The process of steadily 'unbreaking' everything can be frustrating and time-consuming for many users. Smart watches (ex: Garmin's smart fitness trackers)įor example, while you may wish to block your Windows 10 PC from sending a ton of information (AKA telemetry) to Microsoft, it might not be beneficial for you to block every request related to known Microsoft domains (such as or things served with their cloud platform, Azure.)ĭoing so could adversely affect the functionality of your device, such as receiving critical updates to crucial services and/or updating the operating system itself.įor example, if you go as far as to block things related to its Azure cloud platform, you can go as far as breaking certain websites that rely on Azure for all devices on your network.How many devices are connected to your Wi-Fi? What types of devices are these? Keep in mind that many 'Smart devices' may connect to your home network.

You'll want to heavily consider just what devices run on your home network. You'll want your PiHole to be efficient and provide the most benefit for you and your network.Īdditionally, when you take into things like basic device functionality into account, you'll find that just blocking 'everything' is often times not feasible.īlocking everything usually means many things tend to break, and some devices/services/websites become totally unusable/inaccessible if you go for a 'nuke everything' approach. This isn't to say that you need specific justification for blocking certain things via PiHole, but it's definitely important to consider what you need blocked and for what reason. Wanting to block intrusive ads across your entire home network because you're tired of targeted and privacy invading ads?.A parent wanting to block malware and adult-content related domains network wide (irrespective of device) because you don't want your kids visiting such sites?.Wanting to block excessive device telemetry because constant requests are slowing down your network?.What are your reasons for blocking it? (AKA: Why?).

What do you want to block? (Malware domains, Advertising, Trackers, Telemetry, Parental Control, etc).

In this specific case, you'll want to ask yourself two questions: Use these points as a helpful reference for picking what blocklists you want to use for your PiHole.

Nxfilter and pihole