How to block Skype via network settings?

[irving1994]

Hi guys, hopefully this makes sense putting this in the network section.

Basically my brother spends all his time on his gaming PC, and of course plays with his friends, sadly due to him being underneath my bedroom directly and close proximity to my mums bedroom getting to sleep can become a real hassle if he is not cooperative, now of course the argument works both ways but my brother lacks the self control to stop speaking during the early hours, I myself struggle to sleep without absolute silence whilst my mum is a very light sleeper.

So into the actual networking related question, how can I block Skype, specifically is possible during a certain time period. I know we can block his PC itself but that seems far to strict and does not allow him to use the internet at all, however if I was to block Skype during early hours, he could still play with friends but wouldn't be able to keep the whole house up playing with them.

So far the only idea I've had is to use the ports that Skype uses to stop it from working, but ports are where my technical expertise ends and assistance would be greatly appreciated, as well as any other ideas or suggestions.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[El Pew]

Skype uses port 80 by default so you can't block that without basically blocking the entire internet. You could change it from the default to something else then block that with a firewall, but he can just change it straight back in the settings. Windows firewall should allow you to block executables, why not use that?

Or, you know, try talking to him and tell him to behave himself.

 

[HangTime]

The problem is if even if you were to block Skype he could probably just use a different VOIP application instead, providing his friends were willing to switch over.

How about suggesting he move his PC to another room further away from the bedrooms (if possible) - I suspect given the option between having his PC moved out of his room, or being more considerate about noise at night, he will choose the later.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

Disable Skype...

Teamspeak, mumble, ventrillo, chat functions in a lot of apps now.
Steam has a chat features, yahoo messenger, Live messenger.

Even a lot of games now have chat systems built in too.

Blocking skype aint gonna stop him from talking, a clout round the lug might tho

 

[Sin_Chase]

Skype is a pain to block, it uses a mesh P2P style network and no specific ports. If you want to block it you need to do it on a Layer7/Application level, which means you need a router/firewall appliance which supports it.

But as above, somewhat pointless exercise.

 

[House]

My works solution is to add the Skype executable to their AV definitions and remove it from all work pcs. Used to annoy the hell out of me pre-smartphone when I worked abroad allot.

Not a solution that will help you.