[Release] AB-Solution 3 - The Ad Blocking Solution

[tomsk]

Just a question (and possibly very dumb one) - why AB-Solution is better than built-in DNS-based Filtering?
Yes, possibly the database is bigger - but I cannot change the behaviour for different clients in my network and to assign different blocking lists for different clients (for instance - for children and for parents).
Moreover DNS-based Filtering won't work any more after installation of AB-Solution.

I haven't seen anyone claiming "better" anywhere.... they are different purposes. AB is all about blocking advertisements whereas the built in DNS filtering is about blocking non-family/malicious content. AB uses the routers own DNS server to work its magic, and if you turn on the built-in DNS filtering it will bypass that. There is nothing to stop you using DNS filtering for particular clients for family filtering etc, you just won't get the benefit of adblocking too.

 

[heysoundude]

We're almost done, sorry. Maybe next time around?

If I may add to the feature request list for v4, auto updating would be nice...

 

[gjf]

K

There is nothing to stop you using DNS filtering for particular clients for family filtering etc, you just won't get the benefit of adblocking too.

Oh, I see: it means if the client is present in DNS filtering table - it means it won't be ad-blocked.
In this case it really useless for me, because I would like to block ads especially for children, because I am experienced enough to do it in my browser by myself.
Anyway - thanks for the answer!

 

[thelonelycoder]

If I may add to the feature request list for v4, auto updating would be nice...

Done.

Edit: What auto update feature do you mean?

 

[thelonelycoder]

My last question is if I can turn off the SSH option in the router after AB-Solution is up and running and then turn it back on if I need to do changes to it, or it needs to be on all the time?

That's up to you.
AB runs independent of ssh or telnet enabled once installed and configured.

 

[heysoundude]

Done.

Edit: What auto update feature do you mean?

so i don't have to cu

 

[quant88]

I love the AB solution very much. Had been a windows type user with some basic terminal experience.

One thing I have noticed: check update - cu complains it's unable to contact AB-Solution.info for updates after recent update of merlin firmware to 380.64_2. Host file -h update download is working though.

It happened to both routers AC88U at different homes. However, rebooting the routers again seems to fix it. Also see the same behavior after updating recent 380.65 beta release.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I love the AB solution very much. Had been a windows type user with some basic terminal experience.

One thing I have noticed: check update - cu complains it's unable to contact AB-Solution.info for updates after recent update of merlin firmware to 380.64_2. Host file -h update download is working though.

It happened to both routers AC88U at different homes. However, rebooting the routers again seems to fix it. Also see the same behavior after updating recent 380.65 beta release.

That's an odd error. Can you view www.ab-solution.info in a browser?
If so, open the Router WebUI and go to Network Tools/Network Analysis.
Enter www.ab-solution.info into the target field, select Ping as method and 4 as count.
Then hit diagnose. If the ping is successful too then I see no reason why it would not work with (cu).
This is exactly the same command as when AB tries to find out if my web-server is online.

One other method to test from the router is by logging in through ssh, and then enter this:

ping -c 4 www.ab-solution.info

 

[thelonelycoder]

so i don't have to cu

First of all, let me thank you for trusting me so much to even consider an auto-update feature for AB-Solution on your router.

But realistically, this will never happen.
It would mean AB using the watchdog or a cron job to periodically check for an update.
Then if an update is found, run some auto-update feature that self diagnoses the install process for errors, reverting back to the previous version if it fails.
This is too much work for me with no real gain. After all, AB can only evolve with the feedback I get from users like you.

And then, each update brings new features you might want to explore after the update.
In that spirit, happy cu'ing!

 

[thelonelycoder]

I love the AB solution very much. Had been a windows type user with some basic terminal experience.

One thing I have noticed: check update - cu complains it's unable to contact AB-Solution.info for updates after recent update of merlin firmware to 380.64_2. Host file -h update download is working though.

It happened to both routers AC88U at different homes. However, rebooting the routers again seems to fix it. Also see the same behavior after updating recent 380.65 beta release.

On second thought, the ping and curl commands in AB3 are partially incompatible with certain system binaries or applets.
This is much improved in the upcoming AB3.1, meaning curl, wget and ping switches are simplified to work with old and new versions.
You will have to use the curl command to update to the latest version when it comes out.

Speaking of it, there are some interesting ideas and features floating around in the beta testing team that delay the release of AB-Solution 3.1.
It's all for the greater good!

 

[HawkInOz]

@thelonelycoder

I know you indicated earlier in this thread that you would announce AB-Solution 3.1 here and continue feedback in the same thread, but with over 1000 replies in here already for AB-Solution 3.0 - and with what sounds like many new enhancements, I think it might be to everyone's advantage to start a new thread for the new version. Worth considering anyway. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for a great solution!!

 

[thelonelycoder]

@thelonelycoder

I know you indicated earlier in this thread that you would announce AB-Solution 3.1 here and continue feedback in the same thread, but with over 1000 replies in here already for AB-Solution 3.0 - and with what sounds like many new enhancements, I think it might be to everyone's advantage to start a new thread for the new version. Worth considering anyway. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for a great solution!!

Tell that to @john9527 ...

 

[thelonelycoder]

We have a little setback in a new AB3.1 router stats feature.
It needs some more work and then verifying the results.
This is going to take me a little while.

But I promise: The next announcement will be the release post.

 

[steelskinz]

We're almost done, sorry. Maybe next time around?

Of course..

 

[Diamond67]

We have a little setback in a new AB3.1 router stats feature.
It needs some more work and then verifying the results.
This is going to take me a little while.

Take your time, no hurry, no problemo.

Spoiler: The Truth

Please, hurry up, cannot wait any longer!

 

[eclp]

I ha bis ane Edda uf ne gwartet ...

 

[thelonelycoder]

I ha bis ane Edda uf ne gwartet ...

Baud äne mou esches so wiit.

 

[tomsk]

Ad companies prepare to try and circumvent AB 3.1

 

[thelonelycoder]

Ad companies prepare to try and circumvent AB 3.1

Power to the people, not the automatons!

 

[kolyan]

I was trying to Whitelist this video website Rutube.ru but it didnt work for some reason (done the processing part and reboot router just in case). I Whitelisted: www.rutube.ru, rutube.ru, and http://rutube.ru none worked. But when I used AdBlock everything was fine when whitelisted domain. Ads are inside the videos, when blocked videos play only on SD quality vs HD