Advice Request NextDNS without configuration even blocking anything?

Please provide comments and solutions that are helpful to the author of this topic.

Kongo

Level 38
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Forum Veteran
Feb 25, 2017
2,766
1
19,005
3,670
25
Germany
Hey peeps, as many of you used NextDNS for quite a long time I want to ask you something. Does NextDNS block ads,trackers and harmful sites even without an account and without an own configuration?
Tried on some phishing sites, but didn't block anything so far. I would like to set it up on a router level for people who just connect to my Wifi for a short period of time. If it doesn't block much, then I'll probably stick with Cloudflare. :)
 
Hey peeps, as many of you used NextDNS for quite a long time I want to ask you something. Does NextDNS block ads,trackers and harmful sites even without an account and without an own configuration?
Tried on some phishing sites, but didn't block anything so far. I would like to set it up on a router level for people who just connect to my Wifi for a short period of time. If it doesn't block much, then I'll probably stick with Cloudflare. :)
When the account is free ( till 300k queries), why not create one? You are free to create any number of accounts with nextdns. If it is to be used for router just create one using any email id and configure the ads blocking lists ...
 
When the account is free ( till 300k queries), why not create one? You are free to create any number of accounts with nextdns. If it is to be used for router just create one using any email id and configure the ads blocking lists ...
Are 300k queries enough for a whole network?
 
Are 300k queries enough for a whole network?
I have a network level NextDNS setup with about 6 devices (4 phones and 2 laptops) and at most I reach around 180k per month. I guess it depends on lot on your surfing habits, but they do have a "Cache booster" option that makes DNS queries have a minimum TTL that isn't ridiculously low and helps reduce your monthly quota a bit.
 
I use AdGuard to connect with NextDNS, so that it blocks some of the ads and tracking before accessing the DNS
Correct me if I'm wrong but DNS will respond sooner than Adguard because the (very simplified) flow is: website address (browser) -> DNS -> IP of the website -> website displayed in the browser. And this last step will be when the adblocker kicks in.
 
Last edited:
300k queries can be a lot or not, it depends on the usage. At the moment I have made 432,770 queries but only 105k are registered on NextDNS (thanks to the fact that I force the minimum cache to 1h). Only by trying can you understand if the service offered can satisfy you.
 
If you use NextDNS as the only blocking solution, you probably won't be able to get 300,000 requests. I use AdGuard to connect with NextDNS, so that it blocks some of the ads and tracking before accessing the DNS, I also manually added the most frequent domains to AdGuard, otherwise spam wastes free queries quickly. One laptop and two phones in my case spend about 280,000 a month.

That is, at least it makes sense to use ublock or its analog in the browser, so as not to waste requests without sense.
I already have a config for my home devices, but I want to set one up for visitors and they probably won't have Adguard installed.
 
Also the queries depends on (over-)blocking.
If e.g. telemetry is blocked and devices are try again and again this will push queries
I'll probably just try the pro version in the future and support them. I support them and it saves me a lot of headache. (y)