Home Hub Config

[comports]

Hi Trusted gang,

Is there a way I can configure my Home Hub so that I can block others (kids) in the house going to sites like limewire and downloading stuff.

There are various other "Dubious" sites I would like to block as unsuatable but I'm not just talking adult content.

Any clues...??

Thanks

 

[nickcc101]

I have BT total broadband and find that when i use the content blocker (when the Grandkids visit) it is a total pain in the b*m. It stops me downloading most content so i have to turn the blocker off.

 

[comports]

OK but where might I find this content blocker... Is in the Home Hub settings somewhere..?

It's not however a content blocker I need it's more a url blocker. As I said before I'm not really after parental controls (from a content point of view) but want to manage urls centrally rather than on each machine.

Thanks

 

[nickcc101]

If you hav BT go onto the website. Loads of info.

 

[IanA2]

Webroot Parental Control?

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-downloads.html

 

[Beetnik]

In my experience if the kids have any technical skills at all (and they usually do) it'll take them about 10% of the time you spend setting it up to get round whatever you put in place (except confiscating the computer's power lead .

 

[comports]

Thanks guys and Beetnik - I know where you're coming from. The issue is I don't want to have to install stuff on all machines. I have firewall and antivirus on them and can set up url blocking there but they all have to go through the hub to get to the internet. I would rather have url blocking that I control rather than each machine..!

Cheers

 

[Beetnik]

1. Google free anonymous surfing proxy
2. Choose one from 143,000 results
3. Two minutes later... listen for dad coming...

 

[comports]

I know Beetnik. At work we must have super duper firewall cos when I try that one I still get hit by the cyber police telling me I am trying to visit a proxy bypass site and blocks me anyway... I guess they have the list of all 143,000 ip's or dns names..!!

I must talk to a mate in the IS Security to find out but as the company has 65,000 employees I guess they have some real beefy and expensive security systems in place. A tad overkill for me and 5 kids..!

 

[agatward]

Isn't this something OpenDNS can help with, by effectively restricting what DNS lookups can take place? I have no experience of it first hand but am going by previous threads on here with similar requirements.

 

[Dragon]

Parental control built-in in Vista. If you have XP and have a BT Home Hub, go to BT Yahoo and use parental control, full details at BT support page.

http://bt.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/bt.c..._cv=4.747&p_cats=346,401,425,747&p_faqid=9909

 

[Ted]

edit the hosts file, and point the sites you want to block to 127.0.0.0

cant remember the exact path.... \windows\system32\drivers\etc iirc.
MAKE A BACKUP OF THE ORIGINAL FIRST!!

That should stop the little buggers.

 

[WLeg]

go to www.opendns.org
Set up account (free)
Set up amousing message for when the try to go to a blocked site - including words like " I know what you're doing" - " this attempt has been logged" etc
Set BT Hub's DNS Server to Open DNS.
Enjoy.

It's all fairly simple to setup, and works with all machines on your home network, unless they happen to know the IP address of the site they want to go to.

 

[robert.saunders]

And ensure the kiddies use limited windows accounts, not admin accounts, as they'll easily bypass dns - and ensure they don't know your windows admin password!

 

[WLeg]

Webroot Parental Control?

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-downloads.html

Is very good, but you need a bit of PC Muscule to run it - RAM mainly, otherwise it slows things down.

opendns does not effect pc performance at all, which is why I like it....

 

[comports]

Thanks WLeg but I can't find a way to point the Hubs DNS Server..??

 

[WLeg]

You can either point the HUB's DNS to it, or under the local network (you internal home network) use the opendns DNS servers, instead of the default (the hub). Which version do you have, and I'll see if I can find one and give you a walkthrough...

 

[IanA2]

Is very good, but you need a bit of PC Muscule to run it - RAM mainly, otherwise it slows things down.

opendns does not effect pc performance at all, which is why I like it....

I'm running an Arnie these days....... HP Dragon...it's a beauty

 

[robert.saunders]

Dragon

<shudders uncontrollably...>

 

[crockers]

Be careful........ if you block their sites -- they may reek revenge and block yours......... now I wonder where you surf...