Labthrift Labthrift What to buy. What to skip. Why.

Written 5 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.

Add a local name in Pi-hole

Give the old PC a short house name in Pi-hole so phones and laptops can open SSH, the share, and the admin page without remembering the number. You don't need a new router.

Haven't installed the house ad block yet? Start with the first useful thing. Only renaming the Linux hostname on the computer itself? That quieter job is give the computer a name that sticks. This note is different: a Local DNS record so every device that already asks Pi-hole for names can resolve something like lab.home to the computer's address.

Skip until Pi-hole is the house DNS

If phones still get DNS from the ISP, a local name in Pi-hole will not reach them. Point the router first: point the house at the ad block, or brand menus in point common home routers at Pi-hole. Nest or an ISP box that will not take LAN DNS? Set one device by hand: point a phone or laptop at Pi-hole when the router won't. Skip this page until a phone on house Wi-Fi already has ads gone.

What this is

Pi-hole can answer a name you invent with the computer's house address. You type that name in SSH, Finder, File Explorer, or the browser instead of 192.168.x.x. It only works for devices that use Pi-hole as DNS. It is not magic for the open internet. It is not a reason to buy a mesh kit.

Step 1: lock the number

Write down the computer's current address. From SSH:

hostname -I

Or find it the long way: find it on the house network. That number must stay put. Reserve it on the router: keep it on the same number, brand path in reserve an address on common home routers. If the router will not reserve, set a fixed address on the PC: give the computer a fixed address when the router won't. A local name pointed at a moving number is how SSH and the share "break" after a reboot.

Step 2: pick a short name

One label, letters and numbers, no spaces. Examples that stay out of the way: lab.home, lab.lan, office.home. Prefer a made-up ending like .home or .lan. Skip .local (phones already use that for a different trick, and it fights). Skip a real public site name. Skip inventing a cute house brand for the machine itself.

Step 3: add the Local DNS record

On a laptop on the house network, open the admin page: http://pi.hole/admin, or the computer's address plus /admin. Log in with the Pi-hole admin password (not the Linux SSH password). Forgot it? Change the printed Pi-hole admin password.

Open Local DNS (sometimes under Settings → Local DNS records). Menu labels shift a little by Pi-hole version. You want the page that lists Domain and IP, with an Add button.

Domain: lab.home (or the name you picked). IP: the reserved address from Step 1. Add / Save. Leave CNAME alone for day one. One A record for the computer is enough.

Step 4: prove it from a phone or laptop

Stay on house Wi-Fi. On a laptop:

ping -c 3 lab.home

Or look it up:

dig +short lab.home

You want the same number you reserved. Then try the jobs that used to need the number:

If the name fails only on one phone, that phone is not using house DNS. Walk when one phone still shows ads. If ads are back house-wide, start with when ads come back before you blame the new record.

If you typed the wrong address

Open the same Local DNS page. Delete the bad row. Add it again with the right number. Or edit the row if your build lets you. Then re-check with ping or dig. After a few good names, export settings so you don't rebuild them by hand: save a Pi-hole backup (Teleporter keeps local DNS).

What this is not

This is not renaming the Linux hostname (that is give the computer a name that sticks). It is not opening Pi-hole or SSH to the internet. It is not a public domain you buy. It is not Unbound, Docker, or a second Pi. It is not a fix when ads never dropped; get house DNS working first.

What next

Keep the weekly Pi-hole habit: keep Pi-hole updated. Export settings before a scary change: save a Pi-hole backup. Open the share with the new name: open the house share from a laptop or from a phone. If one bank page breaks while ads stay gone, that is when a site won't load after Pi-hole.

Optional: keep the local names you add in Lab plan — username + passkey, no email. Skip if you just want to keep reading.

Skip

Sources

Pi-hole docs. Pi-hole FTL configuration (hosts / hostRecord). Official pages only. Local DNS lives in the admin UI on the computer. For install, see the first useful thing. For the Linux hostname, see give the computer a name that sticks. For router DNS, see point common home routers at Pi-hole. For a settings zip, see save a Pi-hole backup.

Also on this topic

The first useful thingPut a house-wide ad block on the old PC. The rest of the house keeps using the internet as usual. You don't need a Raspberry Pi. Give the computer a name that sticksPing and SSH are easier if the computer has a short name. lab works. Set it so the name survives a reboot. Keep it on the same numberSSH and Pi-hole keep working after a reboot when the router always gives the computer the same address. Give the computer a fixed address when the router won'tNest or an ISP gateway won't reserve DHCP. Set one stable number on Ubuntu Server so SSH and Pi-hole keep the same address after a reboot. You don't need a new router. Point common home routers at Pi-holeWhere to set DNS on TP-Link, ASUS, eero, Netgear, Nest, and ISP gateways so the house asks Pi-hole. Prefer LAN DHCP DNS. You don't need a new router. Save a Pi-hole backup before you change thingsExport settings with Teleporter so a reinstall or a bad list does not wipe your allow list and local DNS. You don't need a new Raspberry Pi. Find it on the house networkThe computer has a number on your house network. You need that number to SSH from the couch. You don't need a new router. When ads come backAds are back, sites won't load, or a phone still shows banners. Check the computer, Pi-hole, router DNS, then the phone.