Raspberry Pi DNS Server - Whats the big deal?

My wife’s been surprisingly happy about this setup too. Since AdGuard Home blocks ads at the DNS level, her phone games are almost completely ad-free when she's on Wi-Fi—which earned this project an enthusiastic “wife thumbs up.” She also noticed how much smoother our streaming services run now without ad traffic clogging things up. It’s a small change that made a big difference, and it didn’t cost much to implement. Bonus: it keeps me busy in a way that actually benefits the whole house.

This project scratched my homelab itch and gave me way more control over the way our network operates. If you care about privacy, performance, or just love tinkering with Raspberry Pi projects, this is a solid weekend build. And if you’re like me—someone who lives in their network gear like it’s second skin—building your own DNS server is a power move that’s 100% worth it. Got questions or want help getting started? Drop a comment or reach out through my blog: Bits & Backups.

Also, big thanks to @NetworkChuck and all he does to inspire me and my technology journey!

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Ever get tired of slow DNS lookups, ads popping up everywhere, or wondering just how much your internet provider knows about your browsing habits? Same here. So I decided to take control of my network by turning a Raspberry Pi into a powerful little DNS server running AdGuard Home. Not only did this give me faster and more reliable DNS resolution, but it also gave me back my privacy. Your internet provider usually routes your traffic through their DNS servers, meaning they can see every site you visit. With your own DNS setup, that data stays in your hands—not theirs. If you want to try it yourself, I’ll drop a link to the video I followed.