Is Diversion better than NextDNS, PiHole or AdGuard Home?

[bennor]

I removed the RPi with PiHole months ago, and have only been using uBlock Origin with zero issues.

To each their own of course, but no way I'd run uBlock Origin without some form of network wide DNS sinkhole or similar. Pi-Hole intercepts and sink holes a whole lot of DNS requests network wide including on devices that don't run web browsers. Layered defense.

 

[Clark Griswald]

@bennor TBH I loaded up v6 beta and it clearly wasn't like an RMerlin beta, and I wiped the RPi clean and never reinstalled. I will try PiHole v6 IF it is released.
@Tech9 Yes, same RPi 4

 

[bennor]

@bennor TBH I loaded up v6 beta and it clearly wasn't like an RMerlin beta, and I wiped the RPi clean and never reinstalled. I will try PiHole v6 IF it is released.

What's wrong with the current release version of Pi-Hole? Currently running the latest release version (v5.18.4) without issue on several Raspberry Pi's.

 

[heysoundude]

The less things you hang on your router the better. It's a RPi-like hardware with limited RAM.

Indeed. All those ARM-based phones and tablets hanging off the wifi are surely problematic ;-p
but yes, you're right- a RasPi running unbound and an ad-blocker external to the router but for network devices would be the way to go. It's all thats resally required for most home networks

 

[Tech9]

All those ARM-based phones and tablets

Actually, some newer phones/tablets are massively more powerful than home router hardware. They use high clock speed 6/8-core CPUs (Apple A18, Tensor G4, Oryon V2, etc.) with 8/12GB RAM (iPhone 16, Pixel 9, Galaxy S25)... just to name a few.

 

[Clark Griswald]

@bennor There weren't any issues with PiHole v5, rather v6 wasn't ready for general use, and The Family does not accept network issues.
When I took Diversion and skynet off the router, I moved to Pihole on RPi4 (with a second RPi4 running a redundant PiHole). 2024 after wiping the backup RPi, I began experimenting with Home Assistant, but moved to Apple Home via apple tv..

 

[bennor]

@Clark Griswald, FYI. Pi-Hole has released V6.

Introducing Pi-hole v6 – Pi-hole

pi-hole.net

 

[Clark Griswald]

Utilized an RPi 4 (4GB) to do a clean headless Bookworm / Pihole install. Interface seems is quicker/smoother. Won't be able to fully integrate into my network, until tonight.
FYI I installed late yesterday with all updates, and had the "flashing red update" this morning.
EDIT:

 

[roscoe211]

Diversion is great. Rock solid, no additional hardware required. Simple, effective.

 

[Crimliar]

When I first came to these forums I was using Pi-Hole, and having gotten used to it and used it for a few years I was a little reluctant to change. For most of the time I ran Pi-Hole I actually ran two instances, one on a stable setup, and one on my "play" device, though as neither ever failed, that redundancy was probably not needed.
I've since switched to diversion, combined with my ISP filtering dodgy sites and uBlock Origin. This setup just sits there in the background, quietly doing what it needs to do.
I have tried AGH too, but found that despite the claims, it can be more difficult to configure for unusual setups.
For now, at least, Diversion is enough for me, but if/when I move to different network hardware, I'll probably switch back to Pi-Hole.