Dns

09AUG2026 - Using travel routers the hard way.

01. Intro

When I travel, I have a few technology essentials that I like to bring along to include 1) travel router 2) streaming device 3) laptop. Im more likely to forget my toothbrush than I am these things and theyre going to be the focal point of this post. I like to bring a travel router for a few different reasons. The primary reason is that I dont trust any shared network so I would like to ensure there is some kind of VPN, either back to my house or to a VPN provider of my choosing. Next is that the devices I bring along with me have the travel router login pre-programmed, so once the router is plugged in they’ll auto-connect. Lastly I can continue to use my DNS ad blocking and it just helps me get around any weird network restrictions imposed wherever I am, whether thats having to pay per-device in the captive portal, or blocking websites that I like to go to. I will admit that the way I wanted it set up is very particilar, but for documentation purposed this is what I have going for my situation.

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The Perfect Pihole

Everyone hates advertisements and thanks to the raspberry pi and the Pi-hole project, keeping them out of your life has become easier and easier. By setting up a local Domain Name Service(DNS) server you can block the connection to add servers before they’re even initiated. Pi-hole also presents the user with a beautiful user interface and is easily configured for even the newest of IT enthusiasts (I’m serious, its like… one command.)

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