Advice Request Windscribe - I already use ROBERT, do I need the Chrome extension?

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Janl1992l

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Feb 14, 2016
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Hello, a simple question. I use windscribe atm and there is a extension avaiable for adblock and tracker block+doublehop(dont use doublehop at all).

Is there a need for it when i use R.O.B.E.R.T that blocks ad and trackers on the dns level? they would block the same things or i am missing something here?
 
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Andrew999

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I think R.O.B.E.R.T is mainly based for Andorid etc which do not have adblocker extensions, also since it is based on DNS level you do not need any extensions. But I do feel Adblocker extension is more effective and less false positives, because the DNS one you can not control as well what is exactly being blocked in my opinion.
 
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Janl1992l

Level 14
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Feb 14, 2016
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I think R.O.B.E.R.T is mainly based for Andorid etc which do not have adblocker extensions, also since it is based on DNS level you do not need any extensions. But I do feel Adblocker extension is more effective and less false positives, because the DNS one you can not control as well what is exactly being blocked in my opinion.
That is true, thanks for the answer. I tested abit around r.o.b.e.r.t ad block isnt bad at all but sometimes(often) when it blocks the ad, it leaves a blank thing(dont know how to spell it in english) where the ad was before and this is realy annoying. When i test the same site for example with ublock origin, it blocks the same ads+the element that shows the ad before. Gues i will use r.o.b.e.r.t along ublock when i dont notice to much falsepositives with the dns blocking because i realy feel a speed different when using r.o.b.e.r.t
 

Andrew999

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That is true, thanks for the answer. I tested abit around r.o.b.e.r.t ad block isnt bad at all but sometimes(often) when it blocks the ad, it leaves a blank thing(dont know how to spell it in english) where the ad was before and this is realy annoying. When i test the same site for example with ublock origin, it blocks the same ads+the element that shows the ad before. Gues i will use r.o.b.e.r.t along ublock when i dont notice to much falsepositives with the dns blocking because i realy feel a speed different when using r.o.b.e.r.t
Yeah, that is true. Adblock extensions remove the 'code/element' from the browser so they don't leave a box where the ad used to be which for me I like a lot. I personally feel Extension is a lot more customisable like Ublock Origin or Adguard and it shows statistics etc, which is why I prefer it over DNS blocking also less false positives (I personally use Adguard). But R.O.B.E.R.T can be useful if you can not get an extension for your Android, or other devices. For example, if you are using an application that is not in a web browser and you are connected to the VPN it will block the ad I guess.
 

Arequire

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Feb 10, 2017
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ROBERT works via DNS, which is a pretty unpolished way of blocking due to it only being able to block entire domains, not specific URLs. This makes it prone to breaking website functionality if whitelisting isn't applied accordingly and inferior at blocking ads/trackers than your standard extension-based ad blocker. It also can't enforce cosmetic filtering and is more prone to triggering anti-adblock systems.
 

Threadripper

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Feb 24, 2019
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Extension also has features like proxy time and random user agent switching, and its adblocker will clean up YouTube ads which unfortunately can't be blocked at DNS level.
 
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Arequire

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I use uBlockOrigin in medium mode, ( ) and turned off all the settings of Windscrib's ROBERT.
Is that the correct way to go?
Thanks.

You could keep ROBERT enabled for system-wide blocking if you so wish but it won't provide any additional benefit to blocking tracking in your browser when using uBlock Origin.
 
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