Pi-hole/AdGuard blocks printer cloud — allowlist vendor endpoints
Joe B.
Reviewed for technical accuracy
Specialities: Pi-hole & AdGuard Home, printer cloud services (HP Smart, Epson Connect, Brother, Canon), network printing across VLANs, DNS filtering & allowlists
Pi-hole/AdGuard blocks printer cloud — DNS filter, allowlist vendor endpoints, keep HP/Epson/Brother/Canon online
Technician
Quick questions so I map it out correctly:
• Which cloud service is failing — HP Smart / HP cloud print, Epson Connect, Brother iPrint&Scan, Canon PRINT, or something like Mopria cloud?
• Are you using Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, or both (for example Pi-hole on LAN + AdGuard DNS upstream)?
• Symptoms: printer shows “offline” in HP Smart, can’t register the printer to your account, cloud jobs stuck in queue, or scan to email / scan to cloud fails while local SMB/IPP printing still works?
• Do you already see any blocked queries for the printer or HP/Epson/Brother domains in the Pi-hole Query Log or AdGuard Home query log?
Technician
Both Pi-hole and AdGuard Home are DNS-level ad/tracker blockers. Printer cloud platforms (HP Smart, Epson Connect, Brother cloud, Canon services, Mopria, etc.) tunnel status, telemetry and jobs through a bunch of HTTPS endpoints that sometimes live on domains which look “tracker-ish” and end up in community blocklists.
When the DNS query for those vendor endpoints is blocked or rewritten, the printer:
• loses its cloud heartbeat and shows Offline in HP Smart / Epson / Brother apps
• can’t complete account registration or remote printing setup
• may fail scan to email / scan to OneDrive / Google Drive even though ping and local printing work
Plan:
1) Use the Pi-hole / AdGuard query log to see exactly which domains are blocked when HP Smart tries to connect.
2) Build a small, targeted allowlist (whitelist) for those printer cloud domains.
3) Optionally put the printer’s IP into a “no filtering” group/client so it bypasses adlists while the rest of the network stays protected.
4) Re-test HP Smart / remote printing until the cloud status stays green.
Technician
On Pi-hole:
1) Open the Pi-hole admin page → Query Log.
2) In the Client filter, choose either the printer’s IP (if it uses Pi-hole) or the phone/PC that’s running HP Smart.
3) In another tab/phone, open HP Smart → refresh the printer status or try a small test print to the HP cloud queue.
4) Watch for rows marked “Blocked (gravity)” or similar. You’ll usually see a handful of HP / printer domains getting blocked right when the status flips to offline.
On AdGuard Home:
1) Go to Query Log → filter by the printer IP or the device using the app.
2) Look for Blocked entries that mention HP / Epson / Brother / Canon cloud, or entries flagged as “Blocked by list” or “Blocked by CNAME or IP”.
Copy those FQDNs (for example: something.hpcloudprint.com, api.hpsmart.com, epsonconnect.com, etc.) — these are your candidates for the printer cloud allowlist.
Technician
Goal is: “Pi-hole/AdGuard blocks trackers, but not printer cloud connectivity.”
On Pi-hole:
• In the web UI go to Group Management → Domains (or the Whitelist/Allowlist page on older versions).
• Add only the exact cloud domains you saw getting blocked (for example api.hpsmart.com, device.hpconnected.com, similar for Epson/Brother/Canon).
• Assign them either to all groups or just to the group that your printer and HP Smart clients use.
On AdGuard Home:
• In Filters → DNS allowlists you can use a small text file, but the simple way is in Query Log → click “Unblock” on each blocked printer domain → it creates the appropriate custom rule (like
@@||example.hp.com^).• You can also add those
@@||printer-cloud-domain^ rules directly under Filters → Custom rules.Keep the allowlist tight: just the vendor endpoints needed for cloud printing, remote monitoring, and scan-to-cloud, not generic tracking CDNs. If AdGuard shows “Blocked by CNAME”, allow the canonical target domain instead of every alias.
Technician
Some printer ecosystems use a long tail of cloud domains for telemetry, firmware, and analytics. You can chase them one by one, or simply take the printer out of ad filtering while keeping Pi-hole/AdGuard for everything else.
On Pi-hole:
• Go to Group Management → Clients and create a dedicated group, e.g. “Printers-No-Filter”.
• Move the printer’s IP (and optionally the scanner/MFP) into that group.
• For that group, disable all adlists / regex filters, or only keep a minimal malware list.
On AdGuard Home:
• Use Settings → Clients to create a client profile for the printer IP / MAC.
• Turn off most DNS blocklists for that client or assign a very lightweight profile.
This way your HP Smart cloud printing (or Epson/Brother/Canon cloud) stays fully reachable, but laptops, phones and TVs still benefit from Pi-hole / AdGuard ad blocking.
Technician
A few more things that often break cloud printers behind Pi-hole/AdGuard:
• Dual DNS — router hands out Pi-hole as primary DNS and ISP DNS as secondary. The printer flips between them, so some cloud endpoints resolve, others are blocked, and HP Smart sees flaky status.
• Unfiltered IPv6 — devices query over IPv4 via Pi-hole but IPv6 via your ISP DNS, creating inconsistent behavior.
• Browser/OS DoH (DNS over HTTPS) on the device with HP Smart or the web portal bypassing Pi-hole and confusing diagnostics.
Clean approach:
1) Make your router hand out only Pi-hole / AdGuard Home as DNS for IPv4 and IPv6 (or turn off IPv6 if you don’t need it).
2) In browsers, disable custom DoH settings or set Pi-hole/AdGuard as the DoH target.
3) Re-test HP Smart / Epson Connect registration after you’ve tightened DNS so all lookups go through one filter.
Technician
1) In the Pi-hole / AdGuard query log, filter by the printer IP while you:
• send a cloud print job from HP Smart
• run a scan to email / scan to OneDrive/Google Drive
• open the vendor’s web portal if they have one (HP account, Epson Connect portal, etc.)
2) Confirm that all related queries are now Allowed. If you still see a blocked cloud endpoint, add it to your allowlist and retest.
3) Watch for generic services your printer uses (for example Microsoft / Google OAuth endpoints, SMTP relay, time servers) getting blocked. Sometimes “scan to cloud” fails because the DNS blocker is blocking those dependencies, not the printer vendor itself.
Once all of that runs clean in the query log, you’ve got a solid allowlist vendor endpoints map for your model and cloud workflow.
Technician
• Use per-VLAN client groups: in Pi-hole and AdGuard you can map IP ranges or subnets (your “Printer VLAN”) to a specific group/client profile.
• For each vendor (HP, Epson, Brother, Canon, etc.), keep a small labeled allowlist — that way you know exactly which cloud endpoints you’ve opened for which brand.
• If one printer uses only local IPP/SMB and no vendor cloud, you don’t have to allowlist anything — keep it fully filtered.
When you add that new Epson, you just repeat the query-log → allowlist → test cycle for its cloud service and attach it to the “Printer VLAN” group. No need to clone your whole DNS stack.
Technician
Quick answer: the accepted fix
Accepted fix when Pi-hole/AdGuard blocks printer cloud: use the DNS query log to identify blocked HP/Epson/Brother/Canon cloud endpoints, add them to a printer allowlist, and optionally move the printer into a low-filter group/client. Ensure all printer and HP Smart/Epson Connect devices use the same DNS (no mixed ISP DNS/DoH), then retest remote printing and scan-to-cloud.
Why Pi-hole/AdGuard breaks printer cloud (DNS blocking, CNAME, and HTTPS endpoints)
Pi-hole and AdGuard Home sit in front of the internet as a DNS sinkhole. They apply community blocklists and custom rules to domains that look like ads, trackers, or telemetry. Modern printer cloud platforms (HP Smart, Epson Connect, Brother cloud, Canon services, Mopria) rely on exactly those kinds of telemetry-style HTTPS endpoints for status, firmware and job routing. When a blocklist catches one of those, your printer can still print over local IPP/SMB, but its cloud heartbeat, account registration or scan to email / scan to OneDrive silently fails.
AdGuard Home can also block via CNAME cloaking detection — if a printer cloud hostname ultimately resolves to a known tracker domain, the response is blocked as “Blocked by CNAME or IP”. Without a targeted vendor endpoint allowlist or client bypass, your printer shows offline in HP Smart or loses remote printing while the rest of the network looks fine.
How to verify your printer cloud works with Pi-hole/AdGuard
To confirm that Pi-hole/AdGuard and printer cloud now coexist peacefully, run a short test plan. Filter the query log by the printer IP and by the device running HP Smart / Epson Connect. Trigger a remote print job, a scan-to-cloud or scan-to-email operation, and refresh the cloud status screen. Every printer-related domain should now be Allowed, and no HP/Epson/Brother/Canon endpoints should show as blocked by gravity, custom filter or CNAME.
If you still see intermittent failures, check for mixed DNS paths (ISP DNS configured as secondary, unfiltered IPv6, browser DoH bypassing Pi-hole) and for blocked shared services like OAuth providers, SMTP relays, time servers or storage APIs. Allowlist only what the printer cloud strictly needs, keep malware lists enabled, and document the final allowlist vendor endpoints map so you can quickly reapply it after migrations or rebuilds.
Pi-hole/AdGuard vs printer cloud — quick troubleshooting tips
Most “cloud printer offline behind Pi-hole” cases are just DNS filters blocking vendor endpoints.
Quick path: open the Pi-hole / AdGuard Home query log while you use HP Smart or Epson/Brother/Canon cloud → identify blocked printer domains → move those into a small allowlist or exempt the printer IP via a no-filter client profile. Make sure your router hands out only Pi-hole/AdGuard as DNS (no mixed ISP DNS or stray DoH), then retest remote printing and scan-to-cloud. This workflow resolves the majority of Pi-hole/AdGuard blocks printer cloud issues without sacrificing ad blocking for the rest of the network.
Disclaimer: This information is AI-generated and intended for general guidance only. For advice specific to your environment, please consult a verified expert on Whizz-Tech before making decisions.
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FAQ
Why does Pi-hole/AdGuard make my cloud printer show offline?
Pi-hole and AdGuard Home block some of the vendor cloud domains your printer uses to report status and receive jobs. The device can still print locally, but HP Smart, Epson Connect, Brother or Canon apps see the cloud heartbeat fail and mark the printer as offline.
How do I allowlist printer cloud domains in Pi-hole?
Use the Pi-hole Query Log while you refresh cloud status or send a job, note which HP/Epson/Brother/Canon domains are blocked, then add those to the Allowlist / Group Management → Domains page. Re-test until all printer-related lookups are allowed.
How do I unblock printer cloud in AdGuard Home?
Open the AdGuard Home query log, filter by printer or client, and click “Unblock” on the blocked printer cloud domains. AdGuard creates rules like @@||example.hp.com^ in Filters → Custom rules, effectively allowlisting those endpoints.
Is it safe to completely bypass Pi-hole/AdGuard for my printer?
Many people put printers into a low-filter or no-filter client group because they’re low-risk compared to browsers and phones. If you want maximum control, combine a small vendor allowlist with a minimal malware blocklist for the printer instead of disabling filtering globally.
Sources
- Pi-hole documentation — Allowlist and denylist editing
- AdGuard Home — DNS filtering FAQ and CNAME blocking
- GitHub — Collection of commonly whitelisted domains for Pi-hole
Filed under: Printer won’t print
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