Diversion Diversion - the Router Ad-Blocker

[Jack Yaz]

may have just wasted £190 on another router, this one doesnt take merlin, should have checked, can i run diversion still ?, its a DSL AC88U

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/d...lds-for-dsl-routers.55985/page-22#post-537078

 

[martinr]

Another advantage that I have found is that when I am not at home I can connect my device to the vpn server on my router and get Diversion's ad blocking anywhere I go. I utilized Diversion out in the Atlantic ocean last year while on a cruise Not sure if the main benefit was no ads or less data to transfer over the very slow wifi.

Yes indeed. That’s exactly what I do. 3G/4G, public wifi or trusted wifi, it doesn’t matter: the vpn goes on as soon as I leave home.

 

[Kenji]

Hello guys, I have a short one for you. So far I have equipped my router with Diversion and configured it. Could you check if my settings are ok? Recently, under "Diversion Statisitcs", I have no longer marked a "block" on various entries, which gives me food for thought.

Hope the IP settings are correct so far. If you have any information about the setting "dnscrypt" or something like that, please report it.

sry for the google translator

Thanks!
lg. Philipp

 

[Kenji]

sup:

 

[JaimeZX]

I'm not sure how you have Pixelserv working with your DHCP starting address being 192.168.1.1; you would need to make that 192.168.1.3 (or .4) and assign Pixelserv to .3, but... assuming that's okay.

You'll also want to use the router for DNS since that's how Diversion does the ad-blocking.

Finally, in WAN, if you have "DNS Privacy Protocol" set to "DNS over TLS" and servers set up beneath that, you should set LAN -> DNS Filter to "Router."

 

[jadog]

I would like to create my own host file for blocking, but I would first like to run the urls/domains through a check to weed out the ones that are dead. Is there a free tool somewhere to batch check for dead links in a text file? I seem to recall a post quite a number of pages back someone had a powershell script for this, but I couldn't find it.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I would like to create my own host file for blocking, but I would first like to run the urls/domains through a check to weed out the ones that are dead. Is there a free tool somewhere to batch check for dead links in a text file? I seem to recall a post quite a number of pages back someone had a powershell script for this, but I couldn't find it.

Why check a million or so hosts for its existence? Just use a reputable and regularly updated hosts file.

 

[jadog]

I am more focusing on blocking adult links and I don't feel that StevenBlack's host or Sinfonietta's files are very exhaustive. These only have 10-15,000 urls, while others (such as Shalla) contains over 1 million. If I link to a host file that is 100mb in size, will that cause performance issues with Diversion?

 

[thelonelycoder]

I am more focusing on blocking adult links and I don't feel that StevenBlack's host or Sinfonietta's files are very exhaustive. These only have 10-15,000 urls, while others (such as Shalla) contains over 1 million. If I link to a host file that is 100mb in size, will that cause performance issues with Diversion?

A blocking file of 100MB will surely bring your router to its knees. Be reasonable. Who wants to block over 4 million domains?

 

[HairyA00]

I am more focusing on blocking adult links and I don't feel that StevenBlack's host or Sinfonietta's files are very exhaustive. These only have 10-15,000 urls, while others (such as Shalla) contains over 1 million. If I link to a host file that is 100mb in size, will that cause performance issues with Diversion?

You're going to have a rough time finding the perfect 'adult' blocklist. My recommendation is to use cleanbrowsing family DNS upstream: https://cleanbrowsing.org/filters#family

 

[jadog]

That is good to know that a large blocking file will slow performance. DNS browsing doesn't really do the trick for my family as this can easily be bypassed by tech-savvy kids. Learned that the hard way.

 

[HairyA00]

That is good to know that a large blocking file will slow performance. DNS browsing doesn't really do the trick for my family as this can easily be bypassed by tech-savvy kids. Learned that the hard way.

That's what DNSFilter is for. They cannot bypass it if you set it up correctly.
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/DNS-Filter

 

[jadog]

Hmm. I followed those steps recently and when using a VPN from my computer, I was able to bypass this.

 

[HairyA00]

@jadog

Here is my setup. All clients on my network are forced to go back to my router's DNS, thus trapped in the Diversion sink-hole even if they hardcode DNS (using the setting "Router" under global). Except for two clients; those two clients bypass Diversion and are forced to where I specify.

 

[Makaveli]

Hmm. I followed those steps recently and when using a VPN from my computer, I was able to bypass this.

I believe if the vpn is setup inside the router you will be able to restrict the DNS.

However with a VPN client app in windows i'm not sure.

 

[jadog]

@jadog

Here is my setup. All clients on my network are forced to go back to my router's DNS, thus trapped in the Diversion sink-hole even if they hardcode DNS (using the setting "Router" under global). Except for two clients; those two clients bypass Diversion and are forced to where I specify.

View attachment 20653

Thanks, I'll give this another try. I wonder if this would work in conjunction with ASUS's AI Protection.

It would also be good if someone could confirm that when using a Windows VPN client, it is not possible to bypass the DNSfilter.

 

[HairyA00]

Hmm. I followed those steps recently and when using a VPN from my computer, I was able to bypass this.

Pretty sure that cleanbrowsing family blocks proxies and VPNs.

 

[HairyA00]

Thanks, I'll give this another try. I wonder if this would work in conjunction with ASUS's AI Protection.

It would also be good if someone could confirm that when using a Windows VPN client, it is not possible to bypass the DNSfilter.

I have all of Asus' services disabled. On the Privacy tab under Administration, I have revoked all access (I don't use their "extra" stuff).

 

[jadog]

I was using OpenDNS so that may be part of the reason. I'll try cleanbrowsing. If anybody has used the AI Protection with this, I'd be curious to know if it works.

 

[Makaveli]

Thanks, I'll give this another try. I wonder if this would work in conjunction with ASUS's AI Protection.

It would also be good if someone could confirm that when using a Windows VPN client, it is not possible to bypass the DNSfilter.

I use express VPN but currently at work. Will test the Windows VPN client when I get home and let you know. About 6 hours from now