The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#181

Post by theshrike79 » Tue, May 06, 2025, 12:02 PM UTC

GuB-42 wrote: post #33

mikestew wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was shocked that TFA’s recommended kit was $155! When did Raspberry Pi’s get so pricey?

The latest, overpowered version with all the accessories is that pricey. But you can do for much cheaper. For example: https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus-basic-ki... Add a MicroSD card (if you don't already have one) and a case (if you need one) and you get to ~$75. You can do even cheaper by getting a $15 Pi Zero 2 W and an Ethernet adapter off AliExpress. You probably already have an old phone char…

And if you're getting close to $75 and don't need ultra-low power use, you should get a N97/N100 MiniPC anyway - or a used business PC like a Lenovo ThinkCentre.

All can be bought for around $100 and are upgradeable with standard parts AND are multiple times more powerful than any raspberry pi.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#182

Post by perdomon » Tue, May 06, 2025, 12:06 PM UTC

I love my pi-hole but am surprised to see him recommending a $155 kit + keyboard, mouse, and monitor. My pi-hole runs on a Pi Zero 2W and connects via USB for power. The entire setup process happens over SSH and it cost me about $25. If someone can figure out how to configure their network for the pi-hole, I’m sure they can also figure out SSH.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#183

Post by wkat4242 » Tue, May 06, 2025, 1:17 PM UTC

baq wrote: post #180

wkat4242 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A port number does not force a certain protocol. You can run everything you want over port 443. And yeah I also think it's a really bad idea to run everything over https. But I don't think it'll happen.

You can. The client side enterprise proxy/firewall really doesn’t want you to, though. Just a fact of life.

Yeah I wasn't really thinking of enterprise in this whole discussion though. After all, it's about pi-hole.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#184

Post by perdomon » Tue, May 06, 2025, 1:54 PM UTC

xracy wrote: post #65

Disclaimer: The below is not a complaint about the pi-hole itself, but the ways in which companies integrate ads into their online presence. I've found my complaint about having a pi-hole is there are a number of services I use that expect/depend on ads existing in order to function. Things like, some shows on paramount+ (as an example) will fail to play (hang indefinitely) if an ad hasn't run before one of their sho…

For the Google issue, I’ve been using Kagi as a search tool for the last 2 weeks and love it. No ads and great results that can be personalized. I’m on the free version but will likely start the subscription soon.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#185

Post by tonymet » Tue, May 06, 2025, 2:07 PM UTC

perdomon wrote: post #182

I love my pi-hole but am surprised to see him recommending a $155 kit + keyboard, mouse, and monitor. My pi-hole runs on a Pi Zero 2W and connects via USB for power. The entire setup process happens over SSH and it cost me about $25. If someone can figure out how to configure their network for the pi-hole, I’m sure they can also figure out SSH.

Original pi zero with usb Ethernet also runs fine

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#186

Post by jstanley » Tue, May 06, 2025, 2:14 PM UTC

Mashimo wrote: post #178

jstanley wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the objections are stupid. Not only is the Firefox experience vastly superior to any smart TV app, but you can have easy and effective ad blocking on top. My best guess at why people don't want to do this is that we're conditioned not to do anything that isn't advertised to us, and nobody is running adverts telling you to hook a laptop up to your TV for a superior smart TV experience.

No need to tell me the advantages, I get it. But I also get why people just want to sit on the couch, find a nice video on the phone and with the press of a button want to see it on the TV. No computer boot time, no updates, no writing on the keyboard while laying down. I get that you can buy a fanless pc, install linux with unattended-upgrades and you have something more powerful. But most people don't know how or d…

Leave the computer running all the time. Never install software updates. Browsing for videos with keyboard is equivalent or better than browsing with phone. If you really want to browse with phone I guess you need a Firefox extension that can send the tab to the laptop. Personally I've never looked into that because I can't imagine wanting to do it.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#187

Post by Mashimo » Tue, May 06, 2025, 2:38 PM UTC

jstanley wrote: post #186

Mashimo wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to tell me the advantages, I get it. But I also get why people just want to sit on the couch, find a nice video on the phone and with the press of a button want to see it on the TV. No computer boot time, no updates, no writing on the keyboard while laying down. I get that you can buy a fanless pc, install linux with unattended-upgrades and you have something more powerful. But most people don't know how or d…

Leave the computer running all the time. Never install software updates. Browsing for videos with keyboard is equivalent or better than browsing with phone. If you really want to browse with phone I guess you need a Firefox extension that can send the tab to the laptop. Personally I've never looked into that because I can't imagine wanting to do it.

> Browsing for videos with keyboard is equivalent or better than browsing with phone.

Again, for you yes. But some lay down on the couch and a keyboard in that posture is just annoying.

And copying a youtube video from the app, into firefox app to just send it to the computer is bonkers complicated when you could just press the cast icon.

A lot of people interact with their phone all the time, but rarely use the computer. I'm telling you, it's more easy to use the build in Youtube app for a lot of people.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#188

Post by perdomon » Tue, May 06, 2025, 3:00 PM UTC

tonymet wrote: post #185

perdomon wrote: post #182

I love my pi-hole but am surprised to see him recommending a $155 kit + keyboard, mouse, and monitor. My pi-hole runs on a Pi Zero 2W and connects via USB for power. The entire setup process happens over SSH and it cost me about $25. If someone can figure out how to configure their network for the pi-hole, I’m sure they can also figure out SSH.

Original pi zero with usb Ethernet also runs fine

1. You’re totally right about that, but I couldn’t find one as easily 2. I was initally hesitant about using WiFi for DNS, but after reading comments it seemed that no one really had any issues. Mine has been kicking for 6 months sitting right next to my router without any noticeable delays, so I think it’s okay.

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#189

Post by bongodongobob » Tue, May 06, 2025, 3:34 PM UTC

tenacious_tuna wrote: post #149

bongodongobob wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's not a fix and those iptables settings are on the router. It will only catch DNS requests on port 53. Doesn't catch DoH which you can't do on a router, you need a firewall for that.

Also, doesn't that break the network if the pihole is offline? Before I'd just override DNS on my workstation, but that iptables config would block any "unsanctioned" DNS traffic

It would, yes

Re: The Beauty of Having a Pi-Hole (2024)

#190

Post by sgbeal » Tue, May 06, 2025, 4:09 PM UTC

perdomon wrote: post #182

I love my pi-hole but am surprised to see him recommending a $155 kit + keyboard, mouse, and monitor. My pi-hole runs on a Pi Zero 2W and connects via USB for power. The entire setup process happens over SSH and it cost me about $25. If someone can figure out how to configure their network for the pi-hole, I’m sure they can also figure out SSH.

> I love my pi-hole but am surprised to see him recommending a $155 kit + keyboard, mouse, and monitor. My pi-hole runs on a Pi Zero 2W and connects via USB for power.

FWIW, even a Pi Zero 2 is overkill. My pi-hole has been running for the better part of 3 years on the same microSD card on a first-generation pi zero, powered via a USB port on my router.