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

Written 27 Aug 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card. Buy links are not tagged yet.

Look up a site name from the leftover box

When a website name fails, try resolving it from the leftover box before you buy a mesh kit.

You already know which name server the leftover box is asking from see which name server the leftover box is using. This note asks that server to turn a site name into a number. Resolve is that lookup. If ping to a number works but the name fails, this is the look.

Skip until SSH works

If you have never logged in from the couch, that is SSH from the couch. If you never installed Pi-hole, start with the first useful thing on the leftover box. Prefer this look after you know which name server the leftover box is asking: see which name server the leftover box is using. If even a number ping fails, fix that first: check that the leftover box can reach the house router. This note assumes you can log in from the couch, or sit at the leftover-box keyboard.

What this is

A look, not a shopping trip. If the leftover box can ping 1.1.1.1 but cannot look up a site name, that is DNS, not a dead access point. Check the leftover-box lookup before you buy a mesh kit. You are not buying Omada, UniFi, or a Protectli tonight.

Ask the leftover box to look up a name

SSH in from the couch, or sit at the leftover-box keyboard, then ask. Replace example.com with the site that failed:

resolvectl query example.com

A number back means names work from the leftover box. Timeout, SERVFAIL, or NXDOMAIN means the name server is wrong or Pi-hole is not answering. That is see which name server the leftover box is using or when ads come back, check the leftover-box ad block.

A blocked ad name can come back as 0.0.0.0. That is Pi-hole doing its job, not a broken lookup. Try a site you actually use, not an ad tracker.

Optional older print

If you want the older one-line print:

getent hosts example.com

A number and the name on one line means the leftover box resolved it. Empty output means the lookup failed. Keep this light. Do not edit resolved configs tonight.

What the look means

Failed lookup means fix the pointing in point the house at the leftover-box ad block, check which server the leftover box is asking in see which name server the leftover box is using, or check that Pi-hole is still answering in when ads come back, check the leftover-box ad block. If even 1.1.1.1 will not ping, that is the cable or the router: check that the leftover box can reach the house router. Do not buy Omada or UniFi for this look. The admin password is a different note: change the Pi-hole admin password.

What next

Which name server: see which name server the leftover box is using. Ads check: when ads come back, check the leftover-box ad block. Admin password: change the Pi-hole admin password.

Skip

Sources

Debian: resolvectl. Debian: getent. Official pages only. For which name server, see see which name server the leftover box is using. For the ads check, see when ads come back, check the leftover-box ad block. For router DNS, see point the house at the leftover-box ad block. For the path to the router, see check that the leftover box can reach the house router. For the admin password, see change the Pi-hole admin password.

Also on this topic

See which name server the leftover box is usingWhen names fail or ads come back, check which DNS the leftover box asks before you buy a mesh kit. When ads come back, check the leftover-box ad blockThe leftover box is awake, but banners are back. Check that Pi-hole is still answering before you buy a mesh kit or blame the router. Point the house at the leftover-box ad blockAfter Pi-hole is installed, tell the house router to ask the leftover box for names. Phones and laptops need no app. Sites still load. A lot of ads do not. Change the Pi-hole admin passwordAfter the house ad block is up, change the admin password the installer printed. That password is not the leftover-box login.