"How To Secure Your Home Network - Block Adverts, Malware, and Adult Content"
40In this video, I cover how to block adverts, malware and adult content for any devices connected to your home network, including mobile phones, smart TVs, tablets, desktop and laptop computers.
To do this, I make use of two technologies.
https://pi-hole.net/
The first is Pi-Hole which will allow us to prevent adverts from appearing on the network in the first place by using a DNS sink.
https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families/
The second is using Cloudflare’s DNS service for families, which filters out malware and adult content, although there is an option for just blocking malware.
However, to use these services, there are a couple of requirements that need to fulfilled.
Step 1. Prerequisites / Requirements.
https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#software
The first requirement, for Pi-Hole specifically is that it needs to be installed on an officially supported Linux distribution such as Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, Debian or Fedora.
And, despite it's name, Pi-Hole will also work on desktop versions of these Linux distributions, so instead of using an Raspberry Pi, you can install Ubuntu on an old desktop or laptop and use that instead.
https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#ip-addressing
The second requirement is that the device running Pi-Hole has been assigned a static IP address, as we will be using this device as both the DNS and DHCP server on the network.
I would also be a good practice to make sure that the IP address you assign is outside of the usual DHCP range to avoid a potential IP clash.
Step 2. Pi-Hole Installation.
To install Pi-Hole, open a Terminal window on the selected device and run the following command.
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
Which will begin the installation process.
I recommend to confirm through the prompts, and when prompted, choose the end0 interface, which is the wired option, and then Set static IP using current values.
On the Upstream DNS provider page, choose the Custom option, and type the following.
1.1.1.3, 1.0.0.3
Once done, press OK, and then Yes to confirm.
The next sections will ask you about Blocklists, Admin Web Interface, Web Server and Query Logging, which I recommend choosing Yes to all.
The final section will ask you about the privacy mode for FLT, which I tend to leave set to Show everything.
From here, the installation process will start, and once finished, you will be greeted with an Installation Complete page with a summary of your configuration including a password, so make sure to note this down.
At this point, you can close the Terminal window.
Step 3. Update Router DNS Server IP Address / Disable DHCP Server.
Now that Pi-Hole is installed, we need to make some changes to your network router so that the IP address of Pi-Hole is set as the DNS server address, as well as disable the router's DHCP server.
The location of these settings will vary depending on the router manufacturer, but in most cases, there will be a DNS and DHCP section respectively.
If you are unsure, I would recommend checking the router documentation or watch a video about changing these settings on YouTube.
Once done, there is one final step.
Step 4. Enable Pi-Hole DHCP Server.
The reason we disabled the router's DHCP server was so that we could use Pi-Hole's DHCP server instead as this will allow both wired and wireless clients to benefit from this setup.
To access the web interface of Pi-Hole, type in the IP address of the device running the software plus /admin.
For example, for me this address would be.
192.168.1.2/admin
You will then be prompted to sign in using the password generated earlier.
Once signed in, click on the Settings tab on the left-hand side, and then again on the DHCP tab at the top.
From here, tick the DHCP server enabled box, specify the IP range, and then make sure that the gateway IP is set to your router, which for me is 192.168.1.1.
#linux #pi-hole #cloudflare
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