Battle Which filtering DNS would you choose?

[TedCruz]

I used to run PiHole but with larger filtering List and 2.5Gb fibre the pihole could not keep up. So I switched to NextDNS and I have been running that for a year now. I like it, but I don't like the fact that I can't tell what devices are being blocked...yes, I understand that I can install the NextDNS app on my phone and PC, but that's the limit. How about my Smart TV? How about my Alexas? My Cameras etc. etc. I basically want to block ads, increase privacy and be able to control the times my kids are using the net.

Thank You

 

[Razza]

Any one tried Adguard DNS I see they got a customisable version now 300k lookups 5 device free, am currently using Nextdns works fine most of the time but noticed some routing issue with it keep randomly routing me to dns pop in the other side of world for last few days and even when getting routed to nearest location it was a bit unstable DNS timeouts.


Was looking about controld I tested the free version since you can use their server without a account dns lookup speed seem ok, routing is a bit iffy when first tested DNS lookup was going to nearest location 14ms from home now it going to a other country lucky not too far away 55ms.

I did find a few other free ad blocking dns servers after a bit of googling none of them had any query logs and customisation, hopefully Nextdns improve in the next fews days or probably move to controld or adguard

 

[ddave]

Any one tried Adguard DNS I see they got a customisable version now 300k lookups 5 device free, am currently using Nextdns works fine most of the time but noticed some routing issue with it keep randomly routing me to dns pop in the other side of world for last few days and even when getting routed to nearest location it was a bit unstable DNS timeouts.


Was looking about controld I tested the free version since you can use their server without a account dns lookup speed seem ok, routing is a bit iffy when first tested DNS lookup was going to nearest location 14ms from home now it going to a other country lucky not too far away 55ms.

I did find a few other free ad blocking dns servers after a bit of googling none of them had any query logs and customisation, hopefully Nextdns improve in the next fews days or probably move to controld or adguard

I moved to controld and it seems fine

 

[SatoshiX]

I see plenty of opinions here on which service individuals prefer, but can anyone comment on the efficacy in blocking ads (specifically on streaming services) between PiHole vs NextDNS vs Adguard (or any other service?

 

[Scupper]

I used to run PiHole but with larger filtering List and 2.5Gb fibre the pihole could not keep up. So I switched to NextDNS and I have been running that for a year now. I like it, but I don't like the fact that I can't tell what devices are being blocked...yes, I understand that I can install the NextDNS app on my phone and PC, but that's the limit. How about my Smart TV? How about my Alexas? My Cameras etc. etc. I basically want to block ads, increase privacy and be able to control the times my kids are using the net.

Thank You

Wouldn't blocking at the router level take care of your needs for your smart tv and Alexa? You can also change the Private DNS setting on an android phone to the service of your choice. Free services usually don't provide reports as to what has been blocked. Ad blocking can easily be taken care of at the device level with uBlock or other apps / extensions, and limiting you kids screen time can be set at the router level.

Here are two reports that may be of interest. Where you are located globally, and whether you are under any goverment restrictions also comes into play.

Security and Privacy for public DNS Resolvers

Domain Name System (DNS) resolution is a hierarchical distributed system of protocols and systems, whose main purpose is to map the human friendly domain names, such as www.example.com, to machine readable IP addresses, such as 123.123.123.123. DNS resolution is both highly critical and highly...

www.enisa.europa.eu

Page ten of the CIRA report tests a number of popular DNS servers:

https://static.cira.ca/2020-07/canadian-shield_reviewers-guide_200710_0.pdf

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

Any one tried Adguard DNS I see they got a customisable version now 300k lookups 5 device free, am currently using Nextdns works fine most of the time but noticed some routing issue with it keep randomly routing me to dns pop in the other side of world for last few days and even when getting routed to nearest location it was a bit unstable DNS timeouts.

Downside of using Adblockfilters at the client, that DNS services don't have allow exceptions, great thing about AdGuard that it has a NOOP and an ALLOW option

Well I tried it and it works great, because one badfilter add exceptions like (simular to uBO NOOP)
||noopthisblockrule.com$badfilter

Or set an allow using ABP-syntax when this not works
@@allowthiswebsite.com

Really great find, thanks @Razza DNS syntax is very powerfull (somewhere between host file syntac and simle static ABP format syntax) it has for example a $denyallow=website1|website1 and $client=Laptop|Desktop.

What is also great about AdGuardDNS is that you can import blocklists in your User Rules



P.S. I use AdGuard only in Edge with DNS-over-HTTP (using quad9 through Wifi adaptor settings for IPv4 and IPv6). I do not use a Adblocker extension anymore in Edge (only AdBlock for Youtube which is only allowed on Youtube) and use the 'Click to remove' extension for hiding elemenst on a few websites (has a point and click element picker with remember option)

 

[TairikuOkami]

Downside of using Adblockfilters at the client, that DNS services don't have allow exceptions

 

[oldschool]

I used to run PiHole but with larger filtering List and 2.5Gb fibre the pihole could not keep up. So I switched to NextDNS and I have been running that for a year now. I like it, but I don't like the fact that I can't tell what devices are being blocked...yes, I understand that I can install the NextDNS app on my phone and PC, but that's the limit. How about my Smart TV? How about my Alexas? My Cameras etc. etc. I basically want to block ads, increase privacy and be able to control the times my kids are using the net.

Thank You

You can make multiple configurations on NextDNS, e.g. linking your phone config using PrivateDNS on Android and change the DNS setting in my smart TV to phone config.

 

[ForgottenSeer 97327]

@TairikuOkami

Yes, but that is as easy as entering the block rules 1 by 1 like you did in NextDNS AG DNS syntax is way more powerfull and much easier to use (e.g import user rules). Also because it handles the ABP format badfilter and allow, it has less web site breakage when using DNS based adblocking. It realky offers much stronger than NextDNS (e.g parts of URL 's like /tracking/ and regex). It really is a lot more granular. When you would rate NextDNS a 7, Adguard DNS is a 9.

 

[Ville]

I've decided to go with NextDNS some time ago. Two points I appreciate the most: the affordable price here in my neck of the woods, and the fact it doesn't try to oversell what it does.

If you have an Asuswrt-Merlin router, one thing to take notice is that the CLI for it is lacklustre on features and at times quite instable, but fortunately there is an AdGuardHome-Installer, which is thousands of times more stable.

 

[billink]

Okay, this is the fourth praise for AdGuardHome-Installer that I came upon in the last two days. It's time for me to seriously consider changing something instead of getting frustrated quite so often. Thanks for the accidental recommendation!

 

[a090]

Okay, this is the fourth praise for AdGuardHome-Installer that I came upon in the last two days. It's time for me to seriously consider changing something instead of getting frustrated quite so often. Thanks for the accidental recommendation!

Not a user of AdGuard Home but I do use AdGuard’s desktop app for Windows. So far it has worked beautifully on any site I’ve been to. In fact, it even cleans up ads in other apps, such as the Sophos ad at the end of a HitmanPro scan. I found that a bit hilarious since now there’s just this huge blue patterned design in the UI where the ad used to be.

 

[Trooper]

Still using NextDNS myself. I see no reason at this point in time to switch to anything else.

 

[windscribe]

One major thing AGH cli is missing is LAN client info support. We added a NextDNS mode to our cli, which does exactly that. NextDNS Mode

 

[JustInTime]

View attachment 274150

What app is this for NextDNS? NextDNS should really implement this.

 

[TairikuOkami]

What app is this for NextDNS? NextDNS should really implement this.

Indeed, adding all TLDs to all profiles without it would have taken me ages. Sadly it was discontinued. The dev said that he would create a paid version, but NextDNS refuse to respond.

GitHub - hjk789/NXEnhanced: Adds "quality-of-life" features to NextDNS website for a more practical usability

Adds "quality-of-life" features to NextDNS website for a more practical usability - hjk789/NXEnhanced

github.com

 

[windscribe]

You know what has most of the NXEnhanced features built in directly into the product? Control D.

I know NextDNS is a good service, I used it myself before CD existed, but NextDNS is on life support and only receives "emergency fixes" at this point and hasn't seen any major development in the last 2 years. Windows XP was a good OS too, but it's time to move on.

 

[TairikuOkami]

I know NextDNS is a good service, I used it myself before CD existed, but NextDNS is on life support and only receives "emergency fixes" at this point and hasn't seen any major development in the last 2 years.

CD does not even have 10% features NextDNS has or blocking capabilities. It is like comparing IPv4 vs IPv6, everyone says that IPv4 is dead, yet everyone uses it, because it just works.

 

[Jonny Quest]

CD does not even have 10% features NextDNS has or blocking capabilities. It is like comparing IPv4 vs IPv6, everyone says that IPv4 is dead, yet everyone uses it, because it just works.

Is that why by default Mullvad has IPv4 enabled, and IPv6 would have to manually be enabled?

 

[JustInTime]

You know what has most of the NXEnhanced features built in directly into the product? Control D.

I know NextDNS is a good service, I used it myself before CD existed, but NextDNS is on life support and only receives "emergency fixes" at this point and hasn't seen any major development in the last 2 years. Windows XP was a good OS too, but it's time to move on.

I mean there is a clear conflict of interest going with your recommendation. I tried ControlD but it is very messy to work with, bad user experience along with no free tier for a single person because I still haven't crossed 200k mark with NextDNS. No limitation other than queries on NextDNS Free and it have no account 7 day trial with all features. One major thing ControlD have is location proxy but most people would use VPN for that. So I don't think NextDNS missing any massive feature for a user who is not a IT Admin.

 

[Freki123]

NextDNS for me. Lots of options to customize it to your needs while being free (as long as you don't hit 300,000 queries/month). For a DNS Service I see no need for more. If I wanted "privacy" I would pay for an Vpn.