Yes, but they don't. That's where I have to criticize NextDNS. It feels like the devs just let it run but stopped development. They still even offer a block list called "Energized" which is dead with all entries removed since I think 2021. They just don't care about updating anything. Don't get me wrong because I still like NextDNS very much. It's working completely fine as it is right now but it's just not getting updates (anymore).
My problem with a Pi-hole is that it only works in your LAN. You can't make use of it on your phone when you're not at home. This is where NextDNS is better. You might wanna use NextDNS only on your mobile devices. 300,000 queries per month are free anyway. Or just use RethinkDNS which is completely free right now but you need their app to have a white- and blacklist.
True but a VPN connection drains your phone's battery quite well. That's why I never liked that option and prefer just using a DNS server with adblocking feature since it has 0 impact on your phone's bettery life.
Not really as long as you use some VPN that's not braindead stupid like OpenVPN. Wireguard is the perfect protocol, there's almost no overhead since it doesn't need keepalive packets or anything and there's no handshake beyond the initial connection either.
I've read reports of 3% to 10% battery usage with Wireguard on smartphones. To me even 1% would be too much but maybe that's not the case for you. I don't mind paying 2 bucks a month for a great product that is extremely simple to set up. If you prefer the way with Wireguard + Pi-hole than that's of course fine. To each their own.
Yes, but they don't. That's where I have to criticize NextDNS. It feels like the devs just let it run but stopped development. They still even offer a block list called "Energized" which is dead with all entries removed since I think 2021. They just don't care about updating anything. Don't get me wrong because I still like NextDNS very much. It's working completely fine as it is right now but it's just not getting updates (anymore).
My problem with a Pi-hole is that it only works in your LAN. You can't make use of it on your phone when you're not at home. This is where NextDNS is better. You might wanna use NextDNS only on your mobile devices. 300,000 queries per month are free anyway. Or just use RethinkDNS which is completely free right now but you need their app to have a white- and blacklist.
You can usea VPN to connect to your home network and use your pihole there.
True but a VPN connection drains your phone's battery quite well. That's why I never liked that option and prefer just using a DNS server with adblocking feature since it has 0 impact on your phone's bettery life.
Not really as long as you use some VPN that's not braindead stupid like OpenVPN. Wireguard is the perfect protocol, there's almost no overhead since it doesn't need keepalive packets or anything and there's no handshake beyond the initial connection either.
I've read reports of 3% to 10% battery usage with Wireguard on smartphones. To me even 1% would be too much but maybe that's not the case for you. I don't mind paying 2 bucks a month for a great product that is extremely simple to set up. If you prefer the way with Wireguard + Pi-hole than that's of course fine. To each their own.
You can just host pihole on a cloud server and get it with that ;)