discussion Need wired router with strong parental features

[DCCV44.2223]

I have 2 other 4 port wired routers connected to it now. They are just REALLY cheap routers and are mostly just 4 way splitters.

Are you running the routers as switches (DHCP disabled, WAN port not connected) or are you "double NATing" (DHCP active, WAN port connected, different private subnets for each router)?

When you run a router as a switch, the parental control features will not work. If you're "double NATing", you need to lock away the routers else they can simply bypass parental control by plugging their pc into another router.

Usually when you use your own router you set the ISP router in bridge mode to avoid "double NATing", but that still leave the connecting directly to the ISP router loophole.

I would suggest that you check with your ISP and see if they have a router that includes parental control options, it would be the best solution. Of course they can always reset the modem but that would leave telltales.

My kids know how to pretty much bypass anything. Only way I could truly stop them would be to turn off the breaker for the electricity. lol. They have been defeating my attempts at parental controls for many years. I swear they teach it in schools now.

Even if they know what to do to bypass parental control, they shouldn't be able to touch Window's parental control or any hardware/network settings without Administrator privileges. You may want to consider changing their user accounts to "Users" and removing them from the "Administrators" group (Remember to first create an Admin account for yourself with a strong passphrase.)

 

[Rison]

You know, i've been reading this thread for the past couple of days thinking about which linksys or dlink router would work, etc, etc. But sometimes simple stuff can be better. Routers and switches can be hacked, they can circumvent the settings on you.

Low tech. Get a timer for your power outlet. They even have cheap ones in a power bar. Have your cheap router hooked up to the timer, and the rest of your equip running off of the switch:
NOMA Power Bar with Timer, 8-Outlet | Canadian Tire

Or one of those outdoor lighting timer ones: Noma Outdoor Lighting Timer with 1 Outlet | Canadian Tire

Now, from an electronics perspective, it's going to really mess with the power supply of your router.. so make sure it's just a cheap router that's easily replaceable (ie: not the ISP router)

I would set it up like this:

ISP Router > Cheap Router (hooked to timer) > Switches, etc > workstations.

 

[Behemoth-]

I have 2 other 4 port wired routers connected to it now. They are just REALLY cheap routers and are mostly just 4 way splitters.

My kids know how to pretty much bypass anything. Only way I could truly stop them would be to turn off the breaker for the electricity. lol. They have been defeating my attempts at parental controls for many years. I swear they teach it in schools now.

All I need is a router with a password that will turn off the internets when I want. I do not want to spend weeks learning windows scripts/commands that my kids could easily circumvent.

If you have a small spare PC with 2 NICs or any PC with 2 NICs and let's say Hyper-V, your could run a virtual Sophos appliance.

I'd say it's an above average SMB UTM - the free version comes with all the features of the enterprise version, except it's limited to 50 protected IPs.

You'd have a complete proxy with time based policies. It's not really complicated, I think anyone with basic understanding of networking could set it up, at least basic features like the proxy.