Background information

digitec Pi Hole: throwing annoying ads straight down a DNS sinkhole

5.2.2021

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

More and more users around the world are turning their backs on unwanted advertising. For this purpose, Pi Hole stands as an exciting alternative alongside the usual ad blockers. And we're offering you this efficient tool right here, right now.

Internet ads are annoying – not always, but most of the time. Especially when we just want to read an article in peace or roam through our favourite online stores undisturbed. For example, when you visit the «20 Minuten» website for a brief news update, dozens of advertising messages are immediately blasted your way. But it's not just these visible advertising vampires that suck your energy. Hidden behind a thicket of coloured pixels, various trackers are hard at work, watching your every move through their digital territory.

In our numerous excursions through the World Wide Web, our data and information are the «oil of the 21st century». Companies want to gain as much as possible and will constantly expose us to their instruments of influence and observation.

Naturally, not everyone agrees with such invasive practices. The more people use the Internet and the more intense this use becomes, the more the collective need to block unwanted aspects of it also increases.

Guide
Screw you, advertising: the necessity of adblockers in today’s Internet
by Dominik Bärlocher

A bouncer for your browser

Unsurprisingly, the range of ad blockers has grown in recent years. According to estimates, almost half of all Internet users now use some form of ad blocking, as the marketing agency «Impact» stated in a recent blog post. Most do this directly in their browser using a plug-in or extension. You can find hundreds of them online, including AdBlock Plus. AdBlock Plus is currently the largest provider on the market. The service was launched in 2005 and was already able to register 100 million users worldwide in 2016 according to its own information.

Such ad blocking software is readily available, easy to install and serves its purpose. After installation in the browser, the software analyses the desired target page and its scripts every time a page is called up – if it detects pages and scripts that are on the so-called «Blacklist» according to their programming, their content is blocked or masked.

However, simplicity comes at a price: while the software offers efficient protection, it doesn't extend beyond the browser window. The range of the service is therefore limited. For both your smartphone and all other Internet-enabled devices you own – from smart TVs to game consoles – separate thought must be given to further advertising and track protection.

Although ad blockers promise faster browsing and reduced data consumption, their commands often trigger complicated workarounds and complex ad obfuscation mechanisms – for which they also need to be loaded. A 2020 study by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya concluded that ad and content blockers have only a very small effect on bandwidth usage and that the effect on page load time is insignificant to negative.

Larger providers in particular have another disadvantage. With their success, they've become valuable. Certain ad blockers are now turning a blind eye to their main mission. AdBlock Plus, for example, has been criticised for several years of operating a controversial and opaque «Whitelist». For example, companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon are said to have paid millions to have their ads classified as «Acceptable» by AdBlock Plus.

Seems like the doorman isn't guarding the main entrance at all, letting in too many unwanted guests, with a certain tendency to accept bribes as well. That's why the nerds and tech fans among you have long known that there's a better alternative to block unwanted ads and trackers from accessing our precious attention.

What is Pi Hole?

Pi Hole – here's the official page – is an open-source software project that blocks ads and trackers at the home network level. Pi Hole is configured as a DNS server for home networks. This way, it doesn't just block ads when a page is called up in the computer's browser, but before they can enter the home network.

Pi Hole blocks the communication of unwanted URLs with all devices that are on the home network – including smartphones, smart TVs, game consoles or IoT devices, some of which have very active «conversations» with the manufacturers and constantly transmit user data. As a DNS server, Pi Hole sends all advertising and tracker requests that are on the «Blacklist» directly into nirvana.

The Pi Hole software project was created by Minnesota developer Jacob Salmela. He created Pi Hole in 2014 after discovering the AdTrap project on Kickstarter. It promised to fend off advertising and trackers on a network basis with the help of a proxy server. Salmela thought the idea was cool, but figured he could create a better and faster version of it using his Raspberry Pi minicomputer and a DNS server. And Pi Hole was born…

Development boards + Kits

CHF85.90

Raspberry Pi 4 8GB Model B

Since Pi Hole was made available in 2015, it quickly gained popularity, especially in tech circles. Nevertheless, the current number of users remains comparatively modest at around 140,000 networks. To keep the service running, Salmela now employs six full-time developers. They take care of the website and server hosting. In addition, the squad also provides regular support on Reddit and Twitter for various community requests. By the way, Salmela's critical stance towards advertising is also reflected in his own management: Pi Hole is entirely supported by donations and is free of advertising – permanently.

How to activate digitec Pi-Hole

So why haven't we all set up Pi Hole? As with traditional ad blockers, there's a trade-off with Pi Hole: installation can be a hurdle for the less tech-savvy. You'll have to get a Raspberry Pi, activate Raspbian, enter one line of code and set the DNS server.

But this is exactly the hurdle we want to remove: our developers have created a public Pi Hole for you. This allows you to enjoy the full benefits of the software service without having to buy hardware or enter any code commands. You can easily block ads and trackers, as described above, for all devices on your home network.

Since our Pi Hole also blocks ads and trackers before they enter your network, it actually downloads less data, improves speed, and protects your privacy. Then what's left to do? It's simple: you route your DNS requests through our digitec Pi Hole. To do this, enter the following DNS server in the DNS settings of your router: 40.114.239.83.

Pi Hole for your router

We've created a small overview for you using the most common routers:

AVM (Fritzbox)

Open the Fritzbox user interface in your browser.
Select Internet in the left navigation and click Access data.
Select the DNS Server tab.
Set the dot at Use other DNSv4 server.
Now you can enter the digitec DNS server: 40.114.239.83.
Confirm the digitec DNS server with Apply.

Huawei

Open the Huawei user interface in your browser according to your provider's instructions.
Select Basic from the left navigation then access the DHCP tab from the drop-down menu.
Enter the digitec DNS server as your Primary DNS server: 40.114.239.83.
Confirm the digitec DNS server with Apply.

TP-Link

Open the TP-Link user interface in your browser.
Select Network in the left navigation and click WAN.
Select the Use this DNS server box.
Enter the digitec DNS server as your Primary DNS server: 40.114.239.83.
Select System tools in the left navigation and click Reboot and OK to confirm the process.

Netgear

Open the Netgear user interface in your browser.
Go to the Network item and select Connections.
Click on the gear icon for the network interface you want to configure.
From the menu that appears, select Settings.
A pop-up window shows the settings for the selected network interface. Click on the DNS tab.
Click the + icon to the right of the list of DNS servers.
In the pop-up screen that appears, enter the IP address of the digitec DNS server: 40.114.239.83.
Click the Add button to make the DNS server appear on the list.
Confirm the digitec DNS server with Apply.

Do you trust us?

Did the configuration of your DNS server work? A word of advice before you go on, then. Browsing the web involves recurring decisions of trust, which you sometimes make more consciously and sometimes more unconsciously. The overarching question here is: who do you entrust with your data?

Opinion
Why you should stop using social media right now
by Oliver Herren

We're making our public Pi Hole available to you because the community motivated us to do so – and because we're big fans of Pi Hole ourselves. But you have to keep in mind that there is a trade-off as well, which we want to clearly disclose to you: with our Pi Hole, your entire home network is protected from advertisements and trackers in a simple, uncomplicated and very effective way – but we, as the operator of the DNS server, have the insight and thus also the control over the requests that run through it.

This means that once you've configured the digitec Pi Hole as your DNS server, we could theoretically monitor your jaunts around the World Wide Web a little more closely, simply because we could see which websites you are accessing. Which, of course, we would never do (promise!). We mainly want to offer you this service as a stepping stone into the world of alternative ad blockers and security issues on the Internet – and maybe it'll encourage you to get the whole Raspberry Pi kit in our store later on.

Development boards + Kits

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

We will therefore not offer the digitec Pi Hole for an unlimited time. This means that the server will also be switched off again at some point. But we sincerely hope that by this time we will have introduced you to the fascinating Pi Hole universe.

We're very curious to hear what you think of our digitec Pi Hole. Will you test the software with our service? Or are you already an old Raspi user and have gathered a lot of useful experience that you want to share with us? Are there any other services on your wish list besides the digitec Pi Hole? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

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Coya Vallejo Hägi

Editor

coya.vallejo@digitecgalaxus.ch

«I want it all! The terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles!» – these words spoken by an iconic American TV celebrity could have been mine. It's a take on life I also apply to my job. What does this mean in concrete terms? That every story has its charm; no matter how small, large, exciting or trivial. The more eclectic the mix, the better.

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