Obsidian-MBPM4
e4ca590f25
Affected files: .obsidian/workspace.json 2 Personal/Home Lab/Pi-Hole in Homenetwork.md
146 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
146 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Pi-Hole in Homenetwork
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created_date: 2025-10-17
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updated_date: 2025-10-17
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aliases:
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tags:
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---
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# Pi-Hole in Homenetwork
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I followed this tutorial: [World's Greatest Pi-hole Tutorial - Easy Raspberry Pi Project! - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE21YjuaB6o)
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- Installed in goodolddell
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- 192.168.1.51
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- [Pi-hole goodolddell](http://192.168.1.51/admin/)
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-
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## DNS Settings on Router
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![[Pasted image 20251017195849.png]]
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## Make Pi-hole the Network’s DHCP (so all clients use it as DNS)
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> Goal: Your router can’t set custom DNS, so we’ll let **Pi-hole (192.168.1.51)** hand out IP addresses **and** advertise itself as DNS. This gives you network-wide ad-blocking without touching per-device settings.
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---
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### Prereqs (do these first)
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1) **Give Pi-hole a fixed IP**
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- Make a DHCP reservation on your router for the Dell/Pi-hole at **192.168.1.51** (MAC = Dell’s NIC).
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- Or set a static IP on the Pi-hole host (keep it in the router’s LAN subnet; gateway = **192.168.1.1**).
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2) **Know your LAN details**
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- Router (gateway): **192.168.1.1**
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- Pi-hole server: **192.168.1.51**
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- Choose a DHCP range that avoids statics, e.g. **192.168.1.100–192.168.1.200**
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3) **Make sure Pi-hole web UI works**
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- Open **http://192.168.1.51/admin**
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- If needed: `sudo pihole -a -p` to set/change the password.
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---
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### Step 1 — Configure Pi-hole DNS (upstream)
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In **Pi-hole → Settings → DNS**:
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- Choose upstream resolvers (e.g., **Cloudflare** 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1 or **Quad9**).
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- (Optional) **Conditional Forwarding** to see client hostnames:
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- Local network/CIDR: `192.168.1.0/24`
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- IP of router: `192.168.1.1`
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- Local domain name: e.g. `home` (or leave blank if unsure for now).
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Click **Save**.
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---
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### Step 2 — Enable Pi-hole’s DHCP (but don’t disable router yet)
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**UI method**
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Pi-hole → **Settings → DHCP**:
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- ✅ Enable DHCP server
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- Range: **192.168.1.100** to **192.168.1.200**
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- Router (gateway): **192.168.1.1**
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- (Optional) Domain name: `home`
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- Save
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**CLI equivalent (optional)**
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```bash
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# On the Pi-hole host:
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sudo pihole -a enabledhcp 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.200 192.168.1.1
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```
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> At this point Pi-hole is ready to serve DHCP, but your router is still doing it too.
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---
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### **Step 3 — Disable DHCP on the router (Zyxel AX7501-B1)**
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Router UI → **Home Networking → LAN Setup**:
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- **DHCP Server State**: **Disable**
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- Apply/Save
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> From now on, only Pi-hole hands out leases, setting DNS to 192.168.1.51 and gateway to 192.168.1.1.
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---
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### **Step 4 — Renew client leases**
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Force a couple of devices to renew so they switch immediately.
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- **macOS**: System Settings → Network → Wi-Fi → Details → TCP/IP → **Renew DHCP Lease** (or sudo ipconfig set en0 DHCP)
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- **Linux**: sudo dhclient -r && sudo dhclient (or reconnect Wi-Fi)
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- **Windows**: ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew (run in elevated CMD)
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- **iOS/Android**: toggle Wi-Fi off/on or “Forget” and reconnect
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Verify on a client:
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- IP is in 192.168.1.100–200
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- Gateway is 192.168.1.1
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- DNS is 192.168.1.51
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---
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### **Step 5 — Verify Pi-hole is the resolver**
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On a client:
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- nslookup example.com → **Server/Address** should show 192.168.1.51
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- Or dig google.com and check the **SERVER** line
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In Pi-hole:
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- **Dashboard → Query Log** should show that client’s queries.
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(Optionally visit a test page such as ads-blocker-test.com.)
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---
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### **Step 6 — Add static leases (optional)**
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Pi-hole → **Settings → DHCP → Static DHCP leases**:
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- Reserve fixed IPs for NAS, printers, servers, etc., so their IPs never change.
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---
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### **Day-to-day operation**
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- Keep the Dell/Pi-hole **on 24/7** (it’s now your DHCP + DNS).
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- For maintenance windows, either temporarily re-enable the router’s DHCP or set manual DNS on your workstation (e.g., 1.1.1.1) so you stay online while tinkering.
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---
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### **Undo / Rollback (if anything fails)**
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1. Router: **Enable** DHCP again
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- Router → Home Networking → LAN Setup → **DHCP Server State: Enable** → Apply
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2. Pi-hole: **Disable** DHCP
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- Pi-hole → Settings → DHCP → **Disable** → Save
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- CLI: sudo pihole -a disabledhcp
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3. Renew leases on clients (same steps as above) so they use the router again.
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4. Emergency quick-fix on your own machine: set manual DNS (e.g., 1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8) until the LAN is restored.
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---
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### **Troubleshooting quick hits**
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- **Clients still show router DNS** → They kept old leases. Renew or reconnect Wi-Fi. Confirm router DHCP is disabled.
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- **Pi-hole unreachable** → Ensure it has a reserved/static IP in the same subnet; ping 192.168.1.51.
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- **Local hostnames don’t resolve** → Use **Conditional Forwarding**, or add **Local DNS → DNS Records** for key devices.
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- **Resolution slow/spotty** → Try a single upstream first; keep DNSSEC off until stable; avoid binding Pi-hole to a single interface.
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## Todos
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- [ ] disable blocking - automation: should be easy for every user
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- [ ] backup pihole settings |