DNS Ad Blocker

Overview

KyberGate includes a DNS-level ad blocker that silently blocks ads, trackers, and distracting content across every managed device. Over 5,000 known ad-serving, tracking, and malvertising domains are blocked by default. Pages load faster, bandwidth is saved, and students see clean, distraction-free content.

Prerequisites

• KyberGate organization with active device enrollment
• Devices configured to use the KyberGate proxy (automatic during enrollment)
• Admin access for configuration (optional — ad blocking is enabled by default)

Steps

Step 1: Verify Ad Blocking Is Active

Log in to the dashboard → Settings → Filtering → Ad Blocking → Confirm toggle shows Enabled (green).

Step 2: Configure Blocking Categories

Four categories, each independently toggleable:

• Display Ads (2,100+ domains) — banners, pop-ups, video ads. Default: ON.
• Trackers (1,800+ domains) — analytics, pixels, fingerprinting. Default: ON.
• Ad Networks (650+ domains) — ad exchanges, programmatic servers. Default: ON.
• Malware Domains (400+ domains) — malvertising, phishing. Default: ON, cannot be disabled.

Step 3: Whitelist Specific Domains

If a legitimate site isn't loading correctly:

1. Go to Settings → Filtering → Ad Blocking → Whitelist
2. Click Add Domain → Enter the domain → Save

Whitelisted domains still go through normal content filtering.

Step 4: Configure Per-OU Settings

Go to Organizations → select sub-org → Settings → Filtering → Ad Blocking → Toggle Override parent settings for custom configuration.

Step 5: View Blocking Reports

Reports → Ad Blocking shows daily/weekly/monthly stats: total blocked, bandwidth saved, most-blocked domains, and category breakdown.

Step 6: Blocklist Updates

Blocklists update automatically every 24 hours. No manual action needed. View the last update timestamp under Ad Blocking settings.

Tips

• If a website looks broken, check if a content delivery domain is being blocked — add it to the whitelist
• Ad blocking reduces page loads by 30-50% on ad-heavy sites
• Students cannot bypass DNS-level ad blocking
• Bandwidth savings can reach 20-40 GB/day for 1,000+ device districts
• Malware domain blocking is always enabled and cannot be turned off

FAQ

Q: Will ad blocking break educational websites? A: Rarely. Check Reports → Ad Blocking → Recent Blocks to identify the blocked domain, then whitelist it.

Q: Does ad blocking work on YouTube? A: It blocks third-party trackers on YouTube. YouTube's own video ads are served from YouTube domains and are not blocked by DNS filtering.

Q: Does ad blocking affect page speed? A: Yes — pages load faster. Blocking ad requests before they start means 30-50% faster rendering on ad-heavy sites.

Q: Is the blocklist customizable? A: You can whitelist domains. To block specific domains, use the content filtering policy instead.