6 Raspberry Pi projects that go beyond the basics

The Raspberry Pi is a range of small single-board computers, and despite their small size, there’s a lot you can do with them. Common Raspberry Pi projects for beginners include turning a Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming console, creating a low-cost home network storage solution, or building a server to stream your collection of movies, TV shows, or music.

There’s a lot more that you can do with a Raspberry Pi, however, with each successive model getting more and more powerful. Here are six ways to use your Raspberry Pi that you might not have considered.

1 Make all your smart home devices compatible with HomeKit

No HomeKit support, no problem

Apple

The trouble with smart home technology is that it’s currently still a bit of a wild west. There are no global standards for how smart devices should communicate, meaning that not every smart home device with work with every smart home ecosystem.

Take Apple’s HomeKit, for example. There are plenty of smart home devices that you can add to the Home app on your iPhone thanks to the company’s support for HomeKit. There are plenty of others, however, that won’t play nicely with HomeKit at all.

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A Raspberry Pi can fix that. You can use one to run free open-source software called Homebridge. As the name suggests, it acts as a bridge between your smart home devices and HomeKit, allowing you to connect devices such as Ring cameras and doorbells that would otherwise be incompatible.

2 Run your own Minecraft server

An entire world living your in Raspberry Pi

Microsoft

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to run your own Minecraft server. It allows you to have complete control of the game settings, the rules, player permissions, and who can play. As a parent, it also ensures that your kids are playing in safe environment that you can control and monitor.

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It’s possible to run a Minecraft server on Raspberry Pi, which you can leave running indefinitely, without worrying about having to keep other devices powered on. You can use an older Pi, but you’ll get better performance from a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, and more RAM will always help.

3 Block ads from your entire home network

Stop ads on every device in your home

firmbee-com / Unsplash/ Pocket-lint

Ads are unfortunately a fact of life. For many businesses (this one included) ads are what pay the bills and keep the lights on. Without ad revenue, I’d be out of a job.

Ads can often get out of hand, however. Some websites are so full of ads that they become almost impossible to use, and the same applies to many apps.

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Using a Raspberry Pi, you can run software such as Pi-hole to act as your DNS server. It will allow through the content from the sites you visit, but will block DNS requests for known advertising domains, so that ads never get through. The best part is that it works for any devices on your home network.

4 Make a Magic Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the most informative of them all?

Do you ever look in the mirror and wish that you could see more than just your reflection? Wouldn’t it be great if you could see information such as the current weather, your schedule for the day, or the latest news headlines?

A DIY smart mirror can do exactly that. It’s a mirror with a display behind it that you can use to show whatever you want. You need something to control the display, however, and a Raspberry Pi is a perfect option. There’s even dedicated software you can use to help you build the perfect magic mirror for your needs.

5 Create your own VPN server

Protect your privacy without a subscription

Amazon, Stefan Coders – pexels

There are many reasons you might want to use a VPN, from protecting your privacy online to accessing geo-restricted content. There are plenty of VPNs to choose from, but many of them require a subscription.

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An alternative is to build your own using a Raspberry Pi. Using free open-source VPN protocols such as Wireguard and OpenVPN, you can turn your Pi into your own VPN server. You can then get all the benefits of a VPN without having to pay anyone else for the privilege.

6 Build a powerful smart home hub

Run your entire smart home from your Raspberry Pi

Smart home ecosystems such as Alexa and Apple Home make it simple control your smart home devices and also allow you to create basic automations. However, if you want to make an automation that’s more complex than “if this, then that,” you’re out of luck.

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If you want to take your smart home to the next level, you can use your Raspberry Pi to run free home automation software such as Home Assistant. Not only does Home Assistant allow you to connect almost any smart home device you can think of, but it also lets you build complex automations that can do almost anything you can think of.

Eventually you might decide you want to upgrade your hardware, but when you’re starting out, a Raspberry Pi is more than good enough for your needs.

Raspberry Pi 5

The Raspberry Pi 5 is a powerful single-board computer (SBC) that launched towards the end of 2023. It’s great for DIY tech projects or even as a low-power desktop PC.