Pi-hole: Block Ads on Every Device in Your House

Pi-hole blocks ads and trackers for your whole network at the DNS level, including smart TVs and phones. Run it in Docker or on a Raspberry Pi.

1. Run it in Docker

Use the official image; set a timezone and an admin password.

docker run -d --name pihole -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 8080:80 \
  -e TZ=America/New_York -e FTLCONF_webserver_api_password='ChangeMe' \
  -v ./etc-pihole:/etc/pihole --restart unless-stopped pihole/pihole:latest

2. Or on a Raspberry Pi

The official installer walks you through it.

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

3. Point your network at it

In your router's DHCP/DNS settings set the DNS server to the Pi-hole's IP, then reconnect devices.

Router > DHCP > DNS server: 192.168.1.53

4. Check it works

Open the dashboard (http://PI-HOLE-IP:8080/admin) and watch queries and blocked domains climb.

http://PI-HOLE-IP:8080/admin

FAQ

Will it block YouTube ads?

Usually not: YouTube serves ads from the same domains as videos. It blocks most other ads and trackers.

Pi-hole or AdGuard Home?

Both work well. Pi-hole has the bigger community; AdGuard Home has built-in encrypted DNS and a single-binary install.