HillmanTok University - Guerilla Networking

Lesson Plan for Instructional Video: Configuring Pi-hole

Objective:

By the end of this video, viewers will:

Understand what Pi-hole is and its benefits.

Be able to install and configure Pi-hole on their network.

Gain a basic understanding of DNS and how Pi-hole enhances network privacy and performance.

Target Audience:

Beginners to intermediate users with basic familiarity with home networking.

Individuals interested in improving network privacy and blocking ads.

Lesson Structure:

  1. Introduction (2 minutes)

What is Pi-hole?

Brief description: Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker.

Benefits: Blocks ads at the network level, enhances privacy, speeds up browsing, reduces bandwidth usage.

Prerequisites:

A Raspberry Pi (or compatible device) with a power supply and storage (microSD card).

Basic familiarity with connecting to a router.

  1. Setting Up Pi-hole (10 minutes)

a. Hardware Preparation (2 minutes):

Overview of hardware requirements:

Raspberry Pi model (e.g., Raspberry Pi 4 or 3).

Network connection: Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

Demonstrate:

Formatting the microSD card using tools like Balena Etcher.

Flashing Raspberry Pi OS onto the card.

b. Software Installation (4 minutes):

Boot up the Raspberry Pi and access the terminal.

Explain the commands step-by-step:

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net bash

What the command does (downloading and executing the installation script).

Follow the prompts:

Select the network interface (Ethernet or Wi-Fi).

Choose the upstream DNS provider (e.g., Google, OpenDNS).

Configure the web interface.

c. Post-Installation Configuration (4 minutes):

Access the Pi-hole admin dashboard:

Open a browser and go to http:///admin.

Login with the admin password provided during installation.

Demonstrate:

Adding custom blocklists.

Whitelisting/blacklisting domains.

Monitoring blocked queries.

  1. Integrating Pi-hole with Your Network (6 minutes)

a. Configuring the Router (3 minutes):

Explain how to find the router’s admin interface (e.g., 192.168.1.1).

Show:

How to set the router’s DNS server to Pi-hole’s IP address.

(Optional) Setting a static IP for Pi-hole on the router.

b. Device-Specific DNS Settings (3 minutes):

Show how to configure individual devices (e.g., smartphone, computer) to use Pi-hole as their DNS server if router-level configuration isn’t possible.

  1. Advanced Features & Troubleshooting (5 minutes)

a. Features (3 minutes):

Setting up conditional forwarding for local network names.

Using Pi-hole with a VPN for remote ad-blocking.

b. Common Issues & Fixes (2 minutes):

Devices not connecting to the internet: Check DNS settings.

Pi-hole not blocking ads: Verify blocklist settings and DNS propagation.

Tools to test DNS:

nslookup or ping commands.

  1. Wrap-Up (2 minutes)

Recap:

What Pi-hole does.

Key steps in installation and configuration.

Encourage viewers:

Experiment with additional blocklists and settings.

Join the Pi-hole community for support.

Share links to resources:

Official Pi-hole documentation.

Recommended blocklist repositories.

Materials Needed:

Raspberry Pi and necessary peripherals.

WHERE TO BUY

Optional

heatsink (to help with heat dispersion)

A computer for setup.

Access to a home router.

Tools like Balena Etcher, SSH client, and Pi-hole documentation links.

Pro Tips for Video Presentation:

Use clear visuals: screen recordings for terminal and dashboard walkthroughs.

Keep explanations concise and use diagrams for concepts like DNS.

Include a “troubleshooting” FAQ at the end to address common questions.

Use captions or callouts to highlight critical steps and commands.

This structured plan should help create a comprehensive, engaging instructional video for new Pi-hole users!

DeepSeek

Absolutely! Creating an instructional video for beginners is a great idea. Below is a detailed lesson plan for your video on configuring Pi-hole. The goal is to make it accessible, engaging, and easy to follow for people who are new to networking and tech.


Lesson Plan: Configuring Pi-hole for Beginners

1. Introduction (2-3 minutes)


2. What You’ll Need (2-3 minutes)


3. Setting Up the Raspberry Pi (5-7 minutes)


4. Installing Pi-hole (5-7 minutes)


5. Configuring Your Network to Use Pi-hole (5-7 minutes)


6. Exploring the Pi-hole Admin Interface (5 minutes)


7. Troubleshooting Tips (3-5 minutes)


8. Conclusion and Next Steps (2-3 minutes)


Tips for the Video


This lesson plan should help you create a comprehensive and beginner-friendly video. Let me know if you’d like help with scripting or additional details!

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