5 ms·

and what prey, does a global pi-hole grid give that an actual RaspPi and pi-hole can't? What does it add? Given they are based in Delaware, USA my starting poi

and what prey, does a global pi-hole grid give that an actual RaspPi and pi-hole can't? What does it add? Given they are based in Delaware, USA my starting point is far below zero privacy trust: Nextdns are gathering maximum possible data from everyone's DNS queries and selling it, or proposing to use it for advertising soon(tm). Enough independent reviewing and auditing might eventually persuade me that's unfair, maybe. If they actually cared for privacy why not incorporate in the EU and proudly wear full GDPR compliance? Or CA's upcoming privacy legislation?

buro9 7y ago
DNS-over-TLS is what they add. Which is great, because then you can configure your Android to use nextdns as the private DNS provider and thus all adverts and tracking in your mobile apps and websites are covered too, even when you're away from your home network.
- OJFord 7y ago
  You can configure the same on your own PiHole, or VPN to the network it's on. I think the value is convenience, all this is done for you, no maintenance.
  - buro9 7y ago
    My understanding is that pi-hole does not support DNS-over-TLS. Are you saying that it does? I've just looked and cannot find mention of it. I know one can install stubby to achieve this, but now the convenience of nextdns is greater.
    - erikbye 7y ago
      > My understanding is that pi-hole does not support DNS-over-TLS. You have to run Unbound, as well.
OJFord 7y ago
Presumably it's just convenience for people that don't want to run their own.
CaptArmchair 7y ago
There privacy policy is succinct and to the point: https://nextdns.io/privacy https://nextdns.io/privacy > 1. We do not (and will never) sell, license, sub-license or share any of the data submitted directly or indirectly by our users with any person or entity. Which is easily said. Whereas their pricing page tells a different story: https://nextdns.io/pricing https://nextdns.io/pricing > Completely free during the beta, then free up until about 300,000 DNS queries/month — $1.99/month for unlimited queries. ... which makes for a very particular business model indeed. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Which makes me wonder how they keep the lights on, and where the money comes from.
- lozaning 7y ago
  Im failing to see how the privacy and pricing pages stand in any kind of contrast to each other. This business model is like literally every other SaaS platform that has a free tier. Would you trust them more if they had no free tier?
lkschubert8 7y ago
It would work off of your network. If you are using their DNS it would work when you took your laptop to a coffee shop or when your phone switched to 4G/5G. That seems like a big benefit to me.
- ekianjo 7y ago
  If you have your DNS server its trivial to connect to it from anywhere you are.
  - lkschubert8 7y ago
    Do most people expose their pi-hole to the internet? I didn't think that was a common thing to do.
    - ekianjo 7y ago
      No. VPN tunnel in between.
franga2000 7y ago
Reliability, speed, accessibility, ease of use, more secure defaults... Enough? The founders appear to live in the US so a US company is a lot more convenient for them, and Delaware has some very nice benefits for companies that AFAIK don't have any privacy drawbacks. Your assumption that they "are gathering data [...] and selling it" is beyond baseless. EU users are protected by the GDPR anyways and despite what ProtonMail etc. would like you to believe, founding your company in Switzerland or whatever does not make you magically trustworthy. From where I see it, they deserve no more and no less initial trust than any other company.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  > Reliability, speed, accessibility, ease of use, more secure defaults... Enough? Very glib, but not helpful nor accurate. Reliability of a web service? Speed faster than local network or local VPN tunnel? Convenience appears to be the top and bottom of it from other replies. > assumption that they "are gathering data [...] and selling it" is beyond baseless Not at all. US freedom of information goes far beyond everyone else's and leaves the expectation that personal data is collected, shared, sold, misused and abused, and that's been the case since long before the web. Personal data that most places consider private and inappropriate to share, and often have laws for, is frequently easily available in the US. The web just brought it further into the gutter. Europe has had freedom of information with constraints on personal data. Data protection has been around since the mid 90s, and prior to that there were other restrictions on certain types of data collection. The discrepancy between the two approaches has been there for probably seventy years, perhaps more, and it's widening not narrowing. Those national norms set starting point of expectations, and what each nation tends to take as axiomatic. For a typical European, for the reasons mentioned, US privacy provision and expectation starts negative. Certain industries and categories get very antsy about data going, even briefly, to the US as a consequence of that. If it's any consolation I start with the presumption every company is untrustworthy.
- ekianjo 7y ago
  Believing someone's claims out of thin air does not make it trustworthy either.
- 7y ago

buro9 7y ago

DNS-over-TLS is what they add. Which is great, because then you can configure your Android to use nextdns as the private DNS provider and thus all adverts and tracking in your mobile apps and websites are covered too, even when you're away from your home network.

OJFord 7y ago
You can configure the same on your own PiHole, or VPN to the network it's on. I think the value is convenience, all this is done for you, no maintenance.
- buro9 7y ago
  My understanding is that pi-hole does not support DNS-over-TLS. Are you saying that it does? I've just looked and cannot find mention of it. I know one can install stubby to achieve this, but now the convenience of nextdns is greater.
  - erikbye 7y ago
    > My understanding is that pi-hole does not support DNS-over-TLS. You have to run Unbound, as well.

OJFord 7y ago

Presumably it's just convenience for people that don't want to run their own.

CaptArmchair 7y ago

There privacy policy is succinct and to the point: https://nextdns.io/privacy https://nextdns.io/privacy > 1. We do not (and will never) sell, license, sub-license or share any of the data submitted directly or indirectly by our users with any person or entity. Which is easily said. Whereas their pricing page tells a different story: https://nextdns.io/pricing https://nextdns.io/pricing > Completely free during the beta, then free up until about 300,000 DNS queries/month — $1.99/month for unlimited queries. ... which makes for a very particular business model indeed. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Which makes me wonder how they keep the lights on, and where the money comes from.

lozaning 7y ago
Im failing to see how the privacy and pricing pages stand in any kind of contrast to each other. This business model is like literally every other SaaS platform that has a free tier. Would you trust them more if they had no free tier?

lkschubert8 7y ago

It would work off of your network. If you are using their DNS it would work when you took your laptop to a coffee shop or when your phone switched to 4G/5G. That seems like a big benefit to me.

ekianjo 7y ago
If you have your DNS server its trivial to connect to it from anywhere you are.
- lkschubert8 7y ago
  Do most people expose their pi-hole to the internet? I didn't think that was a common thing to do.
  - ekianjo 7y ago
    No. VPN tunnel in between.

franga2000 7y ago

Reliability, speed, accessibility, ease of use, more secure defaults... Enough? The founders appear to live in the US so a US company is a lot more convenient for them, and Delaware has some very nice benefits for companies that AFAIK don't have any privacy drawbacks. Your assumption that they "are gathering data [...] and selling it" is beyond baseless. EU users are protected by the GDPR anyways and despite what ProtonMail etc. would like you to believe, founding your company in Switzerland or whatever does not make you magically trustworthy. From where I see it, they deserve no more and no less initial trust than any other company.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago
> Reliability, speed, accessibility, ease of use, more secure defaults... Enough? Very glib, but not helpful nor accurate. Reliability of a web service? Speed faster than local network or local VPN tunnel? Convenience appears to be the top and bottom of it from other replies. > assumption that they "are gathering data [...] and selling it" is beyond baseless Not at all. US freedom of information goes far beyond everyone else's and leaves the expectation that personal data is collected, shared, sold, misused and abused, and that's been the case since long before the web. Personal data that most places consider private and inappropriate to share, and often have laws for, is frequently easily available in the US. The web just brought it further into the gutter. Europe has had freedom of information with constraints on personal data. Data protection has been around since the mid 90s, and prior to that there were other restrictions on certain types of data collection. The discrepancy between the two approaches has been there for probably seventy years, perhaps more, and it's widening not narrowing. Those national norms set starting point of expectations, and what each nation tends to take as axiomatic. For a typical European, for the reasons mentioned, US privacy provision and expectation starts negative. Certain industries and categories get very antsy about data going, even briefly, to the US as a consequence of that. If it's any consolation I start with the presumption every company is untrustworthy.
ekianjo 7y ago
Believing someone's claims out of thin air does not make it trustworthy either.
7y ago