Pi-hole coworking evaluation stub

This is an incomplete evaluation stub, not an implementation guide.

Verified snapshot

Pi-hole provides self-hosted DNS-level blocking under OSI-approved EUPL-1.2. The catalog recommends a staff-VLAN experiment before any guest use because overblocking can break member workflows and DNS logs expose client behavior. It holds DNS queries, client IPs, blocklists, and personal data.

Sources reviewed 2026-07-17: homepage, repository, and documentation.

Evaluation questions

Is DNS blocking needed, and is staff-only scope sufficient?
What transparency, retention, and access apply to DNS logs?
How will false positives and critical SaaS failures be handled immediately?
What resolver fallback avoids a site-wide DNS outage?

Smallest experiment

Deploy on the staff VLAN only for 14 days. Measure false positives, support load, DNS availability, and rollback; do not route guest traffic through it.

Risks

Breaking member/staff services through overblocking
Privacy exposure from DNS queries and client IPs
Resolver outage affecting the whole venue

TODO before a full guide

Complete privacy/transparency review for DNS logs
Verify current deployment, backup, and telemetry docs
Test bypass, failover, rollback, and clean restore
Define blocklist approval and false-positive response