Pi-hole
DNS-level blocking for guest and staff networks (use carefully)
oss-osi-approved stub guideOverview
Pi-hole provides network-wide DNS blocking. Some operators experiment with it on staff networks; guest Wi-Fi filtering must respect transparency and break fewer member workflows.
At a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Categories | network-wifi, security-compliance |
| Deployment | self-hosted |
| License class | oss-osi-approved (EUPL-1.2) |
| Cost model | free-self-hosted |
| Implementation difficulty | moderate |
| Maintenance burden | medium |
| Maturity | stable |
| Verification | partially-verified (2026-07-17) |
Cost reality
Free software; typically runs on a small always-on host.
Pricing and free-tier limits change frequently; re-check official pricing before budget decisions.
Tasks reduced or augmented
Software does not replace community or ops staff. It may reduce or augment:
- DNS-level ad/malware domain blocking
- DNS visibility for troubleshooting
Human oversight still needed
- Overblocking member tools
- Privacy of DNS logs
- Guest network policy
Data held
-
DNS queries
-
client IPs
-
blocklists
-
Personal data: yes
-
Payment data: no / not primary
Risks
| Area | Notes |
|---|---|
| Vendor lock-in | Evaluate export formats and API completeness before deep customization. |
| Security | Apply updates promptly; restrict admin access; enable TLS. |
| Compliance | Operator remains responsible for privacy and local regulatory obligations. |
| Licensing | Confirm license fits commercial coworking use. |
| Operational | Plan backups, monitoring, and a restore drill before production use. |
Coworking fit
Roles: technical-operator, facilities
Workflows: incident-response, facility-maintenance
Problems: improve-wifi-reliability, privacy-compliance
Smallest useful experiment
Deploy on staff VLAN only first; measure false positives for 14 days before any guest network use.
Typical time to first value: 1–3 days
Links
Implementation guide
See the human-written implementation guide.
Verification
- Status:
partially-verified - Last reviewed:
2026-07-17 - Sources:
Seed entry compiled from official project sites and repositories. Re-verify pricing, license text, and feature claims before production decisions. Star counts and free-tier numeric limits intentionally omitted unless verified at review time.