Last Updated on August 16, 2022 by Thiago Crepaldi
The following instructions will detail how to install and configure pfBlockerNG to block the annoying ads and speedup your Internet connection.
First, install pfBlockerNG through the System >> Package Manager >> Available Packages. A list of available packages will be loaded and all you have to do is click + Install button on the right of pfBlockerNG-devel. Note there is also an older (stable) version called pfBlockerNG. Click Confirm and do nothing until installation finishes.
Now go to Firewall >> pfBlockerNG page, where you will see a wizard to configure pfBlockerNG with a basic DNSBL (DNS Block List), which is exactly what we want.
Click Next for the pfBlockerNG Setup welcome step. Then Next again for the pfBlockerNG Components step, as it only summarizes what changes will be performed.
The next step is pfBlockerNG IP Component Configuration and it is here where the real setup starts. Pick WAN as your Select Inbound Firewall Interface and LAN as Select Outbound Firewall Interface and click Next.
The next step is DNSBL Web Server Configuration and it is OK to click Next without changing anything.
The final step is pfBlockerNG Finalize and all you have to do is clicking Finish. At this point, configuration will be saved and applied. You will be redirected to the Update tab on pfBlockerNG configuration page. An update will be automatically started and you can refresh the page at will to see its progress.
If you already used pfBlockerNG on this device, you may not see this wizard, but that is OK. I will highlight all settings that should be set. Go to General tab and confirm that General Settings tab has an entry called pfBlockerNG with a checked Enable button. Visit Feeds tab on the top of the page and scroll down until you find DNSBL Category and confim that the first two items, namely EasyList and EasyPrivacy are enabled (if you see a ‘+’ button, click on it and on Enable all button in the page that will be displayed. At the bottom of the page, click on Save DNSBL Settings. Return to the Feeds page and find ADs Adaway and make sure these feeds are added and enabled too.
At this point, you downloaded recent feeds from Internet and selected some to be used by pfBlockerNG. Go to DNSBL tab and make sure that the DNSBL Enable checkbox is checked. Go to DNSBL Groups tab and confirm all the Feeds you selected in the previous steps are listed (EasyList, EasyPrivacy and ADs). Their Action should be Unbound, Frequency should be Once a day and Logging should be Enabled.
This configuration can take a couple hours to really take effect. You can expedite the process by going to the Update tab, select Reload at the Select ‘force’ option and click on Run button. After reloading finishes, you should be good to good and notice a great decrease in the number of ads loaded in pages. It won’t block all, otherwise some pages could break and refuse to load at all. Stay tuned and more on pfBlockerNG will be published around here.