Smart home devices are sneaking around your Pi-hole, and your dashboard won't catch them

Pi-hole only tracks DNS traffic that passes through it, meaning devices with hardcoded DNS servers or those using encrypted DNS protocols like DoH/DoT can bypass it entirely without appearing in the dashboard. Smart TVs, streaming sticks, and budget IoT devices are common offenders. The Pi-hole dashboard creates a false sense of complete network protection since it cannot detect or log traffic that never routes through it. Pi-hole should be treated as one layer of a broader network security strategy, not a comprehensive monitoring solution.