguard.com (which was blocked in some countries)

9.9.9.9 from Quad9 is another great, free, pro-privacy alternative.