Instagram not loading with PiHole enabled (iOS device)

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1

Expected Behaviour:
Load Instagram images and pages without problem or long delay

Actual Behaviour:
First, some background info. I am stuck with an AT&T modem so I have it operating in passthrough mode. Essentially, the AT&T router is acting as a modem only. It points to my router which is handling dhcp and assigning local DNS to all clients which is my rpi. All my clients are in the same subnet as the pi and the pi is using Google DNS as the forwarder in ipv4 mode only. The pi address is static and set statically in both the routers DNS config and the pi itself. I apologize if any of this phrasing in incorrect as I had a friend help me set it up and he had to give me this explanation.

The problem I am having is that everything seems to load fine through the pi except for Instagram. Instagram will load on my PC, but I am using an iphone 6s and it will at first load a few images, and then it just quits. It will essentially load indefinitely until it either times out or just stops working. Instagram works on cellular so I know its not the app. I have also seen this behavior with imgur (again, only on apple devices), but it is sporadic.

I have tried to update my IP tables and follow the "sites are loading slow" instructions, but it either did not work or I did it wrong. I ran a debug right after it didn't load instagram a bunch of times, so maybe someone will see something I am missing.

I have also checked to make sure that the correct domains are not blocked (i.e. - connect.facebook.net) but this has not solved it either

I did not have this issue when I initially installed the pihole, but I also do not believe I have upgraded anything so I am unsure why it started. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I can provide any additional help needed.

Debug Token:

fr9e82vyff

2

is there anything in your query log showing a blocked domain that has to do with instagram? the blocklists are community maintained and will sometimes whange on a whim.

the other thing you can try is query the blocklists for instagram, related domains and removes those blocklists

3

I will edit my main post to include this info, but I actually already checked for this as well. The only domain I have blacklisted is graph.instagram.com (which should not affect loading), all of the other relevant domains are whitelisted to the best of my knowledge

4

Did you see this:

5

After watching this I have not found that it is blocking anything. The issue is also localized to my iphone as it does not happen on my PC. I also find that if I visit the site on my PC, then the mobile app will work for about 30 minutes after the visit.

6

I can replicate this. It loads fine on other devices but not the iPhone. I'll dig more into it.

2 Likes
8

Thanks Jacob, I appreciate you taking a look at this for me and the rest of the pihole user-base, let me know if you need any additional info on the setup of my phone.

Out of curiosity, when you say you can replicate the issue, do you replicate it on your home pihole setup or do you set up a pihole using the settings from my debug log?

1 Like
9

After updating to iOS 11.4 today the issue is still there but seems to occur much less frequently

EDIT: maybe I have spoke too soon, the issue is back after about 2 hours of good operation

10

I don't think it has anything to do with the OS. I don't have the problem when using FTLDNS using NXDOMAIN blocking.

If you don't want to switch to that, can you make sure you've run through the solutions here:

11

I would not mind switching to use FTLDNS and the NXDOMAIN blocking, I am just unsure if I have the knowledge to be able to do it.

I do believe the only thing I have done in that article is change the IP Tables, because I don't believe I am using IPv6, but if it helps I can run another debug token and you can take a look to see if it was done correctly.

12

run pihole checkout dev
then sudo nano /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf and add this line (without quotations) "BLOCKINGMODE=NXDOMAIN"

then save and do sudo service pihole-FTL restart

1 Like
13

I was using the NULL method and my daughter told me that, on her iPhone, she cannot see the Instagram too... and I said "Good!", because I hate that site. But then she started using cell data instead of WiFi (at home), so that's not good.
I'll try the alternative with NXDOMAIN.

1 Like
14

I updated to FTLDNS and still have the issue

15

That’s strange. All my iOS devices load instgram without any issues. I am using the default blocklists (no other 3-rd parties). I had some loaded at some point and legitimate sites were blocked by some.

Reverted to the main ones and a couple that I maintain and I experience no issues.

1 Like
16

I wonder if it is about some pictures posted there. Some third-party lists I saw that they are blocking GIF's that are transparent 1x1, 1x2...

17

Same, it loads fine for me using FTLDNS/NXDOMAIN...

How many domains are on your blocklist?

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FTLDNS/NXDOMAIN here also.

Domains in gravity: 138.120

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I am only using the default blocklists, but I went in and saw that I had my phone set to Manual for the DNS setting, so I set it back to automatic after updating to NXDOMAIN and it appears to be working much better. I will post an update after I know for sure.

1 Like