Turn Your GameBox G11 Pro Into a Pi-hole Ad Blocker | By Arvind Kumar

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11. Turn Your GameBox G11 Pro Into a Pi-hole Ad Blocker

One of the most useful things you can do after installing Debian Linux on the GameBox G11 Pro is to turn it into a Pi-hole DNS server.

Pi-hole is a network-level DNS filtering system. Instead of installing an ad-blocking application individually on every computer, phone or smart TV, you configure your network to use the GameBox as its DNS server.

The basic network path becomes:

Your device → GameBox/Pi-hole → Upstream DNS → Internet

When a device asks Pi-hole to resolve a domain that appears on its blocking lists, Pi-hole can refuse the DNS resolution.

This means that many advertising, tracking and telemetry domains can be blocked before the connection is established.

Pi-hole does not require a Raspberry Pi. The official documentation supports Debian and ARMv8/AArch64 systems, and the software has very modest hardware requirements.

The GameBox G11 Pro therefore makes an excellent low-cost Pi-hole appliance.

What Is Pi-hole?

Pi-hole is essentially a network-wide DNS filtering server.

Normally, when you visit a website, your device needs to resolve domain names such as:

www.example.com
ads.example.com
tracking.example.com

into IP addresses.

Without Pi-hole, your computer, phone or smart TV usually sends those DNS requests to a DNS server provided by your router, ISP or another DNS provider.

With Pi-hole installed, the process becomes:

                 ┌──────────────────┐
                 │     Internet     │
                 └────────┬─────────┘
                          │
                    Upstream DNS
                          │
                 ┌────────▼─────────┐
                 │      Pi-hole     │
                 │   GameBox G11    │
                 └────────┬─────────┘
                          │
                    Local Network
                          │
        ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
        │                 │                 │
      Laptop            Phone            Smart TV

Pi-hole checks DNS requests against its configured lists.

If a requested domain is allowed, Pi-hole forwards the request to its upstream DNS server.

If the domain is blocked, Pi-hole can return a blocked response instead.

Why Use the GameBox G11 Pro for Pi-hole?

The GameBox has several characteristics that make it suitable for this application.

Low power consumption

A Pi-hole server normally needs to run continuously.

The GameBox consumes considerably less power than a conventional desktop PC.

Ethernet connectivity

The G11 Pro has a wired 100 Mbps Ethernet connection.

For DNS, 100 Mbps is vastly more than sufficient.

DNS requests themselves are tiny, so the Ethernet bandwidth is not a meaningful limitation.

2GB RAM

Pi-hole’s official minimum RAM requirement is only 512 MB.

The GameBox therefore has plenty of memory for Pi-hole plus other lightweight Linux services.

Existing Linux installation

We have already installed Debian on the GameBox.

That means there is no need for another operating system or another computer.

SD-card based Linux

Because Linux is running from the removable microSD card, the original Android system remains available.

11.1 Before Installing Pi-hole

There are three things you should verify before starting:

  1. The GameBox has a working Internet connection.
  2. The GameBox has a stable IP address.
  3. No other DNS service is already using port 53.

Pi-hole requires a stable IP address because clients on your network need to know where to send their DNS queries. Pi-hole’s documentation specifically recommends either configuring a static IP address or creating a DHCP reservation for the Pi-hole host.

11.2 Check the GameBox IP Address

Open a terminal and run:

Look for the Ethernet interface.

You should see something similar to:

inet 192.168.1.25/24

Your address will almost certainly be different.

For the rest of this example, we will assume:

192.168.1.25

Do not blindly use this address.

Replace it with the actual IP address assigned to your GameBox.

11.3 Test Internet Connectivity

Before installing Pi-hole, make sure the GameBox can reach the Internet.

Run:

You should receive replies similar to:

64 bytes from ...

If the command fails, fix the GameBox’s network connection before continuing.

11.4 Give the GameBox a Stable IP Address

This is one of the most important steps.

Imagine that today your router gives the GameBox:

192.168.1.25

and tomorrow it gives the GameBox:

192.168.1.47

All the devices configured to use 192.168.1.25 as their DNS server would stop working correctly.

The preferred solution for most home networks is to create a DHCP reservation in your router.

DHCP Reservation – Recommended Method

Log into your router’s administration interface.

Look for a section such as:

  • DHCP
  • LAN
  • Network
  • Address Reservation
  • Static DHCP
  • DHCP Binding
  • Reserved Addresses

Find the GameBox in the list of connected devices.

Create a reservation for its current IP address.

For example:

Device:      GameBox G11 Pro
IP Address:  192.168.1.25
MAC Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

The exact menu differs between router manufacturers.

A DHCP reservation is preferable to manually configuring a static address on the GameBox because the router continues to manage the address.

11.5 Check the DNS Port

Pi-hole’s DNS service uses TCP and UDP port 53. If another DNS server is already listening on port 53, Pi-hole cannot use that port normally.

Check what is listening on port 53:

If nothing is returned, there may be no service currently listening on port 53.

If you see another DNS service, investigate it before installing Pi-hole.

11.6 Install Pi-hole

The official Pi-hole documentation currently provides a one-step installation method.

Run:

This downloads and starts the official Pi-hole installer.

Security note: Piping downloaded content directly into bash is convenient but means the downloaded script is executed immediately. If you prefer to inspect the installer first, Pi-hole also documents downloading the script and running it separately.

For readers who prefer the more cautious approach:

11.7 Pi-hole Installation Wizard

The Pi-hole installer will guide you through several configuration options.

The exact screens can change between Pi-hole releases, but the important choices are described below.

Select the Network Interface

The GameBox should normally be connected using Ethernet.

Select the Ethernet interface presented by the installer.

It may be named something similar to:

eth0

or:

end0

The exact interface name depends on the Linux image and kernel.

Using wired Ethernet is strongly recommended for a permanent DNS server.

11.8 Choose an Upstream DNS Provider

Pi-hole needs an upstream DNS server for domains that it is not blocking.

The Pi-hole installer currently provides several choices, including:

  • Google
  • OpenDNS
  • Level3
  • Comodo
  • Quad9
  • Cloudflare
  • Custom

Pi-hole documents these choices and their addresses in its upstream DNS documentation.

For a simple installation, Cloudflare, Quad9 or Google DNS are reasonable choices.

For example, Cloudflare DNS uses:

1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1

Quad9 provides another option, particularly if you want a resolver with security-focused filtering.

Choose the upstream provider that best matches your privacy, security and performance requirements.

11.9 Select the Blocklists

Pi-hole uses blocklists to determine which domains should be blocked.

During installation, allow the default blocklist configuration unless you have a specific reason to change it.

Do not immediately add hundreds of random lists from the Internet.

More blocklists do not automatically mean better blocking.

Excessive or poorly maintained lists can result in legitimate websites and services being blocked.

It is better to start with a sensible baseline and add lists only when you have a specific reason.

11.10 Enable the Web Interface

Make sure the Pi-hole web interface is installed.

This is one of the most useful features of Pi-hole.

Instead of administering everything from the terminal, you can open a browser and view:

  • DNS queries
  • Blocked queries
  • Allowed queries
  • Clients
  • Domains
  • Statistics
  • Lists
  • Groups
  • DNS configuration
  • System information

Pi-hole’s current documentation also describes the web interface as a way to configure Pi-hole and manage groups, clients, allowlists and blocklists.

11.11 Complete the Installation

Allow the installer to complete.

At the end, Pi-hole should provide information about the web interface and administrative credentials.

Save the password.

If the installer provides a URL similar to:

http://192.168.1.25/admin

open that address from another computer on your network.

Replace the IP address with your GameBox’s actual address.

11.12 Open the Pi-hole Dashboard

From a computer or phone connected to the same network, open:

http://YOUR-GAMEBOX-IP/admin/

For example:

http://192.168.1.25/admin/

You should see the Pi-hole login screen.

Enter the administrator password created during installation.

You should now see the Pi-hole dashboard.

11.13 Understanding the Pi-hole Dashboard

The dashboard provides a real-time view of DNS activity.

You will typically see information such as:

Total Queries

The total number of DNS requests received by Pi-hole.

Queries Blocked

The number of requests that matched blocking rules.

Percentage Blocked

The percentage of DNS requests blocked.

Clients

The devices making DNS requests.

Domains

The domains requested by devices on your network.

This dashboard is also a fantastic learning tool.

You may be surprised by how many DNS requests are generated by smart TVs, phones, browsers, operating systems and IoT devices.

11.14 Configure Your Router to Use Pi-hole

Installing Pi-hole is only half of the job.

Your network devices must actually use Pi-hole as their DNS server.

The recommended approach is normally to configure your router’s DHCP server to distribute the GameBox’s IP address as the DNS server.

Pi-hole’s official post-install documentation recommends configuring the router’s DHCP clients to use Pi-hole as their DNS server.

For example, if the GameBox IP is:

192.168.1.25

set the LAN/DHCP DNS server to:

192.168.1.25

Do not use:

8.8.8.8

or:

1.1.1.1

as the client’s primary DNS if you want that client to use Pi-hole.

Those addresses are upstream DNS providers, not the Pi-hole server itself.

11.15 Example Network Configuration

Your network might look like this:

Internet
   │
   │
Router
192.168.1.1
   │
   ├──────── PC
   │
   ├──────── Smartphone
   │
   ├──────── Smart TV
   │
   └──────── GameBox G11 Pro
              │
              │
           Pi-hole
        192.168.1.25
              │
              ▼
        Upstream DNS
        Cloudflare /
        Quad9 / Google

DNS requests now follow:

Client → Pi-hole → Upstream DNS

This is the basic architecture recommended by Pi-hole’s documentation.

11.16 Renew the DHCP Lease

After changing your router’s DHCP DNS settings, devices may continue using their old DNS configuration until their DHCP lease is renewed.

An easy solution is to:

  • Disconnect and reconnect Wi-Fi.
  • Restart the device.
  • Disable and re-enable the network adapter.

Pi-hole’s documentation also notes that clients may need to renew their DHCP lease before the new DNS settings take effect.

11.17 Test Whether Pi-hole Is Working

After reconnecting a computer to your network, check its DNS configuration.

On Windows, open Command Prompt and run:

ipconfig /all

Look for:

DNS Servers

The displayed DNS server should be the IP address of your GameBox.

For example:

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.25

11.18 Test DNS From the GameBox

You can also test DNS resolution directly from Debian.

Run:

If nslookup is not installed:

Then run:

11.19 Check Pi-hole Status

Pi-hole provides a command-line utility.

Check the current status:

Pi-hole’s current documentation lists pihole status, pihole update and pihole version among the available command-line operations.

Check the installed versions:

11.20 Update Pi-hole

Pi-hole can also be updated from the command line.

Run:

You can alternatively manage updates through the Pi-hole web interface when the relevant update is offered.

11.21 Configure Upstream DNS Later

You can change your upstream DNS provider after installation from the Pi-hole web interface.

Open:

Settings → DNS

There you can choose or configure your upstream DNS servers.

Pi-hole supports multiple upstream DNS configurations, including custom servers.

For example, you could configure:

1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1

or another DNS provider of your choice.

11.22 Use a Local DNS Name for Your GameBox

Pi-hole can also provide local DNS functionality.

For example, you might want:

gamebox.local

to resolve to:

192.168.1.25

This means that instead of remembering the IP address of your GameBox, you can use a memorable hostname.

Pi-hole’s current configuration supports local DNS records through its configuration system and web interface.

This becomes particularly useful if you eventually install:

  • Home Assistant
  • Web server
  • Node-RED
  • Grafana
  • MQTT
  • File server

on the same GameBox.

11.23 Configure Pi-hole to Protect Only Your Local Network

Pi-hole should not be exposed as a public DNS resolver on the Internet.

This is extremely important.

A publicly accessible DNS resolver can be abused for DNS amplification attacks.

Pi-hole’s recommended interface behavior is Allow only local requests, which limits DNS queries to local subnets and is specifically intended to avoid accidentally operating a public resolver.

Therefore:

Do not port-forward TCP/UDP port 53 from your router to the GameBox.

You normally need:

LAN → Pi-hole

not:

Internet → Pi-hole

11.24 What Happens If the GameBox Goes Offline?

This is an important consideration before making Pi-hole the DNS server for your entire network.

If the GameBox is powered off and your router continues distributing its IP address as the only DNS server, devices on your network may lose DNS resolution.

The Internet connection itself may still be working, but domain names will not resolve.

For this reason:

  • Keep the GameBox powered continuously.
  • Use a reliable SD card.
  • Use the original power adapter.
  • Prefer Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi.
  • Consider having a backup DNS solution for critical networks.

For a home laboratory, this is generally easy to manage.

11.25 Check Pi-hole From the Dashboard

Once clients are using Pi-hole, browse the Internet normally.

Then open the Pi-hole dashboard.

You should begin seeing:

  • Client IP addresses
  • DNS queries
  • Blocked queries
  • Allowed queries
  • Frequently requested domains

This is where Pi-hole becomes particularly interesting.

For example, you may discover that a smart TV is making DNS requests to dozens of domains even when you are not actively using it.

11.26 Add Allowlist Entries Carefully

Sometimes Pi-hole may block a domain that a website or application actually requires.

When this happens, do not immediately disable Pi-hole.

Instead, identify the blocked domain in the dashboard.

If you are confident that it is legitimate, add that specific domain to the allowlist.

This is much better than disabling blocking globally.

11.27 Use Groups for More Control

Pi-hole provides group management functionality.

This allows you to create different policies for different devices or groups.

For example:

Group 1 – Normal Devices
PCs
Phones
Tablets

Group 2 – IoT
Smart plugs
Cameras
ESP32 devices

Group 3 – Kids
Tablets
Smart TVs
Gaming devices

Different blocking policies can then be applied to different groups.

Pi-hole’s current web interface includes group-management capabilities for managing relationships between clients, blocking rules and allowing rules.

11.28 Pi-hole Is More Than an Ad Blocker

Once you understand DNS filtering, you can use the GameBox for much more than blocking advertisements.

For example, Pi-hole can help you:

  • Monitor DNS activity
  • Block tracking domains
  • Create local DNS records
  • Control DNS resolution for groups of devices
  • Experiment with network administration
  • Learn about DNS
  • Understand how IoT devices communicate
  • Create a home network laboratory

This makes the GameBox G11 Pro an excellent educational networking platform.

11.29 Useful Pi-hole Commands

Here are some commands worth remembering.

Check status

Display version information

Update Pi-hole

Check network configuration

Check DNS port

Check Internet connectivity

Check DNS resolution

11.30 Troubleshooting Pi-hole

Problem: Pi-hole dashboard does not open

First check the GameBox IP:

Then try:

http://GAMEBOX-IP/admin/

For example:

http://192.168.1.25/admin/

Problem: Internet stops working after enabling Pi-hole

First check whether the GameBox itself has Internet access:

If this works but:

fails, the problem is likely DNS rather than the Internet connection.

Check Pi-hole:

Also check whether port 53 is listening:

11.31 Do Not Configure the Router’s DNS Incorrectly

There is an important distinction between:

Router’s upstream DNS

and:

DNS server distributed to LAN clients

For the recommended simple setup, LAN clients should receive:

DNS Server = GameBox/Pi-hole IP

For example:

192.168.1.25

Pi-hole itself then forwards permitted DNS queries to its configured upstream DNS server.

The flow should be:

Laptop
   ↓
Pi-hole
   ↓
Cloudflare / Quad9 / Google / Custom DNS
   ↓
Internet

Do not create a DNS loop such as:

Pi-hole
   ↓
Router
   ↓
Pi-hole

11.32 Your GameBox Is Now a Network Appliance

At this point, your inexpensive GameBox G11 Pro has evolved considerably.

It started life as an:

Android 9 TV Box / Retro Gaming Console

We installed Debian Linux on a removable SD card.

Then we added:

LXDE → Linux Desktop

and now:

Pi-hole → Network-wide DNS filtering

The resulting system can provide a useful collection of services from a device that originally cost very little.

Suggested Next Projects

Once Pi-hole is running reliably, there are many other projects you can experiment with.

Home Assistant

Turn the GameBox into a home automation server.

MQTT

Use Mosquitto as an MQTT broker for ESP32 and ESP8266 projects.

Node-RED

Build graphical automation and IoT workflows.

Nginx

Host your own lightweight web applications.

Samba

Turn a USB SSD into a network file server.

Grafana

Create dashboards for IoT and network data.

Docker

Experiment with containerized applications.

Uptime Kuma

Monitor your network devices and websites.

The GameBox can therefore become a surprisingly capable home-lab server.

Important Pi-hole Security Checklist

Before considering the installation complete, verify:

  • GameBox uses Ethernet where possible.
  • GameBox has a DHCP reservation or static IP.
  • Pi-hole is accessible from the LAN.
  • Router distributes the GameBox IP as DNS.
  • Pi-hole has a working upstream DNS provider.
  • Pi-hole is not exposed to the public Internet.
  • TCP/UDP port 53 is not forwarded from the Internet.
  • The default Linux root password has been changed.
  • Pi-hole administrator credentials are stored securely.
  • The GameBox has reliable power.
  • The microSD card is a good-quality branded card.

Final Result

After completing this section, your GameBox G11 Pro should look something like this:

                    INTERNET
                       │
                       │
                ┌──────▼──────┐
                │   Router    │
                │ 192.168.1.1 │
                └──────┬──────┘
                       │
               DHCP provides
              Pi-hole as DNS
                       │
                ┌──────▼──────┐
                │  GameBox    │
                │  G11 Pro    │
                │             │
                │ Debian      │
                │ Pi-hole     │
                │ 192.168.1.25│
                └──────┬──────┘
                       │
                 Upstream DNS
                       │
                       ▼
                    Internet

        ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
        │              │              │
      Laptop         Phone         Smart TV
        │              │              │
        └──────────────┴──────────────┘
                       │
                   DNS queries
                       │
                       ▼
                    Pi-hole

The GameBox is now doing something far beyond its original purpose.

A small retro-gaming console has become a Linux-powered network appliance.

And the best part is that the original Android/EmuELEC functionality can still be retained by simply changing the microSD card.