Do you use a DNS, does it have any benefits ?

Has any one used this before https://controld.com/free-dns?
Im new to DNS so Im looking Few and trying to get more info.
Blueball said:
I use Firefox browser with Adblock Plus and dont get any adverts, even in YouTube.
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I use Chrome and a adblocker at the moment, I was just looking at options available
Blueball said:
Raspberry Pis are cheap as chips
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Thanks I was just looking for some other options, I dont really want to buy a Pi, work needed to setup etc and have it running all the time if not needed.
 
Blueball said:
Raspberry Pis are cheap as chips
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Is it possible to have something similar on windows instead of looking for a pi and learing how to use it (never used linux)
ChrisD. said:
No, it focuses on privacy. I run my own Adguard Home server which blocks ads and tracking, Quad9 is the uplink DNS server which covers more of the privacy stuff.

adguard-dns.io

AdGuard DNS — ad-blocking DNS server

Create your ad-blocking DNS server that will protect your personal data, prevent tracking and allow you to control access to specific content on the Internet.
adguard-dns.io adguard-dns.io
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This may be a option for me,
DNS would be simple via the router

Ad-guard
1. is it free or paid
2. What is the privacy like. Do they track or save some of the info like IP, data etc ?
3. How simple is it to setup ?
 
2013 said:
Is it possible to have something similar on windows instead of looking for a pi and learing how to use it (never used linux)

This may be a option for me,
DNS would be simple via the router

Ad-guard
1. is it free or paid
2. What is the privacy like. Do they track or save some of the info like IP, data etc ?
3. How simple is it to setup ?
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This may help
 
ChrisD. said:
You need to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
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Thanks you, but is that not the point of the forum to help each other out ?
If it was that simple, I would not have just had a look online, done it and not asked on here.

all I was asking for is advice and suggestions on things I don't know and/or cant find clear information on.
 
2013 said:
Thanks you, but is that not the point of the forum to help each other out ?
If it was that simple, I would not have just had a look online, done it and not asked on here.

all I was asking for is advice and suggestions on things I don't know and/or cant find clear information on.
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Everything you have asked is available as information on Quad9's site and Adguards site, amongst others. It's all there, you need to make your mind up about what service provides you with the privacy level that you require. Only you can make that decision.
 
DNS is basically an address book for the internet. We type in web addresses in the browser but it needs to know which IP that web address is going to. That is what a DNS is. Some DNS services like PiHole and Adguard for example will take advantage of this by returning nothing for any addresses related to ads and trackers.

You can change the DNS on the router itself so it affects all your home devices but a lot of internet provided routers don't allow this any more. Alternatively for Windows you can just follow these steps: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

That guide does use Google's DNS as an example but you can just swap that for any DNS provider of your choosing.
 
Orcvader said:
DNS is basically an address book for the internet. We type in web addresses in the browser but it needs to know which IP that web address is going to. That is what a DNS is. Some DNS services like PiHole and Adguard for example will take advantage of this by returning nothing for any addresses related to ads and trackers.

You can change the DNS on the router itself so it affects all your home devices but a lot of internet provided routers don't allow this any more. Alternatively for Windows you can just follow these steps: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

That guide does use Google's DNS as an example but you can just swap that for any DNS provider of your choosing.
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Thank you, my original thought was the same, to change to DNS on the router because its simple to change the DNS on my router, look at the DNSs last night I'm thinking quad9 would be a good option with 1.1.1.1, control d as a 2nd 3rd options I did also consider google and OpenDNS but I'm not 100% about the data storage and privacy on them

I was also looking for a option that would block ads, all ads on all devices around the house like mobiles, iPad and tv, would be blocked like my desktop.
Control D does have this but does not always work from my quick test.

Someone suggested to use PiHole and Adguard, I dont have a PI or Linux so I was wondering how to do it on windows with a dynamic IP (my IP changes and cant be fixed for long) so far still looking will continue my search once I get home.

Ad blocker is not a deal breaker because I have ad blocker on my browsers its just nice to have.
 
2013 said:
Someone suggested to use PiHole and Adguard, I dont have a PI or Linux so I was wondering how to do it on windows with a dynamic IP (my IP changes and cant be fixed for long) so far still looking will continue my search once I get home.
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Both options aren't dependant on your Windows IP, unless you want to use your PiHole in other places outside of your home WiFi (but that is far more complex to setup).

PiHole runs on a local server so you just point the router's DNS settings to the PiHole's IP address. You can either reserve a certain IP on the router side or fix the IP on the PiHole side. Bare in mind this is the internal IP range (192.168.x.x), not the internet IP address which is usually dynamic.

As for Adguard DNS, it's like Quad9, Cloudlfare, etc. You can just use the public Adguard servers (method 2): https://adguard-dns.io/en/public-dns.html
 
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Orcvader said:
Both options aren't dependant on your Windows IP, unless you want to use your PiHole in other places outside of your home WiFi (but that is far more complex to setup).

PiHole runs on a local server so you just point the router's DNS settings to the PiHole's IP address. You can either reserve a certain IP on the router side or fix the IP on the PiHole side. Bare in mind this is the internal IP range (192.168.x.x), not the internet IP address which is usually dynamic.

As for Adguard DNS, it's like Quad9, Cloudlfare, etc. You can just use the public Adguard servers (method 2): https://adguard-dns.io/en/public-dns.html
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Thanks again, Ill need to look in to Ad Guard DNS. ill also need to look at the DNS Privacy Policy and speeds.
I did not know I could use a internal IP, I assume I still cant use Pi Hole on windows,
what about ad guard home I assume its similar to Pi hole ?
 
2013 said:
Thanks again, Ill need to look in to Ad Guard DNS. ill also need to look at the DNS Privacy Policy and speeds.
I did not know I could use a internal IP, I assume I still cant use Pi Hole on windows,
what about ad guard home I assume its similar to Pi hole ?
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Pihole is designed to run on Linux, so no you can't run it on Windows. Adguard Home is similar and also needs to run off a Linux PC. You also ideally want them on their own PC, so it can run 24/7 instead of your personal PC. While Windows can't natively host either options (thinking about it, maybe W11 can now it has the Linux subsystem but that's another can of worms) you still can point Window's DNS settings to the PiHole/AGH device. But you usually don't need to do this if the router is already announcing the PiHole/AGH as the DNS server.

Basically unlike the other options these runs within your own network and not an external server like most DNS services uses. This is why it uses your internal IP and not external IP. In terms of privacy and control they will be the best but considering you seem rather new to all this it may be rather complex to set up and in case you do mess up something can be difficult to troubleshoot.

Just go with the public DNS servers, it'll be the easiest to setup and to test with, and if you do accidentally do something wrong, easy to revert.
 
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Orcvader said:
Pihole is designed to run on Linux, so no you can't run it on Windows. Adguard Home is similar and also needs to run off a Linux PC. You also ideally want them on their own PC, so it can run 24/7 instead of your personal PC. While Windows can't natively host either options (thinking about it, maybe W11 can now it has the Linux subsystem but that's another can of worms) you still can point Window's DNS settings to the PiHole/AGH device. But you usually don't need to do this if the router is already announcing the PiHole/AGH as the DNS server.

Basically unlike the other options these runs within your own network and not an external server like most DNS services uses. This is why it uses your internal IP and not external IP. In terms of privacy and control they will be the best but considering you seem rather new to all this it may be rather complex to set up and in case you do mess up something can be difficult to troubleshoot.

Just go with the public DNS servers, it'll be the easiest to setup and to test with, and if you do accidentally do something wrong, easy to revert.
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I do have a micro server running windows 10 which I've been using for plex, but ive not used linux a much.
What about using something like docker, I think docker does work on window but I have never used it.

this is the only other DNS Ive found with a ad blocker https://controld.com/free-dns?

Yes, I'm very new to all the and things are a little confusing complex, just trying to get my head around things.
Which DNS do you recommend for my need from the information I have provided ?

How could I do this (if the router is already announcing the PiHole/AGH as the DNS server.)

at this point Im getting more confused and starting consider using Quad9 or 1.1.1.1 and look in to the ads side at a later date.


GaryTheSnail said:
You can install a pi-hole/adguard on windows if you use a virtual machine.

Just to confuse you a bit more. :cry:

It acts as a server though so must be on 24/7.
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Well that would be something else to learn, after learning how to linux (cant be too hard).:D:cry:
I do have a micro server for plex but Ive been running windows.
 
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2013 said:
Hi I was wondering if you use a DNS instead of the ISP DNS ?
Ive been thinking if I should start using a DNS instead

I was wondering if it had any benefits like more privacy, slight speed increases, ad blocking and more ?

also what are the downsides ?

Could someone recommend a good DNS you would use.
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I used to use my own personal DNS server years ago hosted in a DC, but now not viable as it gets me banned on Prime, Netflix etc. It triggers their anti VPN code.

I do use now however cloudflare DNS, the anitmalware version. I also use it as encrypted HTTPS DNS.

Benefits are makes harder for ISP to snoop on your activity, more reliable (I feel ISP dns in past had reliability issues), and if you pick something like anti malware there is security benefits as well.

This is all also cached locally on my firewall which also has filters in place, so my entire LAN benefits from local cache, and I redirect all external DNS queries via my firewall as its becoming more and more common for apps to try and use their own hardcoded DNS servers.

To clarify the firewall is pfsense, using "dns resolver" which is unbound, and I have cloudflare configured as the forwarder HTTPS version. For performance reasons you are going to get much more cache hits from using a heavily used forwarder vs doing direct queries.
 
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GaryTheSnail said:
You need to learn how to Google first.
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I know how to google, I just dont know what to google, Im just a little confused on this topic, not knowing what I should be googling and im all over the place.
I can google more once I get home but not at this time.

but lucky for me people Orcvader and a few others have been understanding and willing to help me out.
 
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