PiHole Info

[dave14305]

OK, here is a question, do you use PiHole as your default gateway?

I once setup a Raspberry Pi with Pi-Hole as a Linux router.

 

[coxhaus]

Correct.

No, IP is layer 3.

Yes, but you are accessing it by MAC using switching not a router hop which I call layer 2. If you were going through a router then it would processed at layer 3. All the packets have 7 layers.

 

[coxhaus]

I once setup a Raspberry Pi with Pi-Hole as a Linux router.

You can do a lot more things to your traffic.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yes, but you are accessing it by MAC using switching not a router hop which I call layer 2. If you were going through a router then it would processed at layer 3. All the packets have 7 layers.

No, you're accessing it by IP. A DNS server doesn't have to be on the local network, it can (and often is) remote. PiHole is no different than any other DNS server.

If you want to be pedantic DNS is layer 7 but I assumed you were asking from a smart-switch perspective and limiting the choices to the media layers (1 to 3).

 

[coxhaus]

I can tell you guys have not worked on big networks. You classify all the traffic on how it is processed.

Yes, in the end you are using layer 7 but it has nothing really to do with traffic flows and the processing of traffic.

You might consider layer 7 as the payload.

Firewalls can go into the upper layers to look at stuff but other than that the upper layers are not used in networking.

Infact IDS/IPS are the processes looking into the upper layers.

 

[Tech Junky]

But we're not talking firewalls. Were talking DNS DHCP and ad blocking.

 

[coxhaus]

DNS and DHCP mean nothing other than they are an app.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I can tell you guys have not worked on big networks.

Quite the opposite actually. I've spent over 30 years managing enterprise networks. Most of that time was with predominantly Cisco kit. I've also held the relevant (and ever-changing ) Cisco certifications. I'd suggest it is your own lack of knowledge that's the problem if you don't understand how something as rudimentary as a DNS server works.

 

[coxhaus]

Quite the opposite actually. I've spent over 30 years managing enterprise networks. Most of that time was with predominantly Cisco kit. I've also held the relevant (and ever-changing ) Cisco certifications. I'd suggest it is your own lack of knowledge that's the problem if you don't understand how something as rudimentary as a DNS server works.

Then you should know how the OSI model works. You have no grasp of it. OSI is the way networking works.

I know how DNS works It is just an app. All it does is return a number for a name or not. The only thing I did not know is whether using PIHole you used it as a gateway or DNS IP. That tells what I need know. After that I understand how the networking works and what it's limits would be.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Then you should know how the OSI model works. You have no grasp of it. OSI is the way networking works.

I know how DNS works It is just an app. All it does is return a number for a name or not.

I know how the OSI model works. You are the one getting confused between MAC addresses and IP addresses.

 

[coxhaus]

I know how the OSI model works. You are the one getting confused between MAC addresses and IP addresses.

No I am not. MAC is layer 2 and IP is layer 3. Layer 2 is faster than layer 3. IF you cross a router or L3 switch then you are doing it by IP, layer 3. Layer 3 is going to write a new header trailer on the packet that would not happen at layer 2.

Maybe I should have said medium network as a phone company would be so large you would not see all the areas and have to do all the jobs.

I have to go play dominoes have fun.

 

[Clark Griswald]

Pi-Hole and WireGuard on RPi is Griswald easy to setup and maintain.
I like that it removes the overhead off the router, and to quote @Tech Junky "It's like all of the ad blocking SW on the market but on steroids"

 

[coxhaus]

Pi-Hole and WireGuard on RPi is Griswald easy to setup and maintain.
I like that it removes the overhead off the router, and to quote @Tech Junky "It's like all of the ad blocking SW on the market but on steroids"

Yes, offloading the router is a good thing. You really only want the router to handle just internet duties.

I run DHCP on my Cisco L3 switch.

 

[sfx2000]

Yes, offloading the router is a good thing. You really only want the router to handle just internet duties.

I run DHCP on my Cisco L3 switch.

For most home and even small biz users, having everything in one box is sufficient - e.g. the firewall, router, dns, dhcp, lan switching, wireless, etc - probably good enough, and that's a multi-billion dollar business.

That being said - there's a lot of benefit to segregation of services that lends to perhaps better security, traffic management, etc...

I'm one of the members in present company that do prefer the latter... it's more work to setup and plan perhaps, but once that's done, it's pretty much let it run and leave it alone - like @coxhaus and others, the upside to breaking out functions across components is that one can upgrade when and where needed.

PiHole's are one kind of a gateway into this, where it can be the DNS resolver and DHCP host inside the LAN - once there, folks can add a L2/L3 managed switch, discovering the benefits of traffic management at Layers 2 and 3... then pop in a couple of dedicated AP's...

It's been a long time since articles that approach the "component" aspect of going beyond the all in one approach - @thiggins, it this a possibility?

 

[thiggins]

It's been a long time since articles that approach the "component" aspect of going beyond the all in one approach - @thiggins, it this a possibility?

No.