Parental control & shop wifi control

sandt

Hi, im not sure if this is the correct place for this so mods please move if its not suitable for here.

My brother is looking for some type of parental control software for his sons laptop so that he can control what he can view online (hes 13 years old).

He said that he tried to install a program called 'K9 web protection' but everytime he tried to configure it, it crashed. he said when you tried to configure it, it would open in google chrome but then would get an error saying chrome needs to restart, maybe its not compatible with windows 7?

just wondering does anyone know how to fix this or are there any other software programs that parents are using that work??



Also on a similar note a friend of my has a chipper and he wants to put in free wifi for the customers, but he dosent know what speed to go for (obviously his ISP are trying to sell him their top and most expensive product) he says he'll only every have about 10-12 max people on it at any 1 time. would a 3-5mb line be enough for that?

And he will have the same problem of controlling what his customers can view/do on his wifi. He said he asked his ISP but they offered no solutions, he looked into something call 'open DNS'. would this suit this type of situation?


Apologies for the long and double post!!

And thanks to any replies.

chin_grin

I'd go for OpenDNS for both cases. But with any control software there are ways around them.

Kinetic^

Has he tried setting restrictions within the routers control panel at all?


In relation to your friend's chipped. Is it a sit down chipper or just walk in order and leave? If it's the later, from a business point of view I'd just want people in and out as quick as possible. If it's a sit down establishment, 3mb+ would be fine. Just make sure he puts WPA2 as security and then shares it out to customers rather than having an open network. Get him to change the security key once a month and also to change the default login details for the router.

sandt

chin_grin wrote: »

I'd go for OpenDNS for both cases. But with any control software there are ways around them.

can you explain how people would get around the use of open DNS? do you not need all the login info to change anyhting?

Kinetic^ wrote: »

In relation to your friend's chipped. Is it a sit down chipper or just walk in order and leave? If it's the later, from a business point of view I'd just want people in and out as quick as possible. If it's a sit down establishment, 3mb+ would be fine. Just make sure he puts WPA2 as security and then shares it out to customers rather than having an open network. Get him to change the security key once a month and also to change the default login details for the router.

It is a sit in chipper.
You mention having a security code on it which is fine but is changing it every month necessary? would it be a hassle to regular customers who come in a few times a week for the login details to be changing all the time?
Is this just to stop people in the same building from 'leeching' off his connection?

tadgh

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

sandt

ok, well i tried to i tried to set up openDNS on the brothers wireless router but i hasnt seemed to work!
i went in and set up a customized list of web content and applied it. It said to allow 3mins to allow for changes to be set. So then went and tried to get into a 'questionable' site and got in no problem!!

i dont know what ive done wrong, any ideas?


it is the 1st time ive tried to use this software so be gentle!

Blazer

Best way for your mate's son is to use the parental controls in Vista/Windows 7..they're really excellent.
1. Create a admin password (don't give to son)
2. Create user account for son (so the little fecker can't install another browser)
3. Log in as admin account and go to control panel /parental controls.
4. Block user from installing any programs, allow access to IE9 and set an admin password to filter out the mature sites. (go to control panel/Internet options/ Content tab/enable ratings (make sure "allow sites with no rating to be viewed" is unticked)

Did it for my uncle who's son is pretty savvy when it comes to finding ways around these type of things and he's still trying

As regards your mate in the chipper...definitely have a wifi password and change it every month...
to be honest I'd change it every week...you don't want the local downloaders closeby getting a hold of it and downloading every movie under the sun.
If you really wanted to you could allow your regulars full time access via their mac addresses so it wouldn't be too much hassle for them.


All OpenDNS is doing is allowing you to use the opendns servers for ip association rather than your ISP's ...they're not going to block out any sites whatsoever..

sandt

Sc@recrow wrote: »

Best way for your mate's son is to use the parental controls in Vista/Windows 7..they're really excellent.
1. Create a admin password (don't give to son)
2. Create user account for son (so the little fecker can't install another browser)
3. Log in as admin account and go to control panel /parental controls.
4. Block user from installing any programs, allow access to IE9 and set an admin password to filter out the mature sites. (go to control panel/Internet options/ Content tab/enable ratings (make sure "allow sites with no rating to be viewed" is unticked)

Did it for my uncle who's son is pretty savvy when it comes to finding ways around these type of things and he's still trying

As regards your mate in the chipper...definitely have a wifi password and change it every month...
to be honest I'd change it every week...you don't want the local downloaders closeby getting a hold of it and downloading every movie under the sun.
If you really wanted to you could allow your regulars full time access via their mac addresses so it wouldn't be too much hassle for them.


All OpenDNS is doing is allowing you to use the opendns servers for ip association rather than your ISP's ...they're not going to block out any sites whatsoever..

Thanks for that, that sounds like a good idea and fairly easy to do I'll give it a try.

But can anyone tell me how to get openDNS working correctly as it sounds like the perfect option for my mates chipper.

Thanks

bluferbl

Sc@recrow wrote: »

All OpenDNS is doing is allowing you to use the opendns servers for ip association rather than your ISP's ...they're not going to block out any sites whatsoever..

OpenDNS does have an option for content control. It works well but is bypassed if any of the connected clients are not using DHCP to get their DNS settings. It's worth doing because the average user will be using DHCP. An additional option is a WiFi router with content control built in...I set up a Netgear router a while back which had this feature. Don't rely on one solution...go for layers of protection.

scotty_irish

Sc@recrow wrote: »

Best way for your mate's son is to use the parental controls in Vista/Windows 7..they're really excellent.
1. Create a admin password (don't give to son)
2. Create user account for son (so the little fecker can't install another browser)
3. Log in as admin account and go to control panel /parental controls.
4. Block user from installing any programs, allow access to IE9 and set an admin password to filter out the mature sites. (go to control panel/Internet options/ Content tab/enable ratings (make sure "allow sites with no rating to be viewed" is unticked)

Did it for my uncle who's son is pretty savvy when it comes to finding ways around these type of things and he's still trying

As regards your mate in the chipper...definitely have a wifi password and change it every month...
to be honest I'd change it every week...you don't want the local downloaders closeby getting a hold of it and downloading every movie under the sun.
If you really wanted to you could allow your regulars full time access via their mac addresses so it wouldn't be too much hassle for them.


All OpenDNS is doing is allowing you to use the opendns servers for ip association rather than your ISP's ...they're not going to block out any sites whatsoever..

i promise you, if there's a way around it, a 13 will find it. portable apps for example - install a portable version of a browser on a usbstick.

sandt

bluferbl wrote: »

OpenDNS does have an option for content control. It works well but is bypassed if any of the connected clients are not using DHCP to get their DNS settings. It's worth doing because the average user will be using DHCP. An additional option is a WiFi router with content control built in...I set up a Netgear router a while back which had this feature. Don't rely on one solution...go for layers of protection.

Ok so how do I check the DHCP settings?

Do you have a link or name on that router you mentioned?


Thanks

bluferbl

Unfortunately there's not much you can do about DHCP settings in the chipper situation because the people who connect to your wireless network can control that themselves. Having said that, most people wouldn't have any idea how to change these settings or even that the settings exist. In the home situation, as someone else mentioned, if the user account is a non admin, they won't be able to mess with the network settings and therefore can't bypass the OpenDNS settings.

The router I used was a Netgear model. It was a job I did in the States and I don't have the specific model name to hand and it was a good while back too. Do a google for 'wifi router with parental control'...it'll probably send you in the right direction.

Just bear in mind, if a company like Sony can get hacked, anything you or I can do is gonna pale in comparison to their security efforts. As another poster mentioned, a 13 year old is gonna spend all day every day trying to get around anything you set up and with the power of google they will probably succeed. It's a cat and mouse game so you'll no doubt you will end up having to 'up your game' before long!

sandt

Ok can anyone help me to get open DNS working correctly?

I have set it up on the router and any device that I try and use on the wireless network tells me that open DNS is enabled when I go to the openDNS.com/welcome page. So I know it is enabled.

And when on this page if I click the two links to test it (one is craigslist.og and the other is some phishing website, they both do the correct thing. ie. The craiglist address will take me to the correct site even though it's spelt .og instead of .org and the phishing site will be blocked, so that part of it is working.)

But when I go to openDNS.com and into my settings and set up some web filtering, and make sure the update dynamicIP settings it ticked and applied these settings, rebooted the router and laptop and waited a few minutes, nothing is filtered, I can get into ANY website I want to. It simply is not working correctly for me.


Does anyone have any idea what the problem with this is??

Thanks.

Cuddlesworth

Sc@recrow wrote: »

Best way for your mate's son is to use the parental controls in Vista/Windows 7..they're really excellent.
1. Create a admin password (don't give to son)
2. Create user account for son (so the little fecker can't install another browser)
3. Log in as admin account and go to control panel /parental controls.
4. Block user from installing any programs, allow access to IE9 and set an admin password to filter out the mature sites. (go to control panel/Internet options/ Content tab/enable ratings (make sure "allow sites with no rating to be viewed" is unticked)

Did it for my uncle who's son is pretty savvy when it comes to finding ways around these type of things and he's still trying

As regards your mate in the chipper...definitely have a wifi password and change it every month...
to be honest I'd change it every week...you don't want the local downloaders closeby getting a hold of it and downloading every movie under the sun.
If you really wanted to you could allow your regulars full time access via their mac addresses so it wouldn't be too much hassle for them.


All OpenDNS is doing is allowing you to use the opendns servers for ip association rather than your ISP's ...they're not going to block out any sites whatsoever..

Step one, crack Admin password with boot disk.

Step two, do what ever the hell you like.