ISSUE392|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER 2020 89
address.OnyourPi, getupaterminal, type
ifconfigand look for the inet entry to see
your current address. Select your device
and clickAdd. Now your Raspberry Pi will
always getthe sameIPaddress.
If your router doesn’t havethisoption,
don’t worry, as youcan usethe option later
in the setupwizard.
INSTALL PI-HOLE
Next, you need to install Pi-Hole on your
computer.Todothis, you need to go to
your Raspberry Pi andget up aterminal.
Theeasiestway to install the softwareis
with this simple command:
sudosudocurlcurl-sS-sSLLhhttps://ttps://insinstalltall.pi.pi-hol-hole.ne.netet
|b|bashash
This downloads thesoftwarefromthe Pi-Hole
site, and pipes the commandthrough to the
Bash terminal, running it automatically.
You’ll thenbetaken throughthe
installation wizard,wherethe setup will ask
you if you wanttoset amanual IP address
on your Raspberry Pi,although the final
option is later on in the wizard. Fornow,
selectthe interface (Ethernet or Wireless)
you’reusing.
SET YOUR DNSSERVER
Pi-Hole will next askyou foryour Upstream
DNS Provider.This is simply theDNS server
thatPi-Hole makes normal requests to,for
regularwebsitesthatit’snot blocking.There’s
plentyofchoiceinthere, but the Google
option is pretty reliableinour experience.
Finally,you’reasked to select which
ad-blockinglists you want to use. Our advice
is to keep thedefault options as they are, and
then you’reasked if youwant to install the
web interface, which you definitelydo, so
select thedefaultoptions until you reach the
screen askingifyou want to useyour current
network settings as astaticaddress. Select
Yes, andyour Pi will be given astatic IP
address thatmatches theone you set in your
router’s settings; this optionwill workifyou
couldn’t use your router to set an IP address.
At the end of the
installation, note down
the defaultpasswordfor
Pi-Hole, and the admin
web address, which will
be http://<ip address of
your Pi>/admin.CONFIGURINGYOUR
DNS SERVERS
With Pi-Hole running on yournetwork, you
can now configureyour devices to usethis
computer as yourDNS server. Thebest way
to do this is to setyour router to usethe
Pi-Hole as aDNS server.Not all routers
support this,although thereisaworkaround
with Pi-Hole.
To see if yours does, connecttoyour
router’s web-basedmanagement page by
typing itsIPaddress into aweb browser.To
get your router’s IP address, youcan usea
Windows computer.Get up aterminal and
typeipconfig,then press Enter.Notedown
the Gateway address.
On aMac,press and
hold Option and
then clickthe wireless
symbol at the top-
right of the screen
and note down the
router address.
Next, you need to
find the option to
override the defaultDNS settings, which arehandedtoyour
router automatically via your ISP.These
optionscan be in theadvanced internet
settings or in the advanced DHCP settings
section.When you find thesetting, change
the first entry only (primary) to be the IP
address of your Pi-Hole computer; leave
the other server setting blank.
If you can’tconfigure your router, you can
use the built-in Pi-HoleDHCP server instead.
This lets Pi-Hole manage IP addresses on
yournetwork, automatically setting them to
use the Pi-Hole server for DNS requests.
To do this,you must first disable DHCPon
your router to avoid conflicts. Next, on any
computer fireupaweb browser andconnect
to the Pi-Hole server using the passwordand
web address thatyou noteddown.
Go to Settingsand select DHCP,then
select DHCP Server Enabled.Inthe first box,
labelled From,changethe last number from
201to2(the entry should read,192.168.0.2
or similar).Click the Savebutton when
you’redone.BROWSE THEWEB
Youmay need to disconnect your devices
from the network andreconnectthem to get
all the rightdetails. When they reconnect,
you can now browse the internetand use
apps, withall advertsautomatically blocked.LEFT:There’salarge
choice of DNSservers
to use, but the default
option is pretty goodABOVE:Youcan use the
built-inDHCP serverto
automaticallydish out IP
addressesonyour network
RIGHT:Theeasiest change
is to update yourDNS
routersettings