Timely_Jellyfish_2077

Just wanted to share my setup and see if anyone has suggestions or feedback. Also share yours.

Phone : GrapheneOS(pixel 7a)

1. No google play service on my main profile. Rethink DNS (NextDNS DoH) blocks ads, trackers, and all Google & Facebook DNS (except WhatsApp).

2. Some FOSS apps like Aurora Store & NewPipe need Google servers, so I have excluded them in rethink dns.

3. Work Profile (with Island) with GrapheneOS’ sandboxed Play Services, but I use it maybe once or twice a month only for apps that absolutely need it. It stays turned off most of the time. If an app works on main profile without any issues, will use it. If not, will try to use it in firefox (as lack of play services doesn't matter). If only app is available (and not web version) and it doesn't work on main profile, will use it in work profile.

4. Hardened Firefox fork(Ironfox) for private browsing. Main Firefox for a few services where I have to stay logged in and don't have apps or want to use their apps.

5. Network & Sensor Restrictions: If an app works offline, I block its internet access. Also, disabled sensors for apps that don’t need them.

6. Mostly use foss apps from f-droid(droidify).

7. Email: moved from gmail to protonmail

PC/laptop: Arch linux kde on pc and fedora kde on laptop.

1. Not much to say. Most used apps are firefox and Zed. I allow data collection on kde as I want them to improve it.

Home Server: Raspberry Pi 4B

1. SSH hardening: Non standard ssh port(yes, I opened the port externally because I depend on my home server and need to access it remotely). SSH keys or password+totp, Fail2Ban, ufw.
2. Services running: Arr setup(jellyfin, prowlarr, radarr,sonarr, qbittorrent), pihole, Immich, Authelia(for now). All data sensitive services behind authelia with totp.
3. Nginx Geo-blocking: Only allows access from my country IPs
4. Weekly backups because data loss sucks.

Network & Router: OpenWRT (TP-Link)

1. Not much to say: Running default firewall rules with network-wide ad/tracker blocking via pihole and some ports opened.

I ran OpenSpeedTest from my PC to my Raspberry Pi 4B, both connected via LAN to my WiFi router. The left screenshot shows the speedtest via local_ip:3000, and I'm getting the expected 1 Gbps up/down.

The right screenshot shows the speedtest via https://speed.mydomain.com/. I'm confident that the connection from my PC to my home server is routed internally and not through the internet because my lowest ping to the nearest Speedtest server (my own ISP) on speedtest.net is 6ms, and my internet speed is 100 Mbps up/down. So the traffic must be routing internally.

Is there typically such a massive difference between using http://local_ip:3000 and https://speed.mydomain.com/?

Additional context: The speedtest server is running via Docker Compose. I'm using Nginx (native, not Docker) to access these services from outside my network.

Genuine question as I'm having a dilemma.

I've seen many of my friends using Chrome without any ad blockers. Most of them don't even know that there are things called extensions that can be installed. Whenever I use their laptops, I want to throw them away. I want to tell them about extensions and ad blockers.

But as much as we hate ads, they fuel the internet. Without them, the internet wouldn't be what it is today. If ad blocker users increase, there would be a massive change in the web, and everything may be paywalled.

So should we gatekeep ad blockers and enjoy an ad-free internet as a minority? It's not like they know what they're missing.

I advocate for FOSS, though. I will tell my friends to try Linux and dual-boot it, and suggest alternatives.

I am asking because it frequently goes down, like once or twice every month. Even then, sometimes it takes a couple of days to get back to working. Once, it took about 5-6 days to get back to working.

Also, for about two months now, it has been in global freeleech. Being in freeleech for a week or two is okay, but for 2 months?

That's why I'm feeling it is being slowly abandoned.