Is Diversion better than NextDNS, PiHole or AdGuard Home?

[Logi]

Looking at different options to block ads at the network level, I have the RT-AX88U Pro and I can have a dedicated device/appliance as well x86 or ARM, thanks

 

[Tech9]

If network-wide blocking is needed I would go for dedicated device running Pi-hole or AdGuard Home. All are DNS-blockers, all have the same ad-blocking capabilities and weaknesses, none can come even close to browser extensions like uBlock Origin. Diversion is router optimized (but needs USB storage, lower overall system reliability if USB stick is used), Pi-hole is perhaps the most popular (the "original" ad-blocker with good support), AdGuard Home has perhaps the best UI (with DoT, DoH, DoQ, etc. DNS encryption options). My personal preference would be AdGuard Home + Unbound on a separate hardware. The less things you hang on your router the better. It's a RPi-like hardware with limited RAM.

 

[Logi]

If network-wide blocking is needed I would go for dedicated device running Pi-hole or AdGuard Home. All are DNS-blockers, all have the same ad-blocking capabilities and weaknesses, none can come even close to browser extensions like uBlock Origin. Diversion is router optimized (but needs USB storage, lower overall system reliability if USB stick is used), Pi-hole is perhaps the most popular (the "original" ad-blocker with good support), AdGuard Home has perhaps the best UI (with DoT, DoH, DoQ, etc. DNS encryption options). My personal preference would be AdGuard Home + Unbound on a separate hardware. The less things you hang on your router the better. It's a RPi-like hardware with limited RAM.

Thank you, couple of questions:

- Will AdGuard block ads within phone Apps like in iOS?
- What are the advantages of using a dedicated hardware vs just updating the DNS Server in the Router to point to AdGuard Home?

 

[Tech9]

- Will AdGuard block ads within phone Apps like in iOS?

All of the above can block only DNS. All the ads served from streaming servers (YouTube, Netflix) will still go through. For this you need end device ad-blocking like browser extension. Phones/tablets may go around using encrypted DNS. You have to make sure iCloud Private Relay is disabled as well as all variants of DoH. You also have to intercept and enforce your DNS-blocker device and this may break other things like EDNS Client Subnet.

- What are the advantages of using a dedicated hardware vs just updating the DNS Server in the Router to point to AdGuard Home?

Own choice of blocklists, more control, some folks like tinkering with the settings in UI, etc. Otherwise the result is about the same. You just use DNS-blocker upstream, not local. If you ask me - this is the most convenient option without installing any additional software and wasting hardware. If AdGuard public DNS is fast enough in your location - just use it. You can use it for specific devices only with DNS Director. Keep it simple.

 

[Logi]

All of the above can block only DNS. All the ads served from streaming servers (like YouTube) will still go through. For this you need end device ad-blocking like browser extension. Phones/tablets may go around using encrypted DNS. You have to make sure iCloud Private Relay is disabled as well as all variants of DoH in Android. You also have to intercept and enforce your DNS-blocker device and this may break other things like EDNS Client Subnet.



Own choice of blocklists, more control, some folks like tinkering with the settings in UI, etc. Otherwise the result is about the same. You just use DNS-blocker upstream, not local. If you ask me - this is the most convenient option without installing any additional software and wasting hardware. If AdGuard public DNS is fast enough in your location - just use it. You can use it for specific devices only with DNS Director. Keep it simple.

Thank you, I am not thinking on YouTube app, mostly on all the other apps (Weather, games, etc.) that have a lot of in-app ads, will this solution help?

 

[Tech9]

will this solution help?

Yes, the ads will be blocked in most Apps, but in an ugly typical for DNS-blocking way - blank spaces or entire screens missing. If there is a wait for advertisement you'll be still watching a blank screen. I personally hate the broken view and don't use network wide DNS blocking. I don't enforce blocking on my family members, they decide what they want to see online. I can only help when they don't want to see something.

 

[Clark Griswald]

I use an RPi 4 with Pihole to offload as much from the router, and uBlock Origin as a browser extension. I've learned that The Wife's browsing requirements forced me to whitelist a few shopping sites, yet no other issues.

 

[Tech9]

In addition - AdGuard Home can be heavy for 1GB RAM router models. The blocklist size has to be limited to preserve the performance. It was never designed to run on a home router in a hacked way. Some GL.iNet home routers have it integrated and it works better in lighter OpenWrt than the add-on for Asuswrt-Merlin on Asuswrt base taking 1/2 of the RAM after boot. Perhaps the same applies to recent Pi-hole in Asuswrt-Merlin option.

 

[Sonyrolfy]

I would say, use them both. Diversion on device with DOT server pointing to use the DOT entry of your NextDNS account. i was amused what NextDNS was blocking.
Even with the same (custom) blocking-list.

 

[Tech9]

NextDNS is a paid service. For a home network with few active users free 300K/month queries are not enough. After that filtering doesn't work. Also DNS encryption methods are unrelated to ad-blocking, a matter of personal choice, not required.

 

[phneeley]

Diversion is a great, straightforward, “built-in” solution. I used for a long time with great results.

I then switched to redundant PiHole instances running on two SBCs, primarily to take the load off the router.

I’ve finally settled on AdGuard Home running on the SBCs.

I like being able to tinker without risk to the router. And as far as AdGuard Home goes, I like it’s built-in service block filters.