How to Install AdGuard Home on Home Assistant: Your Ultimate 2026 Guide

Last Updated: May 6, 2026
Installing AdGuard Home on Home Assistant is the single most effective strategy to block ads, trackers, and malicious content across your entire home network. Forget about clunky browser extensions or per-device apps; this centralized solution protects every gadget connected to your Wi-Fi, from Smart TVs and gaming consoles to your guests’ smartphones.

If you’re looking for a rock-solid way to boost your family’s privacy and security, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll walk you through exactly how to install and configure AdGuard Home to create an impenetrable digital shield, all managed conveniently from your Home Assistant dashboard.

What is AdGuard Home and Why is it the Best Choice in 2026?

AdGuard Home is a self-hosted DNS server with built-in content filtering that you run on your own local network. Instead of your devices querying public DNS servers like Google (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) directly, they first go through AdGuard Home. It acts as an intelligent gatekeeper:

1. A device on your network (say, your phone) tries to access annoying-ads.com.
2. The DNS request hits AdGuard Home first.
3. AdGuard Home checks its blocklists, identifies the domain as an ad server, and blocks it by returning an empty response.
4. The ad never loads, saving bandwidth and protecting your privacy.
5. If the request is legitimate (e.g., google.com), AdGuard forwards it to a secure upstream DNS server and returns the correct result to your device.

✅ Key Advantages:

• Network-Wide Blocking: Protects devices where you can’t install software, like Smart TVs, game consoles, or even smart bulbs.
• Centralized Privacy: All filtering happens inside your home. Your browsing data isn’t sent to a third-party server for analysis.
• Improved Performance: By preventing heavy ad and tracking scripts from loading, many websites load noticeably faster.
• Advanced Parental Controls: Easily block adult content, social media, or gambling sites to keep your kids safe online.

AdGuard Home vs. Pi-hole: The 2026 Showdown

For years, Pi-hole was the undisputed king of network-wide ad-blocking. However, in 2026, AdGuard Home has firmly established itself as the superior choice for most users, especially within the Home Assistant ecosystem. Here’s a head-to-head comparison:

The Verdict: For a Home Assistant user in 2026, AdGuard Home is the more complete and user-friendly package. Its modern UI and native support for encrypted DNS protocols—a privacy standard today—make it the clear winner.

How to Install and Configure AdGuard Home in Home Assistant

Let’s get right to it. The process is incredibly straightforward if you follow these steps carefully.

Step 1: Install the AdGuard Home Add-on

1. In your Home Assistant dashboard, navigate to Settings → Add-ons.
2. Click the blue “Add-on Store” button in the bottom right corner.
3. Use the search bar to find “AdGuard Home” and click on it.
4. Hit “Install” and wait for the process to complete.
5. Once installed, enable the “Start on boot” and “Watchdog” toggles to ensure it’s always running.
6. Finally, click “Start”.

[Screenshot: Home Assistant Add-on Store showing the AdGuard Home card with the “Install” button.]

Step 2: Initial Guided Setup

The first time you start AdGuard, you’ll need to run through a quick setup wizard:

• Click “Open Web UI” from the add-on page in Home Assistant.
• AdGuard will guide you through setting the admin web interface port (leave default) and the DNS server port (port 53, also default).
• It will then prompt you to create a username and password. Use a strong password and save it in a password manager!
• Follow the on-screen steps until you reach the main dashboard.

[Screenshot: The AdGuard Home initial setup wizard asking to create a username and password.]

Step 3: Configure Upstream DNS Servers (DoH/DoT)

To maximize your privacy, we don’t want your DNS requests traveling across the internet unencrypted. We’ll use DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT).

1. In the AdGuard Home UI, go to Settings → DNS Settings.
2. In the “Upstream DNS servers” box, delete any existing entries and add your preferred secure servers. I recommend using Cloudflare for its speed and privacy policy.
3. Add these lines (one per line):

https://dns.cloudflare.com/dns-query
tls://1.1.1.1

4. Check the “Parallel requests” option to improve speed.
5. Click “Apply”. Your outbound DNS queries are now encrypted, preventing your ISP from snooping on them. If you want to learn more, I have a complete guide on how to change your DNS for better privacy and speed.

Step 4: Select the Best Blocklists

AdGuard’s power comes from its blocklists. A good combination will protect you from ads, trackers, and malware without breaking the internet.

Navigate to Filters → DNS blocklists. A few are enabled by default. Here is my recommended setup for 2026, which offers a perfect balance of protection and compatibility:

My Recommended Blocklist Setup:

• AdGuard DNS filter: The essential, well-maintained base list.
• OISD Blocklist (full): A massive and highly-regarded list that blocks ads, trackers, telemetry, and malicious domains. It’s one of the most comprehensive options.
• HaGeZi’s Multi PRO++: An excellent, frequently updated list that complements OISD perfectly.
• Dandelion Sprout’s Anti-Malware List: Laser-focused on blocking domains that distribute malware.
• HaGeZi’s Encrypted DNS/VPN/TOR Bypass Blocklist: Prevents sneaky apps and devices from trying to bypass your filtering by using their own hardcoded encrypted DNS.

To add them, click “Add blocklist,” browse the lists included by default, and for external ones, choose “Add a custom list” and paste in the URL.

The Critical Step: Configure DNS on Your Router

AdGuard is useless if your devices don’t use it. The final and most important step is to tell your router to send all DNS requests to your Home Assistant instance.

1. Find your Home Assistant’s IP address. You can see it under Settings → System → Network. Write it down (e.g., 192.168.1.50).
2. Log into your router’s admin panel. Open a browser and type in your router’s IP address (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). You’ll need the admin username and password.
3. Find the DHCP/DNS settings. This section is often labeled “LAN Setup,” “Local Network,” or “Advanced Settings.”
4. Change the DNS servers. You’ll see fields for “Primary DNS” and “Secondary DNS.” Delete what’s there and enter your Home Assistant’s IP address in the Primary DNS field. You can leave the secondary field blank or enter a public DNS like 1.1.1.1 as a fallback (though it’s ideal for all traffic to go through AdGuard).
5. Save changes and reboot the router. This will force all devices on your network to get the new network settings (via DHCP) and start using AdGuard Home as their DNS resolver.

[Screenshot: A generic router configuration page, highlighting the “Primary DNS” and “Secondary DNS” fields where the Home Assistant IP is entered.]

Pro Tip: It is absolutely critical that your Home Assistant instance has a static IP address or a DHCP reservation in your router. If its IP address ever changes, DNS filtering will break for your entire network. A DHCP reservation is the easiest way to achieve this.

For maximum stability, I personally still rely on the ASUS RT-AXE7800. While it’s a few years old now, its Wi-Fi 6E performance and robust DNS management make it a rock-solid choice for advanced home networks running services like AdGuard, especially if you have a lot of IoT devices that demand a stable network, like those on Zigbee2MQTT.

How to Verify Everything Is Working Correctly

• AdGuard Dashboard: Go back to the AdGuard Home Web UI. If everything is configured correctly, you’ll start to see the “Total DNS queries” count go up, and the “Blocked queries” counter will begin to climb. You’ll see graphs of activity and lists of the most requested and blocked domains.
• The Acid Test: From your phone or PC, visit a website you know is heavy with ads. It should look much cleaner. In-app YouTube ads are notoriously hard to block this way, but on-page website advertising should mostly disappear.
• DNS Leak Test: Visit dnsleaktest.com and run the standard test. The results should show your home’s public IP address, and the ISP listed should be your internet provider (e.g., Comcast, Verizon, AT&T), not Google or Cloudflare. This is the correct outcome, as AdGuard is making the requests from your home connection.

Common Troubleshooting (FAQ)

A website or app I need is broken. What do I do?

It’s possible a blocklist is being too aggressive. Go to the “Query Log” in AdGuard Home. As you try to access the site/app, you’ll see the blocked queries in real-time. Identify the legitimate domain being blocked (e.g., api.my-service.com) and click “Unblock.” This will add it to your personal allowlist.

How do I exclude a device from filtering? (e.g., a work computer or game console)

Go to Settings → Client settings. Add a new client, give it a name (e.g., “Work_PC”), and enter its IP address. Under the “Settings” tab for that client, you can disable filtering entirely. For this to work reliably, the device needs a static IP.

Will AdGuard Home slow down my internet connection?

No, quite the opposite. DNS query processing is nearly instantaneous. By blocking the download of ads, trackers, and other junk, the loading speed of web pages often increases. Your raw download/upload speeds are not affected at all.

AdGuard suddenly stopped working.

First, check the add-on logs in Home Assistant (Settings → Add-ons → AdGuard Home → Log) for any obvious errors. Then, double-check that your Home Assistant’s IP address hasn’t changed and confirm the service is running.

The Next Level: Absolute Privacy with Unbound

With this setup, you’ve massively upgraded your privacy. However, you’re still trusting a third party (Cloudflare, Google, etc.) to resolve your DNS queries. If you want to achieve true digital sovereignty and not even have your queries sent to an external server, the next step is to install your own recursive resolver: Unbound.

Combining AdGuard Home with Unbound effectively makes you your own DNS provider. It’s a more advanced topic, but it involves pointing AdGuard to your local Unbound instance instead of Cloudflare. A full integration guide on that is coming soon!