Pi Hole

Overview #

Pi-Hole is a popular DNS forwarder, often used primarily for blocking domains specifically associated with ads and tracking.

Pi-Hole Setup #

For detailed setup instructions of Pi-Hole itself, please see the Official Pi-Hole Documentation.

Quad9 Setup #

Once you have installed Pi-Hole and can access the administration panel, Quad9 is already one of the default options.

• In the Admin panel, navigate to Settings -> DNS
  • Check both IPv4 boxes next to Quad9 (filtered, DNSSEC)
    • If your network support IPv6, it’s also recommended to check both IPv6 boxes. If you’re not sure if IPv6 is configured on your network, you can test that here: https://test-ipv6.com/
• Check/Enable the options:
  • Never forward non-FQDNs and Never forward reverse lookups for private IP ranges to prevent sending unanswerable DNS queries to Quad9.
    • Click Save at the bottom.

Verify Configuration #

Once Quad9 has been configured in Pi-Hole, you can configure your router or a single computer to use the Pi-Hole’s IP address as a DNS server. If the Query Log is enabled (Settings -> Privacy [tab]), you should see Quad9 recorded in the Status column:

You can also confirm if Quad9 is being used manually on Linux, MacOS, or Windows.

Blocked Domains #

Domains which are blocked by Quad9 will record Blocked (external, NXRA) in the Status column of the Query Log:

Questions? Issues? Didn’t work? Contact us!