--- title: "Your home network doesn't need Pi-hole — an $8 ESP32 blocks ads just as well for a fraction of the cost" url: https://daily.dev/posts/your-home-network-doesn-t-need-pi-hole-an-8-esp32-blocks-ads-just-as-well-for-a-fraction-of-the-c-zxf5m6v3g source_url: https://www.xda-developers.com/your-home-network-doesnt-need-pi-hole-but-an-esp32 type: article source: "XDA Developers" published: 2026-05-23T13:03:48.430Z updated: 2026-05-23T13:04:13.613Z tags: ["iot"] reading_time: 6 upvotes: 2 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Your home network doesn't need Pi-hole — an $8 ESP32 blocks ads just as well for a fraction of the cost **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 6 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An ESP32-S3 microcontroller can serve as a network-wide DNS ad blocker using the ESP32_AdBlocker project, offering a cheaper and lower-power alternative to Pi-hole. The ESP32-S3-N16R8 variant with 8MB PSRAM is recommended for faster lookups (under 50 microseconds) and larger blocklist support. Setup involves flashing firmware via Arduino IDE, optionally switching from LittleFS to FFat for more storage, and pointing your router's DNS to the device. Caveats include handling only one blocklist at a time, some manual configuration around partition schemes, and fewer advanced features compared to Pi-hole's dashboard, regex rules, and per-device controls. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Clever hacker fits 537,000 domains in a tiny $5 ESP32 ad-blocking dongle — firmware uses only around 50KB of RAM and can answer blocked lookups in 10 milliseconds](https://daily.dev/posts/clever-hacker-fits-537-000-domains-in-a-tiny-5-esp32-ad-blocking-dongle-firmware-uses-only-around-4vxm5fukb) · Hacker News · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [This tiny ESP32 gadget blocks 537,000 domains while using just 50KB of RAM](https://daily.dev/posts/this-tiny-esp32-gadget-blocks-537-000-domains-while-using-just-50kb-of-ram-miptesp4w) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Network-wide ad blocking with a Raspberry Pi Zero is easier than you think, but the Wi-Fi problem is real](https://daily.dev/posts/network-wide-ad-blocking-with-a-raspberry-pi-zero-is-easier-than-you-think-but-the-wi-fi-problem-is-bdjhgjkky) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/your-home-network-doesn-t-need-pi-hole-an-8-esp32-blocks-ads-just-as-well-for-a-fraction-of-the-c-zxf5m6v3g)