If the main goal is a small, cheap, low power device to do things like block ads then you want this thing to run headless. You will need keyboard, mouse and monitor only for the initial set up, which means scrounging these from another computer temporarily. After set up you will only have power connected and either WiFi or ethernet.
But the Pi that you want for this is any model but the Pi 400 e.g. Pi 4B if you need maximum grunt down to Pi 0W if you want to minimise cost and power.
If you are going to proxy then a fair bit of grunt is desirable. If you are only doing DNS then not much grunt is required. However to cache DNS for “half the internet” a fair bit of RAM is desirable so a Pi 4B with 4GB or 8GB (and caching within DNS will help with your privacy as it withholds DNS requests from the internet).
True but I’m using an ultra-compact x86_64 computer because that would be running 24x7 anyway as it has other server functions (and it still draws relatively low power). A Pi can then be the secondary (backup) DNS server.
I am a bit doubtful about using a metal case with WiFi. If the Pi is using ethernet then obviously that is a non-issue but if the location of the Pi is such that it will be using WiFi, I wonder …
There’s also the actual heatsink case, with or without fan, for a more industrial look.
I have not encountered any problems. The metal case covers 5 out of 6 sides. And for more demanding WiFi applications, a WiFi dongle with external anthenas might be anyways a good idea regardless of the casing. (Choose a dongle with Linux support)
It appears that @Sharon bought the pi 400, which comes inside of a keyboard (and also might explain the price confusion) so running headless doesn’t make sense anymore.
To be clear. I bought the 400 because it was one site I hit that didn’t say Pi 4/4b wasn’t available or a piece was not available. And, it was one site that didn’t lead me to the checkout, to be told it was on back order.
I am comfortable with what I got considering the lack of available parts. I don’t need the monitor, keyboard (If I take the MoBo out of the keyboard), and it’s plug and play.
Today, I hope to wangle some time so I can plug it into my 32" monitor. Can’t see a thing on the little monitor. And run around in the O/S.
They included some parts I can’t find connection for. This will be interesting.
Thanks everyone - I find it’s always an education when I read through the posts.
It means using it without a physical keyboard and monitor, so you’d ssh in and do whatever you need. If its only purpose will be as a pi hole then that would be sufficient, but if you can use the extra hardware then I’m pretty sure it has enough oomph to be a little computer that also acts as a pi hole.
Currently (my understanding) the most capable Raspberry Pi available is the Pi 4B with 8 GB RAM, and the least capable general purpose Raspberry Pi available is the Pi 0.
However the Raspberry Pi 0 comes in several different variants. The Pi 0 is the most basic. It doesn’t even have WiFi (and certainly doesn’t have ethernet) which means it is unsuited for a networked application. The Pi 0W at least has WiFi (W for WiFi) and that would therefore be the bare minimum for your purposes.
But OK let’s park this. If the Pi 400 is the only model that was available to you then that’s what you got!
I get your point but it’s a compromise. If you have to add a dongle then it messes up the form factor / you may need a custom case / you have to look carefully at your power budget.
To be honest, enough Raspberry Pi devices are sold each year to justify giving the customer the choice (like the Pi 0 v. Pi 0W and even the Pi 0WH).
For sure the result is often wasteful. I have 3 Raspberry computers in active use around my house. 2 of them are using ethernet and not wireless, 1 of them is using wireless and not ethernet. None of them is using both.
Because the Pi (out of the box) does not have any kind of permanent clock, the “only” way of automatically getting the correct current time is via the network, but yet many applications will want the time to be correct. (And, yes, I am aware that you can get a clock HAT.)
So it’s always a trade-off for what an individual customer wants to do.
