[brotherjerky]

After the last one of these articles, I finally flashed my router with OpenWRT, and it's been pretty nice so far. Best feature: Installed `adblock` package, and now I get DNS-level ad blocking, which is simply fantastic. Works on all clients (including mobile) and significantly faster than blocking in browser.

[SpikeDad]

A nice alternative which allows you to keep using your router's own software or routers not compatible with open source software is PI-HOLE (https://pi-hole.net). Provides the same DNS level blocking with a lot more information and features.

[neilsimp1]

I've been thinking of getting a Pi-Hole for a while, but also have a router running OpenWRT. Are there any advantages/disadvantages to using a Pi-Hole vs. using an AdBlock package on the router?

[LeftTurnSignal]

I used an adblock package in pfSense but not OpenWRT. The issues I had with pfSense's package was it wasn't nearly as configurable as pi-hole and it used up a bit too many resources on the Soekris 5505 box. I had to uninstall it because it took too many resources.

I ended up installing Docker on my laptop, grabbing the Pi-Hole container, and configuring my laptop to use the docker container as the DNS server.

So far this has worked very well. Wherever I go, I have pihole running in the background. I can access the web interface and do everything I could do on the rasp pi-hole, without the extra hardware. It does take a minute or two to start up in the background after logging in though.

[SpikeDad]

You get a lot more info from Pi-Hole about what IPs and URLs your devices are accessing. Lots of good information outside the ad blocking realm - which devices are phoning home and where and how often is just one example.

[wincy]

Off the top of my head the Adblock might use up CPU cycles on the router, which could cause slower throughput and shorten the lifespan of your router.

[fuzzy2]

> significantly faster than blocking in browser.

Also significantly less effective.

It’s nice for devices/cases where you cannot have an adblocker in your browser. It is unnecessary otherwise.

[tecleandor]

Yep, that's true, not fully effective but:

- Nice for TVs and other devices where you can't control the apps

- Or even in phones or tablets, if you don't have root access , you can block lots of ads in browser or even in apps

- Also, you can reduce the quantity of CPU used by ad blockers on your devices (again, essentially, phones and tablets).

- Also nice for visitors in your network ;)