Hi there, On my router/modem I cannot change the DNS entries, thus just using Adguard/PiHole for DNS blocking ads doesn’t work. Would a seperate Router circumvent this problem? Could I set up Adguard (or PiHole) on a Raspberry and use it as a DNS server for my home network?
The plan would be to use my ISP-provided router just as a modem to connect to the internet. Then us a second router to provide my home network, where also Adguard/PiHole can do their thing.
Would this setup work and how would I need to configure it?
Yes, that will work. On your router plug in WAN (or whatever that’s called on your router) port to the ISP router, set up IP-range and NAT (plus DHCP and whatever other services you might want to use) and plug in the rest of your network on the LAN side of the router. That way the only thing ISP router will see is your own router and everything else is behind that & yours to configure however you wish.
I’ve ran setup like this on several locations and (if possible) I’ve used bridged port on the ISP router, so that ISP router is only a ‘media converter’ and my own router connects directly to the public internet. Just make sure to have proper firewall configuration and keep safety in mind when doing that. If bridging isn’t possible your traffic just goes trough NAT twice (your router and ISP router) which in some odd edge cases can cause problems, but they’re very rare.