OT: Blocking Sites

[Eric Oyen]

if you have a router with either dd-wrt or one of the better commodity routers, you might be able to input those domains into a block list. you could, with some fine tuning, even block entire IP ranges (like all of china for instance). Also, if you are willing to setup a spare laptop to do this, you can use the Iptables firewall and setup the proper scripting in there. SInce that would be a lot more secure than the commodity router, it won't be so easy to bypass. you might also consider blocking any VPN tunnels as they can get around the domain blocks. One nice thing about Linus as a firewall is that you can log in and use either wireshark on a remote session or just run tcpdump and exclude any traffic not to or from your kids machines. This will give you an idea of where they are headed online. I used to do this a lot when I ran an OpenBSD firewall here on a virtual machine. It gave me the ability to monitor net traffic and see if anything was amiss. THe only issue I see right now is spending money on power to run a 200 watt drain on the electric for a computer.

-eric

On Jul 7, 2015, at 1:26 PM, AZ Pete wrote:

> All,
> 
> I have two boys who's video gaming on their laptops is out of control. If me or my wife aren't *constantly* looking over their shoulders, they will be playing games. And they are savvy enough to have their educational lessons open in one tab and games in another and alt-tab away from the game when we are walking past.
> 
> I need a solution that will block their game sites, while still allowing access to all the other sites that are needed for school, lessons, research etc.
> 
> Is there some method I can block DNS requests to certain domains, while keeping others active for only their computers? I want something *very easy* to set up and maintain that runs on Windows (all computers in my home network are Win based). I have a Windows file server I could load some kind of proxy software on and have the kids computers hit the proxy to resolve DNS calls. But again, I don't want to screw around with complex proxy servers, "net nanny" based software, etc. Also, simply editing their hosts file isn't terribly realistic either.
> 
> Basically, I want a solution where I can easily enter a domain to be blocked (or removed for access) for only their PCs, without having to sink hours and hours into learning/configuring/maintaining some complex software solution. I'd also rather not have to load some kind of net-nanny software onto each of their computers (which would be a pain to constantly have to maintain the block list on each machine).
> 
> Free/Open Source would be best, but I'll be willing to pay if the price is right.
> 
> I'm at my wits end with this game addition (and yes it's an addiction) and need a solution.
> 
> Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
> 
> Peter
> 
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