PiHole randomly disconnects from Wifi

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1

Expected Behaviour:

PiHole should run without interruption.

PiHole setup was the same before upgrading from 5.X.X (procrastinated about updating because I forgot the username and pw combo to SSH into my PiHole). No issues before.

OS: Fresh install of Raspberry Pi OS Lite dated 2026-04-21 from Raspberry Pi imager

Using Pi Zero W

Storage is an 64GB SD card

Actual Behaviour:

PiHole randomly disconnects from the wifi (and the board is still on), but re-connects after a certain period of time (anything from 30 seconds ~ 2 min after disconnection). When it disconnects, PiHole disappears from the wifi's "connected device list".

However, in the PiHole's web interface, the uptime is continuous (i.e. seems that PiHole services are not interrupted).

I have tried:

  1. Using another PiZero W board -- problem persists
  2. Same board, different SD card -- problem persists
  3. Another board, different SD card -- problem persists
  4. Turning Wifi power management off -- problem persists
  5. Using another power supply -- problem persists

Any help is appreciated.

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/MPFO2uEH/

2

Doesn't the Pi Zero W only do 2.4 GHz WiFi and because of that sometimes experience typical 2.4 GHz WiFi issues like the one that you describe ?!

IMHO the best thing is to always have your Pi-Hole connected via LAN instead of WLAN :slight_smile:

3

Hey, thanks for letting me know! The thing that confuses me is before I updated to 6.X PiHole it was working a-okay, these issues only start to popup once I updated... Buying an adapter now

4

Pi-hole doesn't control the wifi. The OS does.

The issue is probably related to the differences between the OS used prior to update and the new OS, than related to Pi-hole versions.

5

I run 2 x Pi Zero W's with Pi-Hole + Unbound for my primary and secondary DNS servers

I use this kit for both

I disable the WiFi/Bluetooth and run Log2Ram set to 90mb to save on wear and tear on my micro SD cards .. set video memory to 16m (lowest it can go) if you are running headless

6

Better solution, but expensive compared what the old Raspberry Pi 3B used to cost : € 25
And the Raspberry Pi 4B with 2 GB of RAM is/was something like € 35 :slight_smile:

7

Starting from scratch ..? Most definitely the better way to go with a faster Pi base setup and whatever type of case + power connector it needs .. but if you already have the Pi Zero W and don't need the extra oomph from beefier Pi units .. then ...

And .. I was checking out prices here in the USA and it's like $50+ for a Pi 3 on Amazon ..might find it cheaper on eBay perhaps .. The Pi Zero 2 used to be $15 but it's the used market is where I got my 4 used Pi Zeros for like $40. 1 had the aluminum heatsink case with accessories, 2 others came with a layered multi colored case . .and one naked one and 2 of them had 64gb Micro SD cards.

I have a USB to Ethernet adapter but that seemed to cumbersome in my messy little "server" room ..so I got the ethernet "hats" that came with nice little cases

I did initially try to just use WiFi too .. and it seemed to work alright but I didn't want to run into any connectivity problems

8

My Ethernet adapter arrived today, I plugged it in, and it ran fine for 5 hours but still got disconnected.

At this point I don't know what I can do to make the situation better other than (maybe) rolling back the OS version and install the PiHole again.

9

configuration and/or network issue with how you have things configured perhaps?

11

Hey all just a quick update

Bit the bullet and bought a new router. Tried pihole over Wifi and everything works now.

Fuck me I guess.