Diversion Diversion - the Router Ad-Blocker

[jrmwvu04]

Just to be clear, I really like Diversion. It works well for me, just not so much for the wife. I had thought about setting up another cheap router off the isp modem just for her devices.

Just a thought.. one thing you can do for no additional charge is just to change the dns on her device - that is, instead of leaving it on automatic which will go through your router/diversion setup, manually set the dns on her device(s) to google, your isp, etc. No additional router purchase necessary.

 

[jrmwvu04]

Did you read my post above about the alternate blocking list, aka wife mode? It's built into Diversion.

That works too. The benefit of manually specifying a dns on the device is that her things will “just work” whether or not your tinkering interferes.

 

[Asad Ali]

That works too. The benefit of manually specifying a dns on the device is that her things will “just work” whether or not your tinkering interferes.

No need to do that either, just use DNS FILTER on the router to make her device use any other third party DNS server instead of the router.

 

[jrmwvu04]

No need to do that either, just use DNS FILTER on the router to make her device use any other third party DNS server instead of the router.

Yes, but that is susceptible to being undone if you, for instance, reset your router and forget to reinstate the changes. And then “the internet isn’t working again.” Ask me how I know. Change it on the device and never be scolded (for that at least) again.

 

[Asad Ali]

Yes, but that is susceptible to being undone if you, for instance, reset your router and forget to reinstate the changes. And then “the internet isn’t working again.” Ask me how I know. Change it on the device and never be scolded (for that at least) again.

Lol okay yeah you guys know better how "wives" work. I'm not (yet) married. [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji16]

 

[Treadler]

I don't want to see any ads when I'm surfing. I am reading/researching. Not looking to buy something.

When/if I want to buy something? I go reading/researching for that.

When I have guests over and they mention the 'internet' isn't working (i.e. blocking the ads), I say that is the way it's supposed to work and point them to the real 'hits' of their search a few clicks further down.

Diversion is indispensable for giving me what I want from the web (and not the other way around). And when I'm not home, OpenVPN allows me to enjoy that same experience too.

Yes, yes, yes!
Haven’t done the vpn thing, but otherwise I wholeheartedly concur.

 

[Smokey613]

Just a thought.. one thing you can do for no additional charge is just to change the dns on her device - that is, instead of leaving it on automatic which will go through your router/diversion setup, manually set the dns on her device(s) to google, your isp, etc. No additional router purchase necessary.

I could do that I guess, manually set IP and dns and hope IPv6 doesn't have a mind of it’s own.

 

[AntonK]

Sounds like the "wives" are the problem, and not Diversion. Perhaps you could reset the Wives?

 

[L&LD]

For every one that seems to have issues with Diversion pegging the CPU's at 100%, you may want to try this (if a clean install hasn't fixed it already).

• Complete a forced update of Diversion.
• Disable Diversion. Wait until the CPU cores are idle.
• Disable Unbound (if you have it installed). Wait until the CPU cores are idle.
• Disable Skynet (what? you don't have this installed?) . Wait until the CPU cores are idle.
• Now, start Skynet and wait at least 2 minutes (it may be longer on non-HND routers). Again, the CPU cores are a good indication here, but the 2 minutes seems to be a minimum time to wait for Skynet to 'settle'.
• Then, start Unbound. This 'wait' should be much shorter for idle CPUs.
• Finally, start Diversion. Wait until the CPU cores are idle. This may take the longest (or not!).

At this point, everything should be 'synced' and working in harmony.

Please let us know how it works for you.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Did you read my post above about the alternate blocking list, aka wife mode? It's built into Diversion.

I second this option I have used it before, What i did was define my main network on a very small conservative adlist, and I put "my" primary devices on the alternative block list. the only nuances I ran into @thelonelycoder has already fixed several updates ago (he also is fair to give credit for recommendations). The issue was with Dnsmasq option double printing to alternate blocking files dnsmasq.conf. The only caveat to the alternate blocking list is the lack of ability to modify. you have to use dnsmasq.conf.add to add any extra settings. You have to do this cautiously though as not to disrupt the delicate balance of using the alternative block list. Well seriousness aside, now i just run the main blocking list with my devices connected to it. Through my struggles I compiled a decent whitelist that makes all my family members happy.

I have to add, I have blocked with dnscrypt-proxy, unbound, pi-hole, adguard home, diversion, and nextdns.

Out of all of them Diversion blocks the most bang for your buck, while still supporting decent loading speeds. Adguard home and Pi-hole run close second.

With all this being said, We who use Diversion all owe @thelonelycoder A Big Thanks for all his hard work on making a brilliant masterpiece such as diversion is.

-Cheers @thelonelycoder

 

[consorts]

A Big Thanks for all his hard work

agreed - sorry if my frustrated rant seems i lack appreciation.
if i was an office manager with an platoon of online users,
i'd be thanking coder daily for covering my liability butt

that said, i'm glad a few chimed in with a similar conundrum,
and the "wife mode" approach coder and others have specified.
next week the wife's taking my teen to florida for spring break
so i'll have the router all to myself, and try various suggestions.

hopefully "wife mode" won't ruin my love of retail deal forums,
reading click bait infested special interest & hobby web sights,
or my use of side loaded (not from play store) android apks.

 

[Raphie]

It’s not a curated blacklist, it’s actually the curated whitelist that makes the difference.
I had a couple of weeks in the beginning adding entries, got 20 entries or so now and the wife is happy.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

It’s not a curated blacklist, it’s actually the curated whitelist that makes the difference.
I had a couple of weeks in the beginning adding entries, got 20 entries or so now and the wife is happy.

I concur, I have over 500 whitelisted domains ( I hope @thelonelycoder may someday remove cap on white listing.) I know why it exist for black listing tho.

 

[jackiechun]

I also noticed there is a 4000 limit for wildcard blacklists.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

I also noticed there is a 4000 limit for wildcard blacklists.

Yea blacklisting is kinda different scenario I can see how having one of these too big would cause issues with diversion and dnsmasq.

 

[consorts]

curated whitelist ... 20 entries

the problem i run into, is short of learning how to use a sniffer,
i can not easily divine what url's are blocking my past time.
(i keep router url logging disabled to protect people's privacy)
useful referral/tracking links can often pass between 2-3 urls
before finally resolving to the target web page, and if some url
embedded in an app is being blocked, you are totally url blind.

 

[jackiechun]

the problem i run into, is short of learning how to use a sniffer,
i can not easily divine what url's are blocking my past time.
(i keep router url logging disabled to protect people's privacy)
useful referral/tracking links can often pass between 2-3 urls
before finally resolving to the target web page, and if some url
embedded in an app is being blocked, you are totally url blind.

This may help: https://github.com/anudeepND/whitelist/blob/master/domains/referral-sites.txt

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Something else is causing that on your router, Diversion doesn't do that, me and many others users are using Diversion on RT-AX88U without any issues.

Perhaps there was some conflict with something else then because as soon as I uninstalled Diversion, the problem became much less frequent, although not completely cured. However, it's largely academic now because I've sent the router back as the Wi-Fi was pretty weak and unstable, especially on the 2.4GHz band and also, Skynet wouldn't show any statistics in the GUI (just blank screens and the only way out was via the back button on my browser). I've got an RT-AC86U arriving tomorrow, so I'll see how I get on with that.

 

[L&LD]

@TheLyppardMan, you may have been a bit too hasty with that return.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/diversion-the-router-ad-blocker.48538/page-267#post-551248

There was also a silent update from @Adamm for the Skynet issue you saw.

Between the RT-AX88U and the RT-AC86U, I saw a big uptake in network performance. There is no way I would even open that RT-AC86U box.

RT-AX88U Upgrade https://www.snbforums.com/threads/b...ta-is-now-available.60037/page-31#post-531024

Whatever you decide, make sure to report any issues and to also give the forum members here enough time to respond/acknowledge your concerns. You will be pleasantly surprised.

If you do decide to open the RT-AC86U to test it, give it a fighting chance by following the M&M Config and Nuclear Reset guides too. Don't be daunted by them; in half an hour or so you will have any Asus/RMerlin router to a good/known state and the real testing can begin.

 

[Butterfly Bones]

Between the RT-AX88U and the RT-AC86U, I saw a big uptake in network performance.

Stop that! Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalal.
Quit feeding the little red guy with horns and pitchfork on my left shoulder!