AB-Solution - The Ad Blocking Solution

[XIII]

But as @elorimer says, it's no problem. It'll work without the cert imported.

Excellent. Thanks for answering (both of you).

 

[OsoTheBear]

Oh, they do indeed deserve it!
https://www.ab-solution.info/use/development-tools.html

I have never thought of blocking the ads at the router level. So when I installed ab-solution I was impressed. Now I don't have to be frustrated with ads on my phone and iPad anymore.

As a bonus, I also found out about Xshell. Darn, why didn't I know about this software before It would save me a lot of time doing school assignments on previous semesters

 

[heysoundude]

I have never thought of blocking the ads at the router level. So when I installed ab-solution I was impressed. Now I don't have to be frustrated with ads on my phone and iPad anymore.

As a bonus, I also found out about Xshell. Darn, why didn't I know about this software before It would save me a lot of time doing school assignments on previous semesters

have you seen amtm? you might like SkyNet as well...
and what about a VPN server on your router?

 

[heysoundude]

However, to respond on the secure https protocol, you need to import the certificate into your device/browser.
The procedure is described in the wiki, look under import:
https://github.com/kvic-z/pixelserv-tls/wiki/Create-and-Import-the-CA-Certificate

To get the cert off of the router, you can use the AB backup function, it includes the cert needed or get the ca.crt from /opt/var/cache/pixelserv/

Edit: I keep forgetting to add that you can test it with any blocked domain in AB-Solution, as for example with doubleclick.net:
https://doubleclick.net/ad.jpg

It will throw an error if this is the first time the domain has been requested, pixelserv-tls needs to create the cert first for that domain. Subsequent requests for https://doubleclick.net/ad.jpg will show you the 1x1 pixel.

This post has been a big help. A BIG help.

***EDIT: waitasecond...can I use this cert as the one Merlin uses in Administration/System ??? or have I messed up my whole config somehow?

did kvic ever follow through on that secret he said he would share after Christmas?

 

[OsoTheBear]

have you seen amtm? you might like SkyNet as well...
and what about a VPN server on your router?

I have amtm. SkyNet and VPN server are on my to-do list.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I have never thought of blocking the ads at the router level. So when I installed ab-solution I was impressed. Now I don't have to be frustrated with ads on my phone and iPad anymore.

As a bonus, I also found out about Xshell. Darn, why didn't I know about this software before It would save me a lot of time doing school assignments on previous semesters

Book that under new New Years hurray!

 

[thelonelycoder]

***EDIT: waitasecond...can I use this cert as the one Merlin uses in Administration/System ??? or have I messed up my whole config somehow?

No, that's a pear pretending to be an apple.
These certs are for certain domains/web servers. One is pixelserv, the other is the routers Web UI web server.

did kvic ever follow through on that secret he said he would share after Christmas?

I believe the grace period has extended. I am an impatient man and have moved on...

 

[elorimer]

I am an impatient man and have moved on..

No you haven't. You're still lusting after cascading-!-hash tables. Cuckoo hashing! How would it work, on something this small?

https://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~michaelm/postscripts/dimacs-chapter-08.pdf

 

[nzwayne]

finally figured out what was not right, I checked the domain "graph.facebook.com" was blocked then added to white list. all ok now.

Thanks!! Also fixed my problem too with Facebook on ios Mobile.

 

[heysoundude]

No, that's a pear pretending to be an apple.
These certs are for certain domains/web servers. One is pixelserv, the other is the routers Web UI web server.

I believe the grace period has extended. I am an impatient man and have moved on...

ok, so I probably just have to renew my router's cert in the AM GUI...
and as far as kvic, he's working on bigger things that will make his big reveal a much bigger deal than most realize, I'm guessing.

 

[thelonelycoder]

No you haven't. You're still lusting after cascading-!-hash tables. Cuckoo hashing! How would it work, on something this small?

https://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~michaelm/postscripts/dimacs-chapter-08.pdf

(...) and as far as kvic, he's working on bigger things that will make his big reveal a much bigger deal than most realize, I'm guessing.

If hashing the blocked hosts means to rehash them after each white-listing event then this might not be beneficial for AB-Solution.

 

[heysoundude]

If hashing the blocked hosts means to rehash them after each white-listing event then this might not be beneficial for AB-Solution.

like I said, a bigger deal...

 

[cvx01]

Just wanted to drop a big note of thanks again for this tool. This tool is one thing that actually works and continues to work well, considering it seems like the last few months (or perhaps this entire year) other corporate created software and firmware for that matter outside this community seems jacked up with problems left and right, all due to rushed releases, one problem of which ABS helped me discover.

Last week, thanks to ABS, I discovered all 5 of my IP Cameras hammering dnsmasq trying to connect to the camera's cloud service, which I do not use. The hammering was to the tune of 400K times A WEEK across all cameras, which I promptly blocked in ABS and also had IP, client logging in ABS turned previously, so that helped articulate the issue to the camera support team.

So without the powerful bells and whistles like logging you can turn on in ABS, I likely have never noticed it. Using this data, I was able to provide actionable feedback to the camera distribute, and they of course can't replicate, but hey, that's business as usual and expected - a another story for another day... .

That said, I simply wanted to share the above as a real-world use case even aside from just blocking ads. Donation recently sent and other will likely be forthcoming. Thanks for the continued updates and support!

 

[Protik]

Is there any way to get a quick summary of the ads blocked?

Recently I am seeing huge increase in the number of ads blocked. For example, in this case 348,620 new ads are added within couple of hours where the total 901,242 total ads were blocked in approximately two months.

A B - S O L U T I O N        A D - B L O C K I N G

 AB-Solution 3.11.1               by thelonelycoder
----------------------------------------------------
 RT-AC68U (armv7l) fw-380.69 @ 192.168.2.1 IPv6
----------------------------------------------------
 526,634  blocked domains  12  hosts files in use
 901,242 t  416,046 w  348,620 n ads since Jan 04 17:20
----------------------------------------------------

 i   AB-Solution      [/mnt/protik]
 cu  check for updates
 un  updates notify   [on] [weekly]
 bu  backup to email  [on] [weekly,Key+logs,tar.gz]

 a   ad-blocking      [on]
 l   logging          [on]
 rs  router stats     [on] [to email] [Tue @ 1:30]

 ps  pixelserv-tls    [192.168.2.2] [v2.0.1-rc4]
     entware device   [/mnt/protik]

 b   blocking file    [shooter40sw+] [Tue @ 2:00]
 u   update blocking file
 el  edit white or black list

 f   follow the logfile
 ac  update ads counter

 e   exit AB-Solution                   sm  sub menu
____________________________________________________

 Done  updated ads counter: 901,242 total,
 416,046 this week, 348,620 new since last count

 What do you want to do?

I think this is due the additional blocking of domains from '+' part of the list. I would to figure out which device or which domains are causing this. I guess one way to do this is to go through the logs. Any easier way to do this will be really appreciated.

 

[cvx01]

Is there any way to get a quick summary of the ads blocked?

I think rs (router stats) and option 2 (compile current stats) might do the trick.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Is there any way to get a quick summary of the ads blocked?

Recently I am seeing huge increase in the number of ads blocked. For example, in this case 348,620 new ads are added within couple of hours where the total 901,242 total ads were blocked in approximately two months.

A B - S O L U T I O N        A D - B L O C K I N G

 AB-Solution 3.11.1               by thelonelycoder
----------------------------------------------------
 RT-AC68U (armv7l) fw-380.69 @ 192.168.2.1 IPv6
----------------------------------------------------
 526,634  blocked domains  12  hosts files in use
 901,242 t  416,046 w  348,620 n ads since Jan 04 17:20
----------------------------------------------------

 i   AB-Solution      [/mnt/protik]
 cu  check for updates
 un  updates notify   [on] [weekly]
 bu  backup to email  [on] [weekly,Key+logs,tar.gz]

 a   ad-blocking      [on]
 l   logging          [on]
 rs  router stats     [on] [to email] [Tue @ 1:30]

 ps  pixelserv-tls    [192.168.2.2] [v2.0.1-rc4]
     entware device   [/mnt/protik]

 b   blocking file    [shooter40sw+] [Tue @ 2:00]
 u   update blocking file
 el  edit white or black list

 f   follow the logfile
 ac  update ads counter

 e   exit AB-Solution                   sm  sub menu
____________________________________________________

 Done  updated ads counter: 901,242 total,
 416,046 this week, 348,620 new since last count

 What do you want to do?

I think this is due the additional blocking of domains from '+' part of the list. I would to figure out which device or which domains are causing this. I guess one way to do this is to go through the logs. Any easier way to do this will be really appreciated.

The + files add quite significantly to the blocking file. But it depends what hosts files are in the regular blocking file.

 

[thelonelycoder]

like I said, a bigger deal...

No sure what you mean with bigger deal. I have some idea what @kvic has up his sleeves.
If you know more, let me know. If it means AB-Solution will become obsolete then I'd really like to know.
I would have to find a new hobby right now.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Just wanted to drop a big note of thanks again for this tool. This tool is one thing that actually works and continues to work well, considering it seems like the last few months (or perhaps this entire year) other corporate created software and firmware for that matter outside this community seems jacked up with problems left and right, all due to rushed releases, one problem of which ABS helped me discover.

Last week, thanks to ABS, I discovered all 5 of my IP Cameras hammering dnsmasq trying to connect to the camera's cloud service, which I do not use. The hammering was to the tune of 400K times A WEEK across all cameras, which I promptly blocked in ABS and also had IP, client logging in ABS turned previously, so that helped articulate the issue to the camera support team.

So without the powerful bells and whistles like logging you can turn on in ABS, I likely have never noticed it. Using this data, I was able to provide actionable feedback to the camera distribute, and they of course can't replicate, but hey, that's business as usual and expected - a another story for another day... .

That said, I simply wanted to share the above as a real-world use case even aside from just blocking ads. Donation recently sent and other will likely be forthcoming. Thanks for the continued updates and support!

Every now and then I fire up Wireshark, look at what's happening within my LAN and then close it, baffled at the internal traffic all these devices generate. I'm sure this is Hollywood scary stuff, but then, for them the tree command is sufficient to imply hacking is going on.

 

[RMerlin]

Reminds me that I need to fire up Wireshark myself sometime, something on my LAN has recently been generating a lot of broadcasts, judging by the LED flashing I frequently see from my ATA link LED...

 

[PainKiller89]

Why am i getting this?

@RT-AC3100-5C88:/tmp/home/root# /home
-sh: /home: Permission denied

Also i installed AB solution and i rebooted the router. It would not find AB Solution install on the router via SSH. Any ideas?