Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions and answers about NexoralDNS.

General

Basic questions about features and usage

Installation

Setup, Docker, and deployment queries

Configuration

DNS records, blocking, and settings

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions

General

Is NexoralDNS free?

Yes! NexoralDNS has a generous free tier that is perfect for home users and developers. We also offer a Premium tier with advanced features like priority support, extended analytics retention, and multi-user access for businesses.

How does it compare to Pi-hole?

NexoralDNS is built with modern technologies (Node.js, Redis, MongoDB) focusing on performance and scalability. While Pi-hole is excellent, NexoralDNS offers:

  • Faster query processing with Redis caching
  • Built-in support for high availability (clustering)
  • Modern, responsive React-based dashboard
  • REST API for programmatic control
  • Multi-user support with role-based access

Installation

Can I run it on a Raspberry Pi?

Absolutely! NexoralDNS is lightweight and Docker-compatible. It runs smoothly on Raspberry Pi 3, 4, and 5. We provide ARM64 Docker images specifically for this purpose.

Port 53 is already in use?

This is common on Ubuntu/Debian systems where systemd-resolved listens on port 53. You need to disable the system stub resolver:

sudo systemctl stop systemd-resolved
sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved

Check our Installation Guide for detailed steps.

Configuration

How do I block ads?

You can block ads in two ways:

  1. Block Lists: Subscribe to a public ad-blocking list (e.g., StevenBlack) in the "Blocking" section.
  2. Manual Block: Add specific domains (e.g., ads.google.com) to your block list manually.

Troubleshooting

Dashboard shows "Connection Lost"

This usually means the API server is not reachable.

  • Check if the Docker container is running: docker ps
  • Check logs: docker logs nexoraldns-api
  • Ensure port 4000 is open and not blocked by a firewall.