nextdns.io - Alternative DNS Resolver to Pi-Hole

Charlie_Zhan

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https://www.nextdns.io

The first cloud-based private DNS service that gives you full control over what is allowed and what is blocked on the Internet.

for those who are looking to implement network wide adblocking using Pi-Hole but holding back and wish to try out something similar can consider this new service.

it's currently in beta phase and would be free to use.

"Free during beta, then freemium with low pricing tiers (something like free up to 500,000 DNS queries a month, then $0.99/month).
We will tweak later based on actual costs at scale, but it will follow this logic."

you don't even need to register to start configuring your first list.. there is a list of common social media apps that you can toggle to block or unblock them, or select from the comprehensive list of popular host files to include in your own customised DNS resolver..

you can also add in your own whitelist or blacklist if the hostfile breaks any of your intended sites. there's also a analytics page for you to review the sites resolved and blocked. and you get to choose whether to log your activities, level of logging and how long the logs should remain.

you will receive your own customised DNS resolver address in different DNS protocols which would work for most platforms today like windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Router. including IPv4, IPv6, and the newer and more secured DoT (works for Android Pie 9 for device-wide DNS resolving not limited to just WiFi) and DoH.

nextdns.io is started and beta-released in mid May last month by Oliver Poitrey; who is currently a Director of Engineering at Netflix and was Co-founder and ex-CTO at Dailymotion, as well as Romain Cointepas; ex-Head of Mobile/Tv at Dailymotion.

I faced some issues when trying to link a ddns hostname to the DNS resolver and tried using their live chat support chat window for help. and to my surprise, Romain himself responded to my chat within 5 mins and resolved it within a couple of minutes.

those interested can give it a try and there's an article below for those who are using Asus routers running on Merlin firmware that includes the new DNS over TLS feature in the recent firmware release.

https://www.augusteo.com/blog/how-to-use-nextdns-with-asuswrt-merlin-tutorial/

here's how the dashboard's various tabs would look like when you log in to your account.
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Sent from Samsung SM-G965F using GAGT
 

dryteletubby

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Free during beta, then freemium with low pricing tiers (something like free up to 500,000 DNS queries a month, then $0.99/month).
We will tweak later based on actual costs at scale, but it will follow this logic

I can easily surpass 1M+ DNS queries a month thanks to chatty IoT devices.

I guess a average size family will also quite easily surpass 500K DNS queries.

Also I don't really trust a cloud based service not to leak or lose my data even if they are sincere with their privacy promises.
 

Charlie_Zhan

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I can easily surpass 1M+ DNS queries a month thanks to chatty IoT devices.

I guess a average size family will also quite easily surpass 500K DNS queries.

Also I don't really trust a cloud based service not to leak or lose my data even if they are sincere with their privacy promises.

i was expecting you to be in the thread and sure enough you were the first.. :s13:

maybe i should had indicated the target audience of this service. lets just put it this way, if we were to provide advise to any non tech-savy household user about ad and malware blocking in general, i guess we could agree that any public secured dns resolver like google, cloudflare, quad9, opendns, would be better than using ISP dns.

and if the same person is interested to venture future, i would offer this solution for the said person to try out first before going all out to set up their own hosted dns resolver which require a much higher technical knowledge compared to this.

in the first place this was never intended as a recommendation over a self hosted dns resolver if one was to possess sufficient tech knowledge to set one up.

i chance upon this cloud based dns resolver while searching for a replacement for the impending death of the Samsung exclusive knox-level device wide adblocking/disabling app called Adhell, which you can search for the subreddit and read up more on if you are interested. most users recommended adguard dns but the lack of whitelisting the dns made some prefer the use of this nextdns.io service.

so yea, i am not contesting your reasoning. but you just gotta accept the fact that not everyone uses a custom dns resolver for the same reason as you do. so while you have your point, it doesnt mean that should be the only theory that should exist. :)

and as stated, as of now, this is free to try. so again, its more targeted to those looking into the area of setting up a self hosted or custom dns resolver to try out first.
 

dryteletubby

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DNS based adblockers won't work with YouTube ads since google had the "foresight" to have it's advertisements come from the same domain as the video.

personally for an android phone, I will use newpipe / YouTube vanced for YouTube and a web browser with adblock installed.

The DNS based adblock should clean up the rest of the ads.

If you are comfortable rooting your phone, you can install adaway which works by modifying the hosts files and it should work better then those DNS based adblockers. I used to use adaway on my old phone but since so many apps won't work with a rooted phone, its up to you to see if the trade off is worth it. Technically there is a way to hide root from certain apps but I wasn't bothered to try.
 

Charlie_Zhan

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DNS based adblockers won't work with YouTube ads since google had the "foresight" to have it's advertisements come from the same domain as the video.

personally for an android phone, I will use newpipe / YouTube vanced for YouTube and a web browser with adblock installed.

The DNS based adblock should clean up the rest of the ads.

If you are comfortable rooting your phone, you can install adaway which works by modifying the hosts files and it should work better then those DNS based adblockers. I used to use adaway on my old phone but since so many apps won't work with a rooted phone, its up to you to see if the trade off is worth it. Technically there is a way to hide root from certain apps but I wasn't bothered to try.
yup I'm aware of the YouTube ads as well.

there are also ad blocking apps like blokads or smth but those would basically require your phone to run a local based VPN service to work. means I won't be able to use my VPN app if I have such app running. adguard DNS is too aggressive in malware detection and causes quite alot of site to break.

rooting is totally not worth it especially on flagship Samsung phones.. it will permanently trip the Knox e-fuse and subsequently disable features like Samsung pay and secure folder.. and not to mention that all my work profile sandbox will automatically wipe all the apps and data within it and I won't be able to run my work apps on the phone anymore.

tried it once on my S7 edge since I was using it as my secondary phone but after seeing what the phone is left with after rooting, I told myself I won't do it anymore :s13: the phone is more or less useless and no better than its mid or low range product line.

my Adhell licence key had expired about a week back, it's still blocking ads across-the-board on browsers and in-app with the exception of YouTube, but now I can no longer enable/disable the app or make any changes like whitelist any domains or new apps that I have (videos of a social media app can't play unless I whitelist the domain) so I guess I'll just have to let go and deactivate it but not until I find a replacement plan that performs at least half as well as this app. and so far this nextdns.io is the best I've found. especially now that android 9 allows us to set a private dns that will be applied across-the-board without using the local vpn method like all previous apps.

to put it simply, this Adhell 3 functioned just like a Pi-Hole exclusive to Samsung phones. but now Samsung decided to pull the plug on users like me.

slrN8Am.jpg


Sent from Samsung SM-G965F using GAGT
 
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wolnavi

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So I just had this installed on my iPhone, so far so good, almost every ad is blocked, but I have a few noobish questions I hope someone can answer

I noticed that I am connected to a vpn, does this means that all of my data is going through their(nextdns) servers?

If so, is it possible that they can see my data/traffic?

Thanks
 
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DurianAhBoy

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Just use Pi-Hole. Can control what to block, and temporarily disable as and when required. Blocks YouTube ads on pc and smart tv (but not phone)

Running on my pi 2 B+
 
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