Parental controls

Arge

Arge

Arge

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Not sure this is the right place to post this so mods feel free to move !

I have been tasked with setting up Internet parental controls on my uncles virgin media Internet.

Virgin offer a security software for free which you can install on up to 3 PCs and customise parental controls which is fine except the kids use iPads to browse the net on which the virgin software cannot be installed.

So my questions are...
What is the best way to set up parental controls ?
Can I set them up on each iPad - do they support this ?
There is also a parental controls setting on their belkin router which would be good as we could control it all from one place but it looks like you need to sign up to something or perhaps pay - anyone used router parental controls before ?

Thanks guys :)
 
any kid who can use a pc can get around most software that you will put on, ask any IT person who has ever worked in schools / colleges etc

if the filter is any good it's stops far too much of what it shouldn't, if it isn't set right it catches nothing.

best thing to do is setup logs, so you can monitor what they do and where they go and have that emailed to your address from the router, then if you see something you don't like, tell them, that way they know your watching / monitoring them, they won't like it, and as its not software based, they won't be able to get round it either as it's on the router.

just the fear of them knowing your watching what they do, stops most from doing anything they shouldn't.

all you have to do it show them one log, one dodgy site etc and they won't do it again for a while.
 
Thanks for the replies guys,

The kids are only young so they definitely wouldn't know how to remove a filter and to be fair they prob wouldn't even want to. Their mums just asked can it be set up because they sometimes accidentally click on links and she's seen stuff pop up before that they prob shouldn't be seeing through no fault of hers or the kids.

Have looked at the iPad parental controls which will be perfect because the ipad is all they use but it just looks like you can restrict which apps etc. they can use and not necessarily the age level of content for safari ?

Anyone had any experience setting this up on an iPad ?

Many thanks
 
Arge said:
Thanks for the replies guys,

The kids are only young so they definitely wouldn't know how to remove a filter and to be fair they prob wouldn't even want to. Their mums just asked can it be set up because they sometimes accidentally click on links and she's seen stuff pop up before that they prob shouldn't be seeing through no fault of hers or the kids.

Have looked at the iPad parental controls which will be perfect because the ipad is all they use but it just looks like you can restrict which apps etc. they can use and not necessarily the age level of content for safari ?

Anyone had any experience setting this up on an iPad ?

Many thanks
Click to expand...

You could use Google's Safe Search as part of a content-filtering strategy...you just need a gmail account so you can lock it.

http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=186669
 
Arge said:
Have looked at the iPad parental controls which will be perfect because the ipad is all they use but it just looks like you can restrict which apps etc. they can use and not necessarily the age level of content for safari ?
Click to expand...

This is where OpenDNS comes in. You'll need to sign-up for an OpenDNS account, change the filtering options & enter the OpenDNS servers in the routers web interface.
 
Another vote for OpenDNS.

You can choose to use their FamilyShield option which is free, or pay an annual subscription of $10 and select your own filters. Familyshield is not infallible, there were reports of RedTube being accessible a couple of years ago.

The benefit of a premium membership is that you can also view the domains that have been accessed over a given period:-

opendns1.png


You can then look at individual domains:-

opendns2.png


You can see which domains have been blocked:-

opendns3.png


If any domains get through that you don't like, then you can block them (this takes 3 minutes to upload to all servers) and then refer the domain for review.

Finally, you can customise your settings so that the internet access is exactly how you want it:-

opendns4.png


Obviously, the DNS settings are applied to your router and then your router secured so that DNS settings cannot be altered.

If you use a dynamic IP, then you can also install software that updates the IP if it should change.

OpenDNS also prevents access to Phishing websites automatically.

Hope this helps :)
 
Yeh that opendns looks perfect !

So If I set it up on the router then every computer on their network will be filtered ?

Will I have to set static ip addresses ?

Is there an option to browse unfiltered with a password or something ?

Thanks :)
 
Arge said:
Yeh that opendns looks perfect !

So If I set it up on the router then every computer on their network will be filtered ?
Click to expand...

Correct.

Arge said:
Will I have to set static ip addresses ?
Click to expand...

No, you can use a dynamic IP with installed software. Dynamic IP's rarely change anyway.

Arge said:
Is there an option to browse unfiltered with a password or something ?
Click to expand...

This is only available to Enterprise Customers.

You can either use a VPN on a specific machine, or disable OpenDNS when the children have gone to bed etc. Alternatively, you can allow a specific web page which will take 3 minutes to become active.
 
Hmm.. I'm setting this up for my uncle who doesn't have a great knowledge of computers and I don't live close so can't just pop round when things go wrong.

Think I will set it up on the router then write a step by step guide to set the dns back to auto.

Pretty sure I can manage that !

Thanks for all the help, may be back in a bit if I have trouble setting it up !
 
That might be a little out of date, but I'd you recommend NetNanny, because it is available on most platforms like desktops or smartphones. Probably the best tool available at the moment. PCPandora and PCWebControl are also worth a try, if you want to limit yourself to PC's. Cheers ;)
 
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