Monitoring and Blocking Internet Use at Home

[PanicBuyingBogRoll]

Morning all

Is there a simple way of monitoring websites that have been visited and Blocking sites or keywords for individual devises?

I have just installed a to-link deco m4 mesh system but the controls aren't quite what I expected.

Thanks

[Nimby]

Pi-hole can do that, though it's primarily an ad-blocker. It's free and runs on a dirt-cheap Raspberry Pi.
You'd need to know a little DHCP to manage specific devices.

[DaveTheRave87]

Even if you do, there's nothing to stop an employee from having their own personal laptop sitting beside their work laptop and using it to visit whatever site they want.

This is something that a "friend" of mine might be doing right now.

[thebraketester]

PanicBuyingBogRoll said:

Morning all

Is there a simple way of monitoring websites that have been visited and Blocking sites or keywords for individual devises?

I have just installed a to-link deco m4 mesh system but the controls aren't quite what I expected.

Thanks

Is there not a how to guide to block urls on the deco m4?

[Nimby]

DaveTheRave87 said:

Even if you do, there's nothing to stop an employee from having their own personal laptop sitting beside their work laptop and using it to visit whatever site they want.

Nothing apart from Company Policy - and a dedicated firewall. Anyway, this is "at home".

[deckster]

Is this to protect your company devices from malware, or because you don't trust your employees to do their jobs? As has been said, it's effectively impossible to police the second when people are at home.

[toastyhamster]

OpenDNS? Free if this is a personal use question, not sure on reporting with that but the corp version (Umbrella) would do.

[PanicBuyingBogRoll]

Thanks for thr responses. This is nothing to do with work.

This is for monitoring family activities and checking what the kids are up to when they are supposed to be doing schoolwork.

I've now actually bothered to look properly at the Deco app, and it looks like it is possible to block specific sites possibly based on keywords. But not at specific times.
And it gives some random looking urls in the history.

PiHole looks interesting. Unfortunately my son
has just broken out Pi.

Tried open DNS. It works OK. But doesn't have the finer controls I would like.

[toastyhamster]

K9 Web Protection? Never used it, but I know a few techie parents running it.

[The_Jackal]

Just buy a router with those control built in.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

I tried all sorts when my kids were younger - very little was effective - I usually got him to a frustrated wife & kids as my tech was stopping some sort of legitimate use - not really what I wanted when I walked through the door.

As soon as you give them phones you lose control anyway.

Far better to try to educate them - and put devices in a family space and not in bedrooms IMHO

[deckster]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Far better to try to educate them - and put devices in a family space and not in bedrooms IMHO

Totally this. Don't put in a place a technical solution to a discipline problem. And you definitely, totally, don't want to get into a tech war with your kids.

[IanJ9375]

deckster said:

Totally this. Don't put in a place a technical solution to a discipline problem. And you definitely, totally, don't want to get into a tech war with your kids.

Yep what he says - I remember going on a Networking course and the instructor had been shown up by his kids how to get round his "security" from memory they were spoofing mac addresses.

Kids will see it as a test and the technology and knowledge is out there, they have the energy, reason and time lol

[geeks]

Some protection is good, too much and they will start googling how to bypass it, which won't be on your block list and they will be long through all of your security before you ask "where has all my bandwidth gone?"

[drmotorsport]

Activtrak.com installs a small hidden app on PC's and free for the first 3 devices i recall

[Baldchap]

Circle With Disney will do it easily, but as with anything DIY related, good look getting one right now! Netgear builds it into some of their routers now, which may be available. There are ways past it, MAC Spoofing being one, but the moment a kid's device shows no traffic or a new device appears and there isn't a new device in the house, you know they're cheating.

We have one primarily to remind the boy when it's time for bed, otherwise he'd 'forget' and be on with his mates till god knows what time. It does have to be an agreed mechanism though, or they'll just use data (there's a mobile app, but where do you stop with these things - they need to learn to self regulate, after all). We agreed between us sensible limits and bedtimes and everyone is happy. If he wants to download a game overnight or whatever, he asks for it to stay on and it does. A bit of give & take is all you need.

You can look at precisely what traffic has occurred, however I don't. Feels a bit too far. What is useful is the heads-up telling you a given group's hours online today. Can be a useful conversation starter where kids don't necessarily think they're overusing it.