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Question

How to block certain websites from your home Wifi-network?

Mar 21, 2016 5:11AM PDT

I want to block certain types of websites such as gaming sites from my home wifi network since I have kids who spend a lot of time in those gaming sites. I also want to restrict video streaming on certain computers. I have tried using the instructions given on this site: http://goxpctricks.atwebpages.com/opendns.php which worked for blocking sites, but it blocks websites for all devices on the network. I just want to block for certain computers only, not all computers on the network. Any idea on what I can do?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
You also have the HOSTS file.
Mar 21, 2016 7:46AM PDT

You can block by name websites in your HOSTS file. https://www.google.com/#q=block+with+hosts+file finds many prior discussions on that.

The last time I used OpenDNS I had an admin login that unblocked sites.

All this really doesn't work if I change my DNS to say 8.8.8.8 and edit my hosts file. So a savvy user can easily get around your blocks. Is this a parental control question?

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parental control
Mar 22, 2016 7:22AM PDT

Yes, its a parental control question. I just want a solution to block sites on my kid's (aged 7-12) computers and limit video streaming on their computers, but not on computers which my 20-year-old son uses.

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I'm not an OpenDNS user today.
Mar 22, 2016 7:30AM PDT

But from memory you can unblock by some username and password. The hosts file works too for site names. Plenty of solutions but can test your networking skills.

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Answer
Hosts?
Mar 21, 2016 7:56AM PDT

If these 'certain computers' are windows pc's look into a host file.

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How to block certain websites from your home Wifi-network?
Mar 22, 2016 7:15AM PDT

If host file works on windows pc's only, then how do i block for other devices such as smartphones and tablets that connect to the wifi network

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hosts file works on Linux and Android too.
Mar 22, 2016 7:33AM PDT
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Answer
really need to set user access to the computers
Mar 21, 2016 2:03PM PDT

it will need to be a combination of host and user access accounts.

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Look at this web site
Mar 22, 2016 11:15AM PDT
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ways to block websites from wifi network
Mar 23, 2016 12:28AM PDT

If you know the specific sites or IP addresses you want to block then you can login to your retail access router and configure a firewall filter.
If you just want generic parental control then there are many options from using OpenDNS, installing the appropriate software on your browser or computers. There are quite a few options here.
Most current home WiFi routers include advanced security features.

But something nearly all routers will allow is routing. Set a static route for the IP addresses for the websites you want blocked to 127.0.0.1. This will block all the traffic to those web sites.

Most routers have web filtering as a feature. Here you can add individual URLs and block their access.
Once you log into your routers console search for any option like firewall or web security. There you will find similar web filtering tool.
What router you using.

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But how to block for some devices and allow for the others?
Mar 23, 2016 3:45AM PDT

What I want to know is how to block for some devices and allow for the others. I'm guessing those solutions will block for all devices on the network, correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm using Engenius ESR6650 router.

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Indeed.
Mar 23, 2016 3:49AM PDT

If you want to block them on certain devices only, you have to do that on the devices itself.

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Answer
block certain websites from your home Wifi-network
Mar 23, 2016 1:01AM PDT

If you know the specific sites or IP addresses you want to block then you can login to your retail access router and configure a firewall filter. Or,
You can help from posting some web address or this address Quora.com. I hope solved your problem.

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Answer
DNS Is An Option
Oct 19, 2016 1:32PM PDT

There are many options to block websites from your home WiFi network. Someone mentioned using DNS. I've used this service before as a simple way to enable blocking for certain category types:

https://www.neustar.biz/security/dns-services/recursive-dns

You would need to set the DNS on your router and that would block "everyone". If you're looking to block certain machines / devices, that's a little more involved. If your kids are using a computer than your kids are using, you could override the specific DNS settings on the machine. The website above has general instructions on how to do this for mobile devices and PC's.

HTH.