AdGuard as Pseudo Firewall

[The Undertaker]

How to use AdGuard as a firewall?

At the outset let me be clear that the primary purpose of AdGuard for Windows is adblocking and not firewalling the network. But since it can monitor your network, therefore, it can also be used as a firewall which works on the Blacklist feature as against the Whitelist feature. This is the reason you need to have a dedicated firewall. But alas, here we will see how you can prevent certain apps(which donot require net connectivity for their functioning) from connecting to the internet using AdGuard for Windows.

• First you need to go to the Filtered Apps section of AdGuard and make sure that the app whose net connectivity you want to block is added and enabled in the filtered list. If it is not, you can use the browse executable or add application feature of AdGuard.
  
• After you have successfully added the executable, it is time to create the rules. Add the follwing rules to your User Filter for blocking complete net connectivity. The following two rules need to be added.
  

Code:

://*^$important,app=CCleaner64.exe

Code:

/^([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[0-5]))\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[0-5]))\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[0-5]))\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[0-5]))/$network,important,app=CCleaner64.exe

Note:- The second coded item is one rule only and needs to be entered in one line while adding to AdGuard custom filter rules section.

The two coded items above represent two filter rules which need to be added to block net connectivity of CCleaner64.exe executable as an illustration.
In this first rule, we are using simple filter rule format for blocking net connectivity, whereas in the second one we are using RegEx to block the full network connectivity from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255 for CCleaner.exe. Both of them should work individually but I would like you to use the two together for added surety. In this way, you can add and block other apps too.

 

P.S. Love AdGuard? Check out the AdGuard Home topic for more awesomenes.

[harrypnyce]

Every try Pi-hole Ad Blocking ?  It works at the network level.

Code:

https://pi-hole.net/

[avtester2009]

I didn’t know you can do that with adguard. Thanks for the info!

[Skunk1966]

Cool. Will try it

use the "Add Thank You" button instead of replying with "Thanks, "Thank you" or any simlilar reply.
I suggest to read the forum rules here: https://www.aiowares.com/showthread.php?tid=2
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