Block ALL ads with this…(and speed up your internet)

A home network can be shielded from ads by intercepting them at the DNS level—using AdGuard Home on a device like a Raspberry Pi—so ad domains never resolve to real IP addresses. Instead, the DNS server returns “nonsense” (a sinkhole), causing browsers and apps to fail to load ad content. The result is fewer ad requests reaching ad servers and a noticeably cleaner browsing experience across the entire household, not just inside one browser.

The setup starts with understanding how ads get pulled in. DNS lookups for normal sites (like cnet.com) often come bundled with additional DNS queries for ad infrastructure domains. By tracing traffic with Wireshark and filtering for DNS, the transcript shows that requests for ad servers appear alongside the main site lookup. When those ad server domains resolve to real IPs, the browser can fetch ad assets and display them. AdGuard Home flips that behavior: when a client asks for an ad-related domain, the DNS server refuses to provide a usable address, effectively “sucking in” the ad requests and preventing the ads from loading.

Beyond ad blocking, the pitch emphasizes privacy and control. If a household keeps the ISP-provided DNS server, the ISP can observe which domains are being requested. Running a local DNS resolver restores visibility to the homeowner and enables policy-based filtering—useful for restricting content for kids or limiting access to specific services.

Installation is presented as practical and fast. The transcript walks through preparing a Raspberry Pi for a headless install (using an SD card, Raspberry Pi Imager, and enabling SSH), then booting it and identifying its IP address from the router. After that, the same core commands are used to update packages and install AdGuard Home. A web-based “get started” flow on port 3000 handles initial configuration, including setting a username and password.

The critical next step is redirecting all devices to use the AdGuard Home DNS server. Rather than changing DNS settings on every phone, laptop, or console, the recommended approach is to modify the router’s DHCP settings so that devices receive the AdGuard Home DNS address automatically. To keep the DNS target stable, the AdGuard Home device should have a fixed IP via a DHCP reservation (or, alternatively, by hard-coding).

Once traffic flows through AdGuard Home, the transcript highlights security features tied to encrypted DNS. AdGuard Home forwards queries to upstream resolvers using DNS over HTTPS (DoH), keeping DNS lookups encrypted between AdGuard Home and the upstream provider. It also discusses DNSSEC for validating responses and suggests upstream options such as Quad9 (default), Google, and Cloudflare—then recommends enabling DNSSEC in AdGuard Home.

From there, the configuration expands into kid-friendly controls, longer statistics retention, persistent client policies, and filter management. Default DNS block lists include tens of thousands of rules, and additional lists can be layered on. Advanced options include DNS rewrites (creating local domain aliases like agar for me.local), domain allowlists, and service blocking (examples include Disney Plus, Facebook, and Instagram). A query log provides visibility into what clients are requesting, reinforcing the central promise: ads get sinkholed, while the network gains centralized, encrypted, policy-driven control.