![]() I do this with uBlock Origin in my browser when I find that I'm spending too much time on forums (like this one) instead of getting my work done, and I need to break the habit. It seems irrational, but adding just a little friction or reminder for yourself can make a big difference. The question was strange to me in that it seemed like they wanted to block themselves from the temptation of using those sites which can't be correct. If they don't know the answer, they will ask friends who will tell them how to get around it. The only thing you have to watch out for if you are doing this for minors is they too know about VPN and there are hundreds of clients they can use to get around any kind of blocking, and are a lot savvier then you might think. Take a look at OpenDNS, it may save you a lot of money and there are maybe other sites you want blocked It's a little more complicated on Windows but it's also doable If you have Linux machines, you can edit the /etc/hosts file and just block whatever sites you want in that file (provided that other users don't have admin rights) Each device will need to have their DNS settings changed from the default to the one at Cisco. You may not have to upgrade your WI-FI router, instead take a look at Cisco's OpenDNS which you can subscribe to and specify which sites you want to block. Is There any router that supports blocking selected websites across all devices at home We have to work on a computer or ipad or phone kinds of devices due to WFH and school/homework from home. I'm not looking to 'protect' them for the most part as I realize that is largely a losing battle. My philosophy is (and we'll see how it works as the kids grow older) to limit distractions and help teach them about appropriate computer and Internet usage (I talk a lot about 'work time' and 'entertainment time' and how we have to separate those even though we can do either on the same devices). The bigger issue is that by the time most kids are of age to be able to do this, they will also have a mobile phone which would have to be managed through a different system when they are using the cellular network. Of course there are all sorts of creative ways around any system, but Firewalla is pretty close to enterprise grade functionality in a package an average user can easily manage. In addition to its filtering, it has an excellent notification system that alerts you (if you want) as soon as a given device, group of devices, or any device starts accessing a certain site, IP, range of IP's, geographic location, class of sites (gaming, video, vpn, etc). That said as I told my ex if my son was going to get past my controls (and he did) at least he will have a marketable skill (he is a first year comp sci student with a concentration in cybersecurity so my evil plan worked out).įirewalla will give you the control to even manage technically inclined users. I haven't looked at Firewalla but in my experience running an enterprise grade firewall at home with a technically sophisticated teenager let me assure you, unless you spend a lot of time reviewing the logs and playing cat and mouse with the kids no fire and forget solution (other than blocking the whole internet) is going to hold. It might be more important to just have the stated policy of "no streaming video", make sure your network users are aware of it, and have some sort of disciplinary action for those that are caught breaking the policy. and even then you'll discover some people can find holes in just about any policy. To be more effective, you need a firewall that starts with blocking EVERYTHING, then you allow only approved websites as they are vetted, and you need active monitoring to see how/where people are circumventing it. Unfortunately, it's really hard to stop a network savvy user who really wants to circumvent your website blocks. Unfortunately, as was already pointed out, if the users of the end computer are savvy enough they simply change their device to use a different DNS, or use any of the YouTube "proxy" servers out there to bypass the attempted block. For a simple solution I would second the suggestion of setting "OpenDNS" for the DNS server used on the router, and use that to not provide DNS resolution for the domain names you don't want used. There isn't going to be a simple solutions that's also highly effective. OP seems to want a firewall, you can find WiFi routers with features like that built in, but not very good ones.
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