Pi-hole Self Hosting: Block Ads on Every Device at Home

I used to think ad blockers were a browser problem — before I discovered Pi-hole self hosting. Install uBlock Origin, done. Then I started noticing ads on my phone apps, on my smart TV, in random games my kid was playing — all on the same Wi-Fi network. Browser extensions don’t touch any of that. That’s when I discovered Pi-hole, and honestly, it changed how I think about my home network entirely.

Pi-hole self hosting gives you a DNS-level ad blocker. Instead of filtering ads on individual devices, it filters them for your entire network at the router level. Every device that connects to your Wi-Fi — phones, tablets, smart TVs, game consoles, laptops — gets ad blocking automatically, without installing a single thing on any of them.

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Pi-hole self hosting on a Raspberry Pi — blocking ads across every device on your network

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What Pi-hole Self Hosting Actually Does (and Why It’s Different)

When your phone tries to load an app or a webpage, it first asks a DNS server to translate the domain name into an IP address. Pi-hole sits between your devices and the internet, acting as that DNS server. When an ad network’s domain shows up in a request — like ads.doubleclick.net or tracking.company.com — Pi-hole simply returns “nothing” instead of an IP address. The ad never loads. The tracker never phones home.

The results are immediate and kind of wild. Your smart TV’s menu stops showing promoted content. YouTube on your phone doesn’t pre-load ad metadata as fast. Pages load measurably faster because the browser isn’t waiting on ad servers that never respond. And your DNS query logs become a fascinating (and slightly horrifying) window into how many things are constantly trying to phone home on your network.

The best part? You set it up once, point your router to it, and forget about it. Every new device that joins your network is automatically protected.

What You Need to Get Started with Pi-hole Self Hosting

You don’t need much. Pi-hole runs on almost anything — an old laptop, a spare desktop, a VM, even a Docker container (check out the best Docker containers for beginners if you want to run Pi-hole that way) container. But the classic setup (and honestly the most satisfying one) is running it on a Raspberry Pi. It’s cheap, silent, low-power, and you can tuck it behind your router and forget it exists.

The Raspberry Pi 5 is the current gold standard — significantly faster than the Pi 4, boots from microSD or a proper SSD, and handles Pi-hole with resources to spare for other self-hosted services. But if you’re running Pi-hole solo, even a Pi Zero 2 W handles it fine.

Raspberry Pi 5 4GB

Powerful Performance: Raspberry Pi 5 4GB offers a 3× increase in CPU performance with a 2.4GHz quad-core Cortex-A76 processor. Enjoy smoother, faster computing for DIY projects, programming, or home automation. Experience next-gen processing with Raspberry Pi 5 accessories.
Superior Graphics & Connectivity: Equipped with VideoCore VII GPU, Raspberry Pi 5 supports OpenGL ES 3.1 and Vulkan 1.2, delivering rich visuals and smooth graphics for gaming and multimedia. The dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi ensures seamless internet connectivity for all your applications.
Expand Your Storage: Featuring an M.2 SSD connector, Raspberry Pi 5 allows you to connect and enjoy faster data transfer and super-fast boot times. Ideal for running high-performance applications, Raspberry Pi 5 4GB ensures faster performance with ample storage expansion options.
Enhanced USB Ports: With 2 × USB 3.0 and 2 × USB 2.0 ports, the Raspberry Pi 5 allows for simultaneous 5Gbps data transfer. Connect your favorite devices and peripherals without interruptions, making it perfect for your DIY and tech projects with single-board computer compatibility.
Bluetooth & Future-Proof: Equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Raspberry Pi 5 enables smooth wireless connections with various accessories. Enjoy the added flexibility of M.2 SSD connector for future-proof expansion of your setup with Raspberry Pi 5 accessories.

You’ll also need a reliable microSD card to run the OS. Don’t cheap out here — a slow or flaky card will cause random reboots and corrupted installs. The SanDisk 32GB Endurance microSD is specifically designed for always-on applications (dashcams, security cameras, servers) and handles the constant read/write of a DNS server without wearing out. It’s what I run on mine.

SANDISK 128GB Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter – Up to 140MB/s, C10, U1, Full HD, A1, MicroSD Card – SDSQUAB-128G-GN6MA Old Version 128GB

Compatible with Nintendo-Switch (NOT Nintendo-Switch 2)
Ideal storage for Android smartphones and tablets
Up to 128GB to store even more hours of Full HD video (1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual user storage less. Full HD (1920×1080) video support may vary based upon host device, file attributes, and other factors. See official SanDisk website.)
Up to 140MB/s transfer speeds to move up to 1000 photos per minute (Up to 140MB/s read speed, engineered with proprietary technology to reach speeds beyond UHS-I 104MB/s, require compatible devices capable of reaching such speed. Based on internal testing; performance may be lower depending on host device, interface, usage conditions, and other factors. 1MB=1,000,000 bytes. Based on internal testing on images with an average file size of 3.55MB (up to 3.7GB total) with USB 3.0 reader. Your results will vary based on host device, file attributes, and other factors.)
Load apps faster with A1-rated performance (A1 performance is 1500 read IOPS, 500 write IOPS. Based on internal testing. Results may vary based on host device, app type, and other factors.)

Installing Pi-hole Self Hosting: Easier Than It Sounds

Once you’ve got your Pi set up with Raspberry Pi OS (or any Debian-based Linux distro), the actual Pi-hole installation is a single command:

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

Walk through the installer — it’ll ask you to pick an upstream DNS provider (I use Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 for speed and privacy), confirm your network settings, and choose a blocklist. The default blocklist is solid out of the box and blocks the vast majority of common ad networks and trackers.

After a few minutes, you’ll have a web interface running at http://pi.hole/admin where you can see live DNS queries, manage blocklists, whitelist anything you accidentally broke, and marvel at the percentage of your network traffic that was ads.

Ethernet network switch showing home network connections

Pointing Your Router at Your Pi-hole Self Hosting Setup

The magic happens when you set your router’s DNS server to your Pi-hole’s IP address. Log into your router’s admin panel (usually at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1), find the DNS settings under your LAN or DHCP configuration, and replace the default DNS server with your Pi’s static IP address.

Give your Pi a static IP first so it doesn’t change on you. Most routers let you assign a static DHCP lease by MAC address — find your Pi in the connected devices list, grab its MAC address, and assign it a permanent IP like 192.168.1.2. Then set that as your DNS server. Done. Every device on your network now routes DNS through Pi-hole.

Pro tip: Set Pi-hole as your primary DNS and leave your ISP’s DNS or a public DNS (like 1.1.1.1) as secondary. That way if Pi-hole ever goes down, your network doesn’t lose internet access completely.

Watch out for: Some apps and smart devices hardcode DNS servers (looking at you, certain Chromecast firmware and smart home hubs). They’ll bypass Pi-hole entirely. The fix is a firewall rule on your router to intercept all DNS traffic and redirect it to Pi-hole — but that’s an advanced step you can tackle later.

Leveling Up: Gravity (Blocklists) and Unbound

Pi-hole calls its blocklist system Gravity. The default list is good, but the community has curated some incredible third-party blocklists. The Firebog Tick List is a curated collection of high-quality blocklists that won’t nuke legitimate sites. Add a few and your block rate will jump significantly — mine went from 12% to over 22% of all queries blocked.

The other upgrade worth looking into is Unbound — a recursive DNS resolver you can run alongside Pi-hole. Instead of forwarding your DNS queries to Cloudflare or Google (who log them), Unbound goes directly to the authoritative DNS servers for each domain. It’s slower on the first lookup but adds a meaningful privacy layer to an already privacy-focused setup. The Pi-hole docs have a great walk-through for pairing the two.

If you want to keep your whole setup organized, a TP-Link 5-Port Unmanaged Switch is a cheap and reliable way to give your home lab devices a clean wired connection. Running your Pi-hole on Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi means faster DNS response times and zero Wi-Fi dropouts.

Sale

TP-Link TL-SG105, 5 Port Gigabit Unmanaged Ethernet Switch, Network Hub, Ethernet Splitter, Plug & Play, Fanless Metal Design, Shielded Ports, Traffic Optimization No PoE 5 Port, 1Gig

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𝗚𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆: Latest innovative energy-efficient technology greatly expands your network capacity with much less power consumption and helps save money.
𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁: IEEE 802.3X flow control provides reliable data transfer and Fanless design ensures quiet operation.
𝗣𝗹𝘂𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆: Easy setup with no software installation or configuration needed.
𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀: Prioritize your traffic and guarantee high quality of video or voice data transmission with Port-based 802.1p/DSCP QoS and IGMP Snooping.

The Part Where You Feel Like a Network Wizard

Once Pi-hole is running, open the dashboard and just watch the queries roll in for a few minutes. You’ll see things like your smart TV hitting ad servers 30 times a minute even when you’re not watching anything. You’ll see your phone checking in with analytics services from apps you haven’t opened in weeks. It’s eye-opening in a “I need to sit down for a second” kind of way.

The query log also makes it easy to debug. If a website suddenly breaks or an app stops loading something, you can see exactly what domain it was trying to reach — then whitelist it with one click if it’s legitimate. Over time your setup gets smarter and more tailored to how your household actually uses the internet.

The Takeaway

Pi-hole is one of those projects where the setup-to-payoff ratio is absurdly good. It pairs naturally with other home automation wins — like building a smart home morning routine. And once your network is set up, pair Pi-hole with Tailscale so your phone routes through Pi-hole even when you’re away from home that runs without ads interrupting your day. You spend a Saturday afternoon on it, and in return you get network-wide ad blocking that protects every device in your house for as long as the Pi is plugged in. No subscriptions, no per-device installs, no browser extensions to maintain. Just a small computer silently filtering out the garbage before it reaches you.

If you already have a Raspberry Pi collecting dust, this is the perfect weekend project. If you don’t, the Pi 5 starter kit is worth every penny — and Pi-hole is just the beginning of what you can run on it.

Your Turn

Already running Pi-hole self hosting? Tell me your block rate in the comments — I’m always curious what percentage people are seeing. And if you’ve stacked it with Unbound or a VPN for remote blocking, drop your setup below. This community has some seriously creative home lab builds and I want to see them.