GT-AX11000 AdGuard DNS Setup Woes

[Aoilemon]

GT-AX11000 Router
Firmware: 3.0.0.4.386_49599 Sig: 2.32
------------------------------------------------------------

Objective:
To set up WAN DNS Setting for Ad Block AdGuard to propagate downstream to all devices over DHCP with DNS as 'Deftault' that do not have a manually explicit DNS selected.

Problem:
It is unlikely working or set up correctly, as a Smart TV connected to the network with the DNS being default STILL receives ads via it's YouTube player.

Need:
Need help to verify setup/settings and how to verify working properly

See below setup images:







Smart TV captures its assigned DHCP IP address.
It also automatically uses 192.168.1.1 for both Gateway and DNS
Mask is: 255.255.255.0

Reboot of the router and TV yields no change, and still ads are coming through to the TV's YouTube player.

[jzchen]

Can you use a web browser on the TV? (I know I am behind in technology)...

Then go to YouTube on the web browser? (I'm surprised if you can block a YouTube ad).

[Aoilemon]

I tried the browser on the TV to play YouTube.. Brower was quite slow, and still ads on YouTube.

I thought the whole point of AdGuard on the router was to block ads from going down to all devices connected to it on the network..?

Apparently I'm doing something wrong, or, ASUS is putting fluff features on my router which are useless and akin to bloatware.

[Murph_9000]

The AdGuard thing in ASUSWRT is DNS based, using an external DNS service which blocks the server names for many (not all) ad servers. It is not a content filter, and also can't detect or filter adverts served by the same server as the content. As far as I'm aware, YT ads are served by the same servers that provide the main service, so can never be filtered by a DNS filter.

The various DNS filters work reasonably well for general web content, but stuff like YT is far beyond what they are intended to do.

[Aoilemon]

Murph_9000 wrote:
The AdGuard thing in ASUSWRT is DNS based, using an external DNS service which blocks the server names for many (not all) ad servers. It is not a content filter, and also can't detect or filter adverts served by the same server as the content. As far as I'm aware, YT ads are served by the same servers that provide the main service, so can never be filtered by a DNS filter.

The various DNS filters work reasonably well for general web content, but stuff like YT is far beyond what they are intended to do.

Thanks for your explanation. Say one point the router refused to give me an internet connection... So I abandoned the AdGuard this on the router and removed the settings ..
At the client level on the PC on Chrome running the AdGuard plugin, it's effective with YT.
Ultimately I wanted a central solution which would serve all devices.

Do you think Network Chuck's solution has merit and would be effective in the 'central' concept?

https://youtu.be/B2V_8M9cjYw

[Aoilemon]

Or... Could I just run a docker on my Synology Nas on the network instead of shelling out for a pie?

[Murph_9000]

Yeah, a browser plugin can always do more, as it can get quite deep into the content and see the various URLs involved.

I can't say for sure just how well the more dedicated firewall/filter solutions will strip YT ads, as I've not tried them myself, but they can certainly do a lot more than a basic DNS filter. One thing to keep in mind is that it's a moving target, with Google doing everything they can to make YT ads unblockable. Personally, I just pay for YT Premium, so have not seen a YT ad in a long time.

A Pi is very cost effective, but there's not much in it for functionality between Pi, Docker, a mini PC, or an old PC retasked as a network filter.