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How do I get better parental control?

The firewall built into the Verizon modem is very limited. I have young children in the house, and I would like to be able to track all internet traffic that comes through my account. I know that I can install software on each individual computer, but that's a lousy solution because some traffic is not on PCs, it's on other devices, like iPods and game systems and whatnot.

I need a firewall at the modem level that allows me to track what web sites have been accessed from which devices on my network. How do I do that?

Comments

smith6612

In most cases, if you want to log the websites that are being visited, you can use a service called OpenDNS which has the ability to log your DNS traffic. You can see from there what sites are being accessed, and you can also configure particular sites to be blocked. You would need to make sure though, that your kids do not change any DNS settings away from OpenDNS. You could probably create a firewall rule that drops all Outbound DNS requests not going to OpenDNS as a solution to that problem.

As far as logging traffic down to the detail, you would need a more dedicated solution. Using an old PC running a Linux Distribution built to run as a Firewall and as your main router (or as a secondary router running all of your network traffic through it), that would be do-able.

gkrehbiel

Thanks for the ideas. I would much prefer that the Verizon router have a better firewall / logging solution, but I don't think that's going to happen.

tns

Pretty much no routers have decent firewall or parental controls. Your better off with one of the packages (free/purchase) that run on your computer.

Daddypops

This is pretty much the same question I have. I'd like to be able to monitor where my kids are going on the internet, whether it be from their ipod, iphone, laptop or desktop. Reviewing the administration on my Verizon MI424WR wireless router, I don't see any such capability. Before buying my own home router such as SkyDog with this capability, am wondering if Verizon offers a way to solve this problem. Kids are only asked to use the internet more and more, but I really don't want to worry about the constant temptation from pornography or other inappropriate activity. The Verizon router allows time of day restrictions, but I am looking specifically for a way to review what they are looking at - the trust-but-verify approach. Any suggestions?

gs0b

I'm not aware of any Verizon products that have the capabilities of "SkyDog."

I use OpenDNS in my home to block access to certain classes of web sites and it works well, for free. It does not, however, give me data on each user's access patterns.

Also, remember that any access control approach is only as good as your neighbor's WiFi password and any other access points available to your family members that you can't control.

Good Luck.

CaptainSTX

Also note that it is a trivial matter on PCs to change either the MAC address or private IP which defeats most if not all controls implemented on any router.

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