June 19, 2019 at 7:00 PM

Network-wide Ad Blocking Using Pi-hole

Presenter: Kenneth Tubaugh

During the June monthly general meeting, Kenneth Tubaugh shared with the membership of CCS an open-source project called Pi-hole. Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker for every device connected to your home network. Instead of installing a browser plug-in or software on each device (computer, smartphone, tablet, and so on), you can now install Pi-hole in one place and your entire network is protected.

In addition to blocking advertisements while surfing the web, Pi-hole provides network-level blocking. This allows you to block ads in non-traditional places such as mobile apps, smart devices, and IoT (Internet of Things) gadgets. It’s also software agnostic which allows you to choose the operating system and browser that best fits your needs. Pi-hole works on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and everything in between.

As an added bonus, blocking advertisements network-wide often improves your Internet performance. Since ads are blocked before they are downloaded, Internet performance is improved. Browsing the web often feels faster.