The ad-based revenue model has helped online services and publishers to remain functional for years. However, we can’t deny that nasty trackers have made it nearly impossible to keep an anonymous profile on the Internet today. New fingerprinting techniques and trackers integrated into app SDKs can easily identify you within a few seconds. Not to mention, ad-heavy web pages eat up crucial resources and slows down the device. So if you have bought a Raspberry Pi to remove all ads from your devices, then this article will help you install Pi-hole. We have detailed how you can set up Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi to block ads and trackers in this article.
Here, we have explained the steps to set up and run Pi-hole in simple terms. We have used Raspberry Pi 4 Model B in our tutorial, but it will also work on old boards. You can expand the table below and move to the corresponding section with ease.
Install Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi
Configure Your Router
Block Ads & Trackers With Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi
Install Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi
I am assuming you have already set up your Raspberry Pi. If not, you can follow our tutorial and learn how to use your Windows laptop as a monitor to access and set up your Raspberry Pi, in case you don’t have a separate monitor. Now having said that, let’s move to the steps.
Install Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi
If you are using Putty or VNC to remotely access the Raspberry Pi, you can run the same command in the Terminal window. For example, here I am using Putty to install Pi-hole through Raspberry Pi’s console.
On the next page, it will show you that Pi-hole is using StevenBlack’s hosts to block ads. Earlier, there were multiple third-party host files, but now Pi-hole uses a unified list to reduce mismatch. Later on, you can add more host files if you want. So don’t change anything and make sure the list is marked (an asterisk sign will appear next to the list), and hit Enter.
Similarly, choose “On” and press “OK” to install the webserver (lighttpd) on your Raspberry Pi.
Configure Your Router
While everything is set up correctly, you need to change one key setting on your router. You need to redirect all the traffic to the Raspberry Pi so that it can filter out all the ads and trackers. Here is how you can do it.
- Click on “Add” and enter the IP address of Raspberry Pi in the “Reserved IP Address” field. You can find the MAC address of RPi from the client list mentioned below on the same page. Next, give a name in the “Description” field and turn on the “Enable This Entry” checkbox. Finally, click on “Save”. It will reserve the Raspberry Pi’s IP address.
- Block Ads & Trackers With Pi-hole on Raspberry Pi
- You have set up Pi-hole and made all the changes necessary. Now, it’s time to see Pi-hole in action. Open the web interface address of Pi-hole, i.e. [IP address of RPi]/admin. You can open the page on any device in the home network.
