Man, building a “privacy yacht” has been a wild ride! It all started with me wanting a way to browse the web without every Tom, Dick, and Harry tracking my every move. You know, like having a little digital escape pod.
The Idea
I figured, why not combine a Raspberry Pi with some privacy-focused software? It’s small, low-power, and perfect for a dedicated project like this.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed a Raspberry Pi 4. I went with the 4GB RAM model ’cause I figured it’d need some muscle to handle everything. Then, I downloaded the Raspberry Pi OS Lite image – no need for a desktop environment, we’re going all command-line here!
I flashed the OS onto a microSD card using Balena Etcher. Easy peasy. Popped the card into the Pi, hooked it up to a monitor and keyboard (just for the initial setup), and fired it up.
Setting up the Basics
After booting, I logged in with the default credentials and immediately changed the default password. Gotta keep things secure, right? Then, I connected it to my Wi-Fi and enabled SSH so I could ditch the monitor and keyboard and control it remotely from my laptop.
Next up, I updated the system with a quick:
sudo apt updatesudo apt upgrade
Basic stuff to make sure that things works well.
The Privacy Tools
Here’s where the magic happens. I installed Pi-hole, which is basically a DNS sinkhole. It blocks ads and trackers at the network level, so everything on my network gets a little bit of privacy love. Installation was pretty straightforward using their one-liner script.
Then, I set up a 加速器 server using WireGuard. WireGuard is super fast and modern, and it lets me connect to my home network securely when I’m out and about. Setting this up was a bit more involved, but there are tons of great tutorials online.
Testing and Tweaking
Once everything was installed, I started testing. I checked if Pi-hole was blocking ads by visiting some notoriously ad-heavy websites. Yup, sweet silence! Then, I connected to the 加速器 from my phone while on cellular data and made sure my IP address was showing as my home IP. Success!
I spent some time tweaking the Pi-hole blocklists, adding some custom ones I found online. I also set up some firewall rules on the Pi to make sure only the necessary ports were open.
The Result
Now, I have this little box that’s my personal privacy gateway. It’s not Fort Knox, but it’s a heck of a lot better than browsing naked, so to speak. All my devices at home benefit from the ad-blocking, and I can connect to my 加速器 when I’m on public Wi-Fi, giving me some peace of mind.
It was a fun project, and I learned a ton along the way. Plus, it feels good to take a little control back over my digital life. If you’re even slightly tech-savvy, I highly recommend giving something like this a try!
