Most websites already run ssl.
So a third party dns like quad9 should work for dns specially if encrypted.
The easy fix would be a vpn.
In this case, you also could look into encrypted dns but as you said your not very tech savy , so I would consider a easy vpn solution like Mullvad , windscribe they have rather easy clients too.
If you’re torrenting something you’re using p2p downloads, which is a type of activity your ISP can easily detect. In this case you want to use a VPN, which prevents your ISP from detecting which IP is actually downloading the torrent.
If you’re direct downloading a file, this is a lot harder for your ISP to detect because they can’t join the P2P network, its coming directly from a server to your computer. But still in this case you can use free encrypted DNS from somebody other than your ISP (Cloudflare, Quad 9, etc) for some extra protection.
Using encrypted DNS (and encryption like https) will also make it a lot harder for your ISP to figure out what you are searching on the web.
Disclaimer: By illegal I assume you are talking about copyrighted movies or games or something like that, which is pretty common. If someone (like a government or police) is very motivated they can still find a way to track you, so if you are doing some extreme illegal shit then you are not going to be safe regardless of VPN/DNS.
You’re hiding from no one. Anyone who wants data on you will have it. Whether I make an account under a fake name, use a private browser, or never use the Internet again. They will still find me and my data.
You pay for it. I pay $9 something a month in NZD but in USD it’s $4.99
Ross Ulbricht paid a heavy price for not taking that pro tip
Is Adguard home enough to do the job?
What makes you think that?
Yep, if you have it running DNS over HTTPS/TLS, then its encrypting your DNS queries and preventing eavesdroppers from snooping on you. I don’t use Adguard personally but I found their GitHub where they mention DoH/T capabilities: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome?tab=readme-ov-file#comparison-pi-hole
Its owned by an ad company. wouldn’t even come close to it.
Use mullvad.net
NordVPN does not inspire trust based off of their aggressive marketing, their ties to Tesonet, and the fact that they got breached back in 2019.
Mullvad can be subscribed to without any trace of your identity (if you use Monero) and has a reputation for actually giving a shit about user privacy. Proton also has a similar reputation.
Fantastic! Thanks for the reply and resources.