AdGuard Home — Self-Hosted Network DNS Filter with DoH/DoT

What it is

AdGuard Home is a single-binary Go DNS server that blocks ads and trackers across your entire network. It supports encrypted DNS upstreams (DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS), parental controls, and ships with a web-based admin UI for configuration and statistics.

It is designed for home network administrators and privacy-conscious users who want ad blocking without installing browser extensions on every device. Any device that uses your network DNS gets protection automatically.

How it saves time or tokens

Instead of configuring ad blockers per device and per browser, AdGuard Home provides a single deployment point. One DNS server protects phones, tablets, smart TVs, and IoT devices. The filter lists update automatically, and the dashboard shows query statistics without manual log parsing.

How to use

1. Download the AdGuard Home binary or use the official Docker image.
2. Run the initial setup wizard at http://your-server:3000.
3. Configure your router or devices to use the AdGuard Home IP as the DNS server.
4. Add filter lists and configure upstream DNS providers.

# Install AdGuard Home via Docker
docker run -d --name adguardhome \
  -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp \
  -p 3000:3000/tcp \
  -v adguard-work:/opt/adguardhome/work \
  -v adguard-conf:/opt/adguardhome/conf \
  adguard/adguardhome

Example

Once running, the admin panel at port 3000 shows a dashboard with total queries, blocked queries percentage, and top queried domains. You can add custom filtering rules using AdBlock-style syntax or hosts-file format.

# Example AdGuard Home upstream DNS config
upstream_dns:
  - https://dns.cloudflare.com/dns-query
  - tls://dns.google

Related on TokRepo

• Self-hosted tools — More privacy-focused self-hosted applications
• Security tools — Network security and protection tools

Common pitfalls

• Running DNS on port 53 requires root or elevated privileges. Docker simplifies this.
• Aggressive filter lists can break legitimate services. Start with default lists and add gradually.
• If your router does not support custom DNS settings, configure individual devices instead.