Diversion Diversion - Pixelserv: Not all devices blocked?

[rugglebear]

Hello,

I've had Diversion running for over a year on my Merlin RT-AC68U without issue.
I never touch or change anything.

The issue I'm suddenly dealing with is such that:
- Ads are successfully and completely blocked on my mobile device
- Ads are mostly unblocked on my Desktop PC (this occurs in all browsers, with or without additional AdBlock Browser Plug-ins installed)

For example, when visiting a webpage on my Desktop PC, there may be one or two ads blocked, but the rest show up.
On some pages, all the ads show up.
In the past, there used to be none.

If I visit the same pages on my mobile device, all the ads are blocked.

Yesterday I did uninstall and reinstall Diversion (using 192.168.1.2 as the reserved IP). The behavior remains the same.

I turned my VPN off for all of these experiments.

I appreciate any guidance. The core confusion is why it is working on my mobile device, but not my Desktop PC.

Thanks!

 

[martinr]

Please have a look at the LAN page in the webui, and go to the DNS Filter tab. Can you confirm if Enable DNS based filtering set to ON, with the Global Filter Mode set as Router and that you have no entries in the Client List at the bottom of the page.

And see here: https://diversion.ch/faq-reader/diversion-is-installed-and-i-still-see-ads.html

 

[rugglebear]

Please have a look at the LAN page in the webui, and go to the DNS Filter tab. Can you confirm if Enable DNS based filtering set to ON, with the Global Filter Mode set as Router and that you have no entries in the Client List at the bottom of the page.

And see here: https://diversion.ch/faq-reader/diversion-is-installed-and-i-still-see-ads.html

My 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' is currently set to 'OFF', however, this looks to have been the culprit on my end (from your link):

Ad-blocking WILL NOT work when your device uses an upstream DNS Server, like Google's 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4.

I had mine set to 1.1.1.1 on my PC.
I changed it to 'Automatically set DNS' within the Network Properties, and now it's all set.

Thank you!!!

As a side-question, is switching 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' to 'ON' something I should be doing regardless?

Thanks again!

 

[k_ipman]

As a side-question, is switching 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' to 'ON' something I should be doing regardless?

That should be 'OFF' unless you want to exclude certain clients from ad blocking. It was asked to check as it could have been a suspect in your case.

 

[rugglebear]

That should be 'OFF' unless you want to exclude certain clients from ad blocking. It was asked to check as it could have been a suspect in your case.

Thanks! I guess my next question is:
How can I set my DNS to Cloudflare and still allow the Ad Blocking to be active?

I swear I used to have everything configured and working together.

Additionally, only Firefox seems to be still allowing Ads to come though, which again, makes no sense to me.

Thanks!

 

[martinr]

My 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' is currently set to 'OFF', however, this looks to have been the culprit on my end (from your link):

Ad-blocking WILL NOT work when your device uses an upstream DNS Server, like Google's 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4.

I had mine set to 1.1.1.1 on my PC.
I changed it to 'Automatically set DNS' within the Network Properties, and now it's all set.

Thank you!!!

As a side-question, is switching 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' to 'ON' something I should be doing regardless?

Thanks again!

I believe it should be set to On and Global mode set to Router to guarantee that all DNS requests are processed by Diversion.

 

[CriticJay]

I believe it should be set to On and Global mode set to Router to guarantee that all DNS requests are processed by Diversion.

yes, i believe this should be considered "best practices".

notice to the above 2 posters they might want to keep this in mind.

 

[k_ipman]

@CriticJay @martinr
While that could be one way of doing it, it works well without setting it ON. Additionally, you still can set your own DNS Server on your WAN page (e.g. Cloudfare, Google). with 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' set to 'OFF'. Not needed to turn it on unless specifically needed for any scripts that is running on the Router.

Have a look at below FAQ for DNS Filter while using Diversion.

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking - Diversion

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking

diversion.ch

So I guess Default is OFF and works fine. It does for me.

 

[k_ipman]

How can I set my DNS to Cloudflare and still allow the Ad Blocking to be active?

How to use an upstream DNS Server like 8.8.8.8 from Google - Diversion

How to use an upstream DNS Server like 8.8.8.8 from Google

diversion.ch

 

[rugglebear]

How to use an upstream DNS Server like 8.8.8.8 from Google - Diversion

How to use an upstream DNS Server like 8.8.8.8 from Google

diversion.ch

Thanks again.

I actually do already have it configured this way as described in that link , so that's good.

I guess the only remaining thing that eludes me is why FireFox is still displaying Ads (for example on Speedtest.net, whereas they are blocked in Edge, Chrome, and on my Mobile Device).

Thanks!

 

[bluepoint]

@CriticJay @martinr
While that could be one way of doing it, it works well without setting it ON. Additionally, you still can set your own DNS Server on your WAN page (e.g. Cloudfare, Google). with 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' set to 'OFF'. Not needed to turn it on unless specifically needed for any scripts that is running on the Router.

Have a look at below FAQ for DNS Filter while using Diversion.

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking - Diversion

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking

diversion.ch

So I guess Default is OFF and works fine. It does for me.

If you want "all" clients using the WAN DNS, DNSFilter must be ON and global filter set to router. This is how you control clients that have hardcoded DNS settings.

 

[bluepoint]

I guess the only remaining thing that eludes me is why FireFox is still displaying Ads (for example on Speedtest.net, whereas they are blocked in Edge, Chrome, and on my Mobile Device).

Thanks!

If Firefox's DOH is enabled it will bypass your ad blocker.

 

[rugglebear]

If Firefox's DOH is enabled it will bypass your ad blocker.

You were correct, it was on.
I turned if off, and Ads are now blocked.

Thanks!! I love these forums.

 

[CriticJay]

@CriticJay @martinr
While that could be one way of doing it, it works well without setting it ON. Additionally, you still can set your own DNS Server on your WAN page (e.g. Cloudfare, Google). with 'Enable DNS Based Filtering' set to 'OFF'. Not needed to turn it on unless specifically needed for any scripts that is running on the Router.

Have a look at below FAQ for DNS Filter while using Diversion.

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking - Diversion

How to exclude a client from ad-blocking

diversion.ch

So I guess Default is OFF and works fine. It does for me.

The problem is that some devices (like Google Home/Google Chromecast) will always try to use 8.8.8.8 as their DNS server unless you use DNSFilter to force them to use your Asus router.

Therefore, if you have DoT (DNS-over-TLS) enabled on your home network, and also have a Google Home/Chromecast, unless you enable DNSFilter - that Chromecast will always bypass your DNS-over-TLS. It'll also bypass Diversion (obviously). For most people on this forum, this is NOT ideal.

 

[quant88]

At home, I will leave DNS filter as ON to make sure all my home devices are served through router DNS address - WAN page. Some devices came with private or built in DNS which are dubious. I am also a Chromecast user for a few years with router pointing to Quad9 DNS without any issue.

 

[k_ipman]

The problem is that some devices (like Google Home/Google Chromecast) will always try to use 8.8.8.8 as their DNS server unless you use DNSFilter to force them to use your Asus router.

This, I was not aware of. Thanks for explaining.