Pi-Hole Discussion Thread

[keenklee]

this is where you need to reduce it. Use PiHole to block Tiktok and edmw, so you can save 3 hours.

IMHO.
Block internet.... haha.

 

[TanKianW]

IMHO.
I am trying to figure how to have a corner at my place to house all the hardware to maximize the time. Now, if i need to use tinker with mini PC or routers, I have to take out and setup. Maybe have something movable.

Maybe can consider a movable rack fitted with castor wheels and locate it in your CD shelter or aka store room.

Do take note of the heat build up though. But could be easily resolved using proper exhaust system with ducting.​

 

[keenklee]

Maybe can consider a movable rack fitted with castor wheels and locate it in your CD shelter or aka store room.

Do take note of the heat build up though. But could be easily resolved with proper exhaust system with ducting.​

IMHO.
CD shelter cannot because got a "kerb".
I think movable rack is the way to go. I should be using small devices, so heat should be minimal - important is that i can run many devices all at once.

 

[Jurong640]

IMHO.
Block internet.... haha.

Cannot la. Still need whatsapp and internet surfing access,

Last week, i discovered, my Pi Hole too stonk, apple devices cannot connect to my home network. haha

 

[TanKianW]

IMHO.
CD shelter cannot because got a "kerb".
I think movable rack is the way to go. I should be using small devices, so heat should be minimal - important is that i can run many devices all at once.

I dun often move mine out from the store room. Just moving forward and back in the store room when I need to access the rear of the rack to connect or manage cables due to space constraints. The castor wheel comes in handy if you do need to push it around. And you never know when you may need to shift it out from the store room for some physically maintenance (eg. Dust cleaning).

Actually you can tilt and lift it one side at a time up the "kerb", not the easiest but still doable. Most of the time I only required to move one server/appliance at a time instead of the whole rack for troubleshoot. At the moment, store room works best for me without taking up too much of the living space.​

 

[Jurong640]

Next time, if i have my own home, own BTO, I will need to set up a corner dedicated to electronics, Pi Hole, Router, NAS, switch and IOT zigbee or BT hub products. I also attempted setting up own Android TV Box using orangepi 5.

 

[TanKianW]

Next time, if i have my own home, own BTO, I will need to set up a corner dedicated to electronics, Pi Hole, Router, NAS, switch and IOT zigbee or BT hub products. I also attempted setting up own Android TV Box using orangepi 5.

Yes. You should. Best decision ever.

I planned mine early which saved me lots of time and some money when my setup scaled up/out. Plan for more, not less.​

 

[Jurong640]

Someone just mentioned it. So I think it's not just me. Issues with Apple devices connecting to home internet,

Initially, I pointed out the issue with my Router (TP-Link BE805), and then with Pi-Hole. After I removed Pi Hole DNS from my router, it seemed fine for a while. But after that, the issue persisted, so I pointed out the issue back to my router firmware again. Hence, for now, i put back my Pi-Hole DNS on my router.

Next, when I have time, I'll try to see what is actually wrong. I will try to remove PiHole DNS from my router and manually connect to PiHole DNS via Tailscale and see if the problem still persists. If it's still there, then i think it's the issue with Apple devices liao.

 

[Jurong640]

Now that cloudflare is down, not sure if its cloudflare DNS issue or also affect website hosting?

Im using own PiHole unbound own DNS. Don't see any issues with surfing websites.

 

[xiaofan]

Now that cloudflare is down, not sure if its cloudflare DNS issue or also affect website hosting?

Im using own PiHole unbound own DNS. Don't see any issues with surfing websites.

On my side, only IPv6 is down. IPv4 is okay.

I was having brief issues accessing Downdetector.com due to IPv6 connection issues with "challenger.cloudflare.com".

Looks like IPv6 only issue. No issues with IPv4. Hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.

Singtel Fibre Broadband 5Gbps plan here.

PS C:\work\networking\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> ping challenges.cloudflare.com

Pinging challenges.cloudflare.com [2606:4700::6812:5f29] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 2606:4700::6812:5f29:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
PS C:\work\networking\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> ping -4 challenges.cloudflare.com

Pinging challenges.cloudflare.com [104.18.94.41] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 104.18.94.41: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=54
Reply from 104.18.94.41: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=54
Reply from 104.18.94.41: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=54
Reply from 104.18.94.41: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 104.18.94.41:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 7ms, Average = 5ms
PS C:\work\networking\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> ping dns.cloudflare.com

Pinging dns.cloudflare.com [2a06:98c1:52::8] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 2a06:98c1:52::8:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
PS C:\work\networking\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> ping -4 dns.cloudflare.com

Pinging dns.cloudflare.com [172.64.41.8] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 172.64.41.8: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=54
Reply from 172.64.41.8: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=54
Reply from 172.64.41.8: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=54
Reply from 172.64.41.8: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 172.64.41.8:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 8ms, Average = 6ms

 

[Jurong640]

On my side, only IPv6 is down. IPv4 is okay.

I was having brief issues accessing Downdetector.com due to IPv6 connection issues with "challenger.cloudflare.com".

i can't visit the website too

 

[froztheart]

On my side, only IPv6 is down. IPv4 is okay.

I was having brief issues accessing Downdetector.com due to IPv6 connection issues with "challenger.cloudflare.com".

Yeah, Downdetector was inaccessible in the Speedtest app earlier when I wanted to check if the Singtel disruption still persist or has it recovered.

 

[Jurong640]

bump. Anyone here still using Pi Hole with unbound upstream DNS?

 

[Jurong640]

Last week did a flush and deleted lot's of block lists that affected my operability.

Previously, I had changed to using Pi-Hole DNS via Tailscale VPN from my devices (Computer and mobile phones). But it is causing a lot issues like lag or delayed notifications.

After i removed a few lists, kept it simple, and changed Pi-Hole DNS directly on Router level, things improved. So far still no complaints from family members.

Some issues that i noticed and i need to fix, is my Sony TV is unable to connect to server and update software, and HWZ cannot see FB embedded posts. I will need to find that domain to whitelist it.

 

[sibeiTrolled]

i need to fix, is my Sony TV is unable to connect to server and update software

I would register it as a client and set the option to temporary disable the blocklist for this specific client.
i vaguely remember pihole got such option. Once updated, then resume the block and go search for the domain

HWZ cannot see FB embedded posts

This seems like a very agressive list that you are using. Are you also using browser based adblock?

You might want to keep things simpler and only use only 1 list from this 2 providers
- oisd big from https://oisd.nl/
- HaGeZi multi pro from https://github.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists

Then maybe add on security list
- Malicious URL Blocklist (URLHaus)
- HaGeZi's Threat Intelligence Feeds - This one is huge! If pi hole system is on SD card, i won't reccomend it

 

[Jurong640]

I would register it as a client and set the option to temporary disable the blocklist for this specific client.
i vaguely remember pihole got such option. Once updated, then resume the block and go search for the domain

Oh thanks. Didn't think of this way, will try it next time.

This seems like a very agressive list that you are using. Are you also using browser based adblock?

You might want to keep things simpler and only use only 1 list from this 2 providers
- oisd big from https://oisd.nl/
- HaGeZi multi pro from https://github.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists

Then maybe add on security list
- Malicious URL Blocklist (URLHaus)
- HaGeZi's Threat Intelligence Feeds - This one is huge! If pi hole system is on SD card, i won't reccomend it

Yup. I am also using Brave Browser which also blocks ads, trackers and more.
Yes, my pi-hole system is on a SD-card, so having lots of list will also risk having more failures right? Cos they have to write and re-write many times?

 

[sibeiTrolled]

I am also using Brave Browser which also blocks ads, trackers and more.

If so, i would check if it's the built in blocker list that causing issue bah. Ttry using edge or chrome without any adblock and see if the same post can access or not since sometimes, the list used by the browser itself can be too agressive and out of your control.

Sometimes can also be just a cache problem. Too much data / history on the browser and things get messed up

Yes, my pi-hole system is on a SD-card, so having lots of list will also risk having more failures right? Cos they have to write and re-write many times?

Likely, but i won't just dismiss using SD Card since any storage can fail also randomly
Queries are really only read operations, is the writes that may kill it like these jobs.

- Updating of the list (PI defaults to once a week on sat or sun which should be decent enough if you don't need constant chasing of the latest blockings)
- Logging (See if can switch to ram logging or similar eitherwise log only block queries)
- Increase your caching for the queries that has already been done (reduce search and then write to DB / RAM operation)

Having more list will result in slower operations, but even so, queries should be done in miliseconds with decent caching size.

I don't use pihole already but those are my list that i used on my rpi4 and another mini pc at ~800k entries. Both are on SSD, sata and nvme.

Previously only 1 rpi4 on SD card, also was avg 30-40ms without the threat feeds for 4 years. Then the SD card died when i was at work and family no internet

Always have at least 2 systems

EDIT - if cost is an issue for 2nd system, use those public facing dns resolvers that blocks adguard / tracker like mullvad, adguard, controlD, rethinkdns as secondary DNS options.
But since most of them offer only DoT or DOH, i don't think those can be used on your router as secondary dns

 

[Jurong640]

If so, i would check if it's the built in blocker list that causing issue bah. Ttry using edge or chrome without any adblock and see if the same post can access or not since sometimes, the list used by the browser itself can be too agressive and out of your control.

Sometimes can also be just a cache problem. Too much data / history on the browser and things get messed up


Likely, but i won't just dismiss using SD Card since any storage can fail also randomly
Quries are really only read operations, is the writes that may kill it like these jobs.

- Updating of the list (PI defaults to once a week on sat or sun which should be decent enough if you don't need constant chasing of the latest blockings)
- Logging (See if can switch to ram logging or similar eitherwise log only block queries)
- Increase your caching for the quries that has already been done (reduce search and then cache operation)

Having more list will result in slower operations, but even so, quries should be done in miliseconds with decent caching size.

I don't use pihole already but those are my list that i used on my rpi4 and another mini pc at ~800k entries. Both are on SSD, sata and nvme.

Previously only 1 rpi4 on SD card, also was avg 30-40ms without the threat feeds for 4 years. Then the SD card died when i was at work and family no internet

thanks for the help. I'll try.

 

[Jurong640]

 

[Jurong640]

Now in China and using my Pi Hole as exit node and using my Hotel wifi. Able to use as hwz and Google Mobile services. Very good and smooth

Tried Surfshark VPN doesn't work well, and very slow, and end up have to use 5G yesterday.