Hi,
My Pi-hole currently runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB. I think this is a bit overpowered if I only want to run pi-hole. Also, I need the hardware elsewhere.
Now I thought about switching to a Raspberry Pi ZERO W or a Pi 4 2GB (with LAN). What are the experiences with Pi-hole on the Zero. I would have to switch from a cable connection to a wifi connection.
Does this have a negative effect? Or shell I ignore the 30€ difference and buy a Pi 4 2GB to use the Lan cable again.
Thanks a lot
A Zero is quite capable of serving DNS for your home network.
You won't notice a difference for DNS resolution, but web UI interaction may be a bit less responsive.
Power consumption will be just below 1W, as compared to 5W to 7W for an RPi 4B.
The wifi RPi Zero W or WH will both work, though I personally prefer a cable connection for reliabilty (and latency is also better, about 1ms vs. 10ms). Just be careful to buy a decent 100Mbit adapter.
If you'd opt for such a plain Zero with a USB Ethernet dongle, you are probably looking at the same cost as for a WH.
When switching models, you should be prepared to install Pi-hole afresh. The Zero sports a different CPU architecture, so simply slotting the sd card from your 4B into a Zero won't work.
Thank you,
I don't understand your comment on the WH version. I would prefer a cable connection, too. But the WH is a Zero with pins. Or do I overlook something? The WH has no cable?
Edit: I see, you mean the LAN head? Ethernet / USB HUB HAT für Raspberry Pi Zero
Zero W and WH are both wifi capable, I mentioned the WH just for comparison.
A plain Zero plus USB dongle will be around 15 bucks, which is roughly the same as the price of a WH.
Choose whatever model suits you. 
Edit: I wasn't referring to HATs (though they may be a valid option). USB dongle refers to an Ethernet adapter connecting to an RPis micro USB port.
In my experience, no. I have several 3B+ and a NanoPi on ethernet, and a few Zero W's on wifi on a different floor of the house. No noticeable difference in DNS performance. Where the Zero is a bit of a dog is in system updates and other infrequent and CPU intensive tasks. The web admin interface is fractionally slower, but not sluggish. The advantages of the W are the ability to put it anywhere there is an outlet and the very low power consumption.
I run mine on a Zero W - works a treat. do use it for just PiHole though. Web interface works fine - slow to load lots of query results sometimes but general admin is no problem
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