this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2026
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Privacy
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I'm wondering if something like a PiHole can "fake" a connection for these devices.
I don't know about that part (though would like to know as well), this is currently blocked on my pi-hole:
It put my TV in its own group in pi-hole, blocked everything (.*) for that group, and then whitelisted what I wanted the TV to be able to get to.
I should try this. I presume you would need static IP on your TV?
You can also add devices to groups by MAC address or hostname, but a static IP might be best.
I only need a couple of domains to work. My way could be a hassle if you need to figure out whitelists for a few services.
Yeah, I guess that would work too.
It is a hassle but usually only done once or at least between some intervals. My RegExs were also a hassle though.
I caught an app that my daughter's school uses called ClassDojo that wouldn't work at my company for some reason. I had to reach out to our security admin and it turns out it was doing DNS lookups by bypassing my company's DNS server. I submitted a ticket to the company and they ended up either designing the app to fallback to the device's assigned DNS or either probably doing something else shady. Idk, it works now.
My point is there's more than one way to do a DNS lookup.
Yeah that looks suspicious.
It's definitely not fool-proof, apparently they can bypass DNS for their connections too. On the other hand, IP block is a thing as well, so maybe it's a double-edged sword for them.