Checking Visited Websites On Bt Router Is It Possible?

sare^baw's · 5 Mar 2017 at 02:03

I have the latest BT Hub router so is it possible to check the websites being visited by someone on their smartphone? I just want to check what sites my daughter visits. I dont want to enable parental controls as that will just make my life difficult.

If i cant do this on the BT router can i replace it with one that can do this?

Caged · 5 Mar 2017 at 10:34

No. You can replace the router and use something like OpenDNS VIP Home, but that really only works nicely with a static IP.

Not sure what routers have the features you're after built into them.

BigT · 5 Mar 2017 at 11:06

You can replace the router or augment your network with something else.

Cheapest way I can think of is to put a Raspberry Pi loaded with PiHole on your LAN, turn off DHCP on your HH and let the PiHole be the DHCP server as well. As a nice aside you'll get network wide ad blocking and the PiHole query logs will show which IP address accessed what URLs.

PiHole would also be able to network wide block sites you didn't like the look of your daughter surfing. It also does this without big scary messages to your daughter - it just won't load the site no matter where she tries from ( her phone, laptop, friend's phone, Dad's PC etc.)

BigT · 5 Mar 2017 at 11:25

Actually on second thoughts it's not going to quite do what you want. You'll be able to see the domains she's going to but not the URLs. That may be enough for you but only you'd know that.

Replacing your HH with a home made pfSense router with the ntopng plugin is going to do all you need and more, but it requires some decent networking knowledge and you'd need a wireless access point as well. Not sure if £250 and the hassle is worth it for you.

Others on here may be able to advise on some of the good open source firmwares that can be installed on cheaper consumer routers and might be able to do it. I'm not familiar with them.

sare^baw's · 6 Mar 2017 at 01:57

Caged said:
No. You can replace the router and use something like OpenDNS VIP Home, but that really only works nicely with a static IP.
Not sure what routers have the features you're after built into them.

Ok thanks for your reply anyway.

BigT said:
You can replace the router or augment your network with something else.

Cheapest way I can think of is to put a Raspberry Pi loaded with PiHole on your LAN, turn off DHCP on your HH and let the PiHole be the DHCP server as well. As a nice aside you'll get network wide ad blocking and the PiHole query logs will show which IP address accessed what URLs.

PiHole would also be able to network wide block sites you didn't like the look of your daughter surfing. It also does this without big scary messages to your daughter - it just won't load the site no matter where she tries from ( her phone, laptop, friend's phone, Dad's PC etc.)

This sounds very interesting but complicated. I know nothing about the rasberry pi, is it something i can configure myself quite easily to do what you suggest? I do like the idea idea of the network wide adblocking too.

BigT said:
Actually on second thoughts it's not going to quite do what you want. You'll be able to see the domains she's going to but not the URLs. That may be enough for you but only you'd know that.

Replacing your HH with a home made pfSense router with the ntopng plugin is going to do all you need and more, but it requires some decent networking knowledge and you'd need a wireless access point as well. Not sure if £250 and the hassle is worth it for you.

Others on here may be able to advise on some of the good open source firmwares that can be installed on cheaper consumer routers and might be able to do it. I'm not familiar with them.

Yes the domains should be fine, this would give me a gerneral idea of what sites she is visiting although not the actual pages, is that correct?

I dont have great networking knowledge and the £250 is a bit too much on this occasion. £100 maybe is ok but not £250.

BigT · 6 Mar 2017 at 06:45

OK, Raspberry Pi will cost you about £50 by the time you buy a case and stuff. I can suggest before spending any money that you go looking for YouTube videos on the subject and see if you think you can do it. There are essentially four parts to doing this.

1. Set up the Raspberry Pi with a free Linux operating system
2. Installing PiHole on that OS
3. Configure your home hub to not do DHCP on your network anymore
4. Configure your PiHole installation to do the DHCP instead and tell it where your home hub (gateway) is so it can route traffic out to the internet.

And yes domains will give you the general idea of where she is going but not specific pages. So you'd know if she was going to something BBC related but not necessarily if she was looking at the news, sport or watching iPlayer

sare^baw's · 6 Mar 2017 at 16:11

Sounds good. I should be able to tackle this if i do a little research on the subject and watch the youtube videos. Thanks to you for being so helpful, it does not sound impossible for me. Would i just plug the raspberry pi into a monitor or tv and connect it to my router via a Ethernet cable?

neodude · 6 Mar 2017 at 16:42

sare^baw's said:
Sounds good. I should be able to tackle this if i do a little research on the subject and watch the youtube videos. Thanks to you for being so helpful, it does not sound impossible for me. Would i just plug the raspberry pi into a monitor or tv and connect it to my router via a Ethernet cable?

No need for a display, you can do everything you need via SSH. I recommend Putty as a good SSH client.

sare^baw's · 7 Mar 2017 at 06:52

neodude said:
No need for a display, you can do everything you need via SSH. I recommend Putty as a good SSH client.

Is putty similar to teamviewer which I currently use? Would I set the Pi up with a monitor and once configured use Putty to control it?

neodude · 7 Mar 2017 at 08:35

Putty is an SSH & Telnet client. It allows you to control the Pi using a Command Line Interface. I've never used PiHole (I use Squidguard) so I'm unsure as to whether you would need a full GUI to control it or if a CLI would suffice.

BigT · 7 Mar 2017 at 20:54

sare^baw's said:
Is putty similar to teamviewer which I currently use? Would I set the Pi up with a monitor and once configured use Putty to control it?

Set it up with a monitor. Then run it headless and all configuration is done via a web browser. PiHole includes a built in web server and a nice interface you can use to manage it from any PC or tablet/phone on your network.

Quartz · 7 Mar 2017 at 21:14

Don't ISPs now have to log all sites visited? If so, BT should be able to give you reports.

Sparx · 7 Mar 2017 at 21:45

Quartz said:
Don't ISPs now have to log all sites visited? If so, BT should be able to give you reports.

Lol the call centre monkeys will not have access to this information. Not gonna happen.

Plus by the sounds of it, sounds like OP Just wants to spy on his kids/family anyway. Make sure they aren't on anything naughty I imagine, so wants to regularly check.

sare^baw's · 8 Mar 2017 at 21:02

Sparx said:
Lol the call centre monkeys will not have access to this information. Not gonna happen.

Plus by the sounds of it, sounds like OP Just wants to spy on his kids/family anyway. Make sure they aren't on anything naughty I imagine, so wants to regularly check.

Spying is fun but your right, trying to get the info off bt would not be a practical solution.

BigT said:
Set it up with a monitor. Then run it headless and all configuration is done via a web browser. PiHole includes a built in web server and a nice interface you can use to manage it from any PC or tablet/phone on your network.

Ok great info and thanks, i had a look at a setting up video on youtube and it looks easy enough. So ill probably order one in the next week or so.

neodude said:
Putty is an SSH & Telnet client. It allows you to control the Pi using a Command Line Interface. I've never used PiHole (I use Squidguard) so I'm unsure as to whether you would need a full GUI to control it or if a CLI would suffice.

I dont honestly know at this moment, im going to but the Pi and throw myself into the deep end, once i have it here i can fathom it out using the internet guides and the hep given here. Let the spying commence

sare^baw's · 11 Mar 2017 at 14:13

Where is the best place to buy a Pi? Is ebay a bad idea as im concerned about buying a fake. Should i get the starter kit with the case and charger, is there anything else i will need? I have a usb mouse and keyboard.

KIA · 11 Mar 2017 at 20:22

sare^baw's said:
Where is the best place to buy a Pi? Is ebay a bad idea as im concerned about buying a fake. Should i get the starter kit with the case and charger, is there anything else i will need? I have a usb mouse and keyboard.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/

Two distributors are listed.

Heisenberg · 11 Mar 2017 at 20:26

sare^baw's said:
Where is the best place to buy a Pi? Is ebay a bad idea as im concerned about buying a fake. Should i get the starter kit with the case and charger, is there anything else i will need? I have a usb mouse and keyboard.

https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-kits-and-bundles/products/raspberry-pi-3-starter-kit

sare^baw's · 12 Mar 2017 at 12:24

Heisenberg said:
https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-kits-and-bundles/products/raspberry-pi-3-starter-kit

Many thanks for that mate it certainly looks better value than the other site listed on the raspberrypi website. Ill order tomorrow, this gives me what i need in an easy bundle.

KIA said:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/

Two distributors are listed.

Cheers for that mate, rs do seem a tad expensive, the other distributer just sells tshirts and stuff, not the actual device.

KIA · 12 Mar 2017 at 18:59

sare^baw's said:
the other distributer just sells tshirts and stuff

and hardware.

It'll show up after you click through.

sare^baw's · 12 Mar 2017 at 19:03

KIA said:
and hardware.

It'll show up after you click through.

Are you talking about the SWAG site, it does not have the actual Raspberry Pi that i can see, just tshirts and magazines.