Yes, Iâm aware of all this with how the Pi-Hole is intended to be used, hence I am here. Iâve even paid several âexpertsâ on several forums who all claim to know it all, but got nowhere, and the reasons are simple and I knew them all along.
You cannot disable the DHCP server on the AmpliFi without putting the AmpliFi into bridge mode, same goes for plenty of other consumer routers, especially ones provided by ISPs, which you generally canât tinker with to any worthwhile extent. I have dug deeply into this topic, I have contacted both AmpliFi/Ubiquiti, and the manufacturers of other consumer routers, and even contacted ISPs regarding their own hardware on behalf of others.
The problem isnât my AmpliFi router, I am merely the messenger for a lot of people experiencing the same issue. I am able to pick and choose any router I like, I have that luxury, but this isnât about me. Colleagues, friends and family members in the UK and USA however are stuck using the heavily locked down router/modem combo provided by their ISP, ergo they are in exactly the same position as me having an AmpliFi, the only difference is that they cannot use anything else. Good luck convincing ISPs to offer an alternative.
By your logic, the problem is the area they live in and should move because there are cheaper areas with more flexible ISPs. Iâm sure most of us would rather be in the EU using Fritz!Box than here in the UK, but thatâs not how the cookie crumbles and here we are trying to resolve a problem rather than butt heads on a forum.
Netgear isnât better than the throughput on an AmpliFi HD or Alien though, but thatâs a wholly different topic. The limitations of the AmpliFi are quite commonplace in consumer routers these days, and compared to a lot of ISP-issued hardware, theyâre comparably flexible, and no, Iâm not saying theyâre ideal, but for the most important of my personal needs, that was the only option available in the UK that currently received security updates. And yes, I used OPNsense and pfSense for years on end, but the issue is other people who are stuck with their ISP-issued hardware.
In regards to âwanting to self-hostâ, itâs not even that, plenty of colleagues, family and friends are federating between themselves, and with others. I can guarantee you that every one of these people would rather be in their office and not dealing with the frustration of trying to make working or learning from home OK for them without interrupting each other, but alas, times have changed and the world is a different place, and will be for a long time. Iâm well aware that the UKâs handling of COVID-19 has been terrible, I donât expect ânormalityâ to return any time soon. This is the country that was daft enough to leave the EU. If there was infinite budgets, Iâm sure people would be using premium cloud services (maybe theyâre concerned about privacy too; only they would know). This is a country thatâs said it will give 1m laptops to disadvantaged kids (read âin povertyâ). As of 2019, 30% of the UKâs kids live in poverty (4m+). In January 2020, 1.4m kids were eligible for free school meals. Following the pandemic and people losing their jobs, thatâs obviously gone up. I can tell you now that a good number of those people arenât going to be buying new hardware and learning new skills to change how their LAN works, a Pi with a setup script on an SD card is probably the realistic limit. Even outside of that demographic, sorry, but the average middle-aged person working from home isnât going to have the time nor the willpower to faff about restructuring their LAN, that is, if their ISP even allows them to use their own router, which they probably donât because all they can afford is the cheap option with the locked down ISP-issued hardware.
We could butt heads over this for weeks to come, but itâs better to just accept that different people have different requirements that stem from a variety of factors, including socioeconomics. Have a good day and stay healthy mate.