zlacker

>>ry8806+(OP)
"After years with Pi-hole, which now blocks over a million domains, I’ve become incredibly accustomed to a mostly ad-free web. Without realizing it, I’d forgotten what the typical internet experience feels like."

It is estimated that between 30% and 50% of Internet users run ad blockers. I haven't see a single ad in years.

Besides, Pi-holes are kind of overrated. First, ad blockers running in the browser are simply more effective. Second, Pi-hole is kind of heavy for what it does; you can accomplish the same by loading a blacklist directly to the config file of Unbound/Bind/Dnsmasq.

>>drnick+zU
I don't use "pi-hole", just an in-browser blocker (ublock origin) and am happy. But I would assume a "pi-hole" would be a useful addition to a household using a variety of potentially ad-infested devices e.g. a smart TV, various tablets etc.

>>sherr+L61
Spot on! My samsung TV menus are soooo much better in terms of snappiness by having Pi-Hole running and also setting up DNAT for those IoT devices who want to hardcode their DNS.

>>boiler+3f1
> DNAT (Destination Network Address Translation)

Yes! This is easy to do on OpenBSD as well, though it's called "redirect" instead of "DNAT":

    pass in quick on $int_if inet proto udp to any port 53 rdr-to $dns_server port 53
    pass in quick on $int_if inet proto tcp to any port 53 rdr-to $dns_server port 53

>>accrua+Gm1
I also redirect port 53 traffic, and in addition filter traffic to "well known" public DNS servers like 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8, 9.9.9.9 and many others (lists can be found on GitHub), but this is ineffective against ads and telemetry served from hardcoded IPs.

Overall, it's just easier not to connect "smart" devices to the Internet at all. I prefer to use a Linux HTPC instead of a smart TV for example. It is completely under my control and I am not restricted to apps approved by Apple or Google, asked to log into anything or to accept ever-changing terms and conditions.