Pi-hole, Wireguard and Privoxy. Providing an ad-blocking VPN protected proxy server.

Build your own internal ad blocker - also serving as a VPN protected proxy server. Gives you anonymous, ad-free internet access across your home network.

In this tutorial I'll detail setup using Wireguard - but the same approach can be used with the OpenVPN client.

Initial Setup

Get your Raspberry Pi up and running

First off, your're going to need a Raspberry Pi - a model 2 or later is preferable - along with a Micro SD Card, monitor and keyboard.

Download the latest (lite) version of Rasbian from here - https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/ Flash this to your SD card using a tool like Etcher (https://www.balena.io/etcher/) Insert the flashed SD card into the Raspberry Pi - and for this intial bit of setup you'll also need it connected to a monitor and keyboard as well. Boot the device and login with the default credentials (Username: pi) (Password: raspberry). It's best practice to now set a custom password. Run the passwd command to set your own password. Next we need to enabled SSH access so we can work on the Pi remotely. Run the command sudo raspi-config to open the configurator tool. Selection option (5) 'INTERFACE OPTIONS' and select 'P2 SSH' from the list to enable SSH access to the Raspberry Pi. Enter the command ifconfig to reveal network information - an 'inet' value will be shown your connected network adapters - make note of the relevant number - you'll need this to connect remotely to the Raspberry Pi. Ideally, you'll want to set this as a reserved (fixed) IP for this machine via your router configuration page. Download a tool like Putty (https://putty.org/) and connect to the Raspberry Pi from your desktop / laptop PC using the IP address from the step above - the username 'pi' and the password you specified in step 4. Once you've logged into your Raspberry Pi, it's best practice to ensure all packages are up to date. Run sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y to check for new packages and install any updates.

Pi-hole Setup

See full installation instructions here - https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/#one-step-automated-install

For the quick and easy option -

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

Recommended blocklist - blocklist.md

Wireguard (VPN) Setup

WireGuard® is an extremely simple yet fast and modern VPN that utilizes state-of-the-art cryptography. It aims to be faster, simpler, leaner, and more useful than IPsec, while avoiding the massive headache. It intends to be considerably more performance than OpenVPN. (https://www.wireguard.com/)

Wireguard Installation (Raspberry Pi 2 v1.2 and above)

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-kernel-headers sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7638D0442B90D010 sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 04EE7237B7D453EC echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ unstable main" | sudo tee --append /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unstable.list sudo apt-get install dirmngr sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 8B48AD6246925553 printf 'Package: *

Pin: release a=unstable

Pin-Priority: 150

' | sudo tee --append /etc/apt/preferences.d/limit-unstable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install wireguard sudo reboot

From here follow the instructions from your VPN provider. I recommend https://mullvad.net/

Setup Unbound Recursive DNS Server

Unbound is a validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver. It is designed to be fast and lean and incorporates modern features based on open standards.

https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about/

See the guide from anudeepND (https://github.com/anudeepND) - here - https://github.com/anudeepND/pihole-unbound

Pi-Hole Config -

Recursive DNS Testing -

Privoxy (Proxy Server) Setup

Privoxy is a proxy server application used to route internet traffic. By empoying a proxy server on a machine connected to the internet via VPN - we get the benefits of that VPN connected. The same proxy server can be used across devices on your network - from computers, phones, tablets and more.

Install Privoxy using the command sudo apt-get install privoxy -y . Open the configuration file with the command sudo nano /etc/privoxy/config . Look for the line listen-address 127.0.0.0:8118 - this is the address and port the proxy server is running on. Update the listen address IP to match the IP address of the Raspberry Pi server you are connected to. Restart the Privoxy service with sudo service privoxy restart

Final Setup

Network Wide Ad-blocking

Set your router's primary DNS server to the IP address of your Raspberry Pi server. All request made by devices on the network will be resolved via the Unbound DNS resolver and adverts blocked by Pi-hole.

Example Router Config. -

VPN Proxy Server

With Privoxy running, your device acts as a proxy server than can be used by any device on the network. Configure your application to use the proxy server at the address and port specified for the listen-address during Privoxy setup.

Example Usage

Using Chrome plugin 'Proxy SwitchyOmega' for proxy switching. This supports rules for 'auto switching' - allowing you to pick and choose your connection based on URL patter. Perfect for a Tor proxy as detailed in my next article (link below).

Tor Proxy Server

Read how to turn this Pi into a Tor proxy here for quick and easy access to the Tor network.