The issue I am facing:
Hi all, bit of a noobie here sorry.
My ISP is blocking a website through DNS I believe. If I attempt to access it via VPN it works no worries, however without it just times out. My 'client' IP shows on pihole as 192-168-1-120.tpgi.com.au
I have a feeling that tpgi.com.au (TPG is my ISP) being appended means my router/isp is somehow still messing with my DNS queries, as the website is still being blocked. Is there a way to test this?
Details about my system:
I live in a share house and am looking to set-up a pihole for only my PC. I'm running up to date Win10, with a Debian OS pihole.
What I have changed since installing Pi-hole:
I've tried most of the default DNS options and have even installed cloudflared and pointed the pihole directly at that for secure DNS queries.
I've tried manually setting my DNS in windows network connection > IPv4 properties to the pihole
Also tried on the router - however the router marks the DNS field as 'optional' and despite saving the pihole IP doesn't seem to want to pick it up, and sticks with 203.12.160.35/203.12.160.36. I'd rather not play with the router anyway if possible.
What you're seeing is the result of TPG setting the domain on their routers to tpgi.com.au if a domain is not specified by the user.
The DHCP in the router then hands out reverse dns domains like the one you have said.
Some operating systems, and Windows particularly, will also append the local domain to domain names it seeks to query if it doesn't get a response.
It's not harmful in any way to leave it how it is, so there is no need for you to change the router settings.
I've just tested access to cloudflare dns via a TPG connection and can confirm that it is not blocked. If you have set your Pi-hole upstream dns server to Cloudflare, and your windows pc is using your Pi-hole as its dns server,you can test by visiting cloudflare's help page, which will indicate whether it is working or not.
If the site is accessible by VPN, it is possible that there is some geoblocking involved by the site.
There is also DNS level blocking of some websites in Australia, eg
In December 2016, the Federal Court of Australia ordered more than fifty ISPs to censor 5 sites that infringe on the Copyright Act after rights holders, Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia and the 20th Century Fox companies filed a lawsuit. The sites barred include The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie. Internet censorship in Australia - Wikipedia
This is done at ISP level and is not typically followed by other providers such as cloudflare.
It appears to be working and the site is now working, my bad. I'm guessing maybe geoblocking was the culprit then, as the cloudflare test shows me being soley connected to cloudflare.
Thank you for your response
