Parental Controls and Unrestricted Access

[BostonDan]

Hi Everyone, - I'm looking for some help and I hope someone out there has similar needs to my own and has solved this.

I have two children (ages 5 and 7) that I want to provide access to the internet, but heavily restrict their access. They are receiving their own tablets tomorrow and will use them for accessing web games and school exercises. Both my wife and I work from home frequently and require unrestricted network access and the ability to VPN into our work environments.

Many of the router manufacturers appear to have partnered with OpenDNS, but the setup for OpenDNS appears to restrict all users, not just the kids. I've also read conflicting articles that OpenDNS can slow down network traffic because of how it interacts with Akamai servers.

Does anyone have any experience with this and recommendations on how best to restrict the kids while providing adults with unlimited access?

I don't know if this matters, but currently, I maintain two wireless access points at home, one for 'N' devices and a second WAP for older 'B' devices. Appreciate the help.

Happy Holidays!!!!

 

[thiggins]

I haven't found any references on the OpenDNS site about providing for "Trusted" users. Even the Open DNS for Home VIP service applies the filter settings across all devices.

The Cisco Linksys EA series supports filter settings per user, and supports scheduled blocking, but the filtering is pretty basic.

I'm sure you realize that web filters are imperfect and don't do a great job of blocking objectionable images or search queries.

 

[BostonDan]

Thanks Tim. I will check out the linksys products. If I can restrict them to known good website that my wife and I select, I'm sold. The more I look into this, the more I'm amazed there isn't something stupid simple for the average consumer. I'm also considering building a pfsense box, but not thrilled at the idea of maintaining another device. Appreciate your help and hope you have a great holiday.

 

[BostonDan]

It looks like I can block specific websites with the linksys EA series, but there is no way to block everything except those I specify as good. Any ideas if there is something that attacks it from that way? Best, Dan

 

[stevech]

Hi Everyone, - I'm looking for some help and I hope someone out there has similar needs to my own and has solved this.

I have two children (ages 5 and 7) that I want to provide access to the internet, but heavily restrict their access.

A 5 year old??? Wow.

 

[BostonDan]

Yes, 5 years old and he can play angry birds better than most. I'm not crazy about having him on a tablet, but he stays focused in educational stuff too. I was at You-Do-It-Eectronics last week and they had a mini embedded platform for 7-9 year olds to program. Talk about WOW!

Right now I have the Internet unavailable to him until I find a comprehensive security system.

 

[JPElectron]

What about...

What about http://dnsredirector.com - do you have a computer running Windows that you can leave on all the time? It allows for whitelist only. Simply give that machine a fixed IP and set that IP as the default DNS server in the router, or directly on your kids devices.

 

[stevech]

one set of parents in our family, who are left-leaning, none the less put the PC in the family room. The pre-teen then teen had to use it there. Gripes and worse, but years later, the kid saw the wisdom in what they did.

He still got a fill of it from PCs at friends' houses, but fewer hours on those PCs than at home.

parental control = parenting.

 

[Deleted member 19960]

If you have two Wireless Routers, that could be your answer.


N Router

• For adults only
• Turn off SSID Broadcast (Hidden)
• Set WPA2 with good password
• Set up DHCP and DNS as per ISP instructions.

B Router

• For children and guests
• Set WPA2 with reasonable password for children and guests.
• Set up DHCP as normal
• Assign DNS servers or proxy settings to one of the nanny services mentioned.
• Have this B router broadcast SSID.

If the B router gives you grief on connection speed, *maybe* consider a second cheap b/g/n Wireless Router to replace it