can I set my netgear to have a time block? example: 8pm to 5am?
time restriction
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You can put time restrictions on some routers but unfortunately these can quite easily be gotten around, at least with a Netgear DGND3700, simply by going to the desired website before the cut off time that you have put in place and leaving that webpage open in a browser. If the page is already open when the timer kicks in to block the site, then the site will remain accessible to the user and the user can still navigate around that site including opening new pages from that site till the connection to that site has been closed. This information has been well researched and tested by my 15 year old son lol. The site may even still be accessible till the browser has been shutdown, even if the page has been closed but I haven't tested this last part. Also at least some internet games seem to get past the time restrictions. I have tried shutting down the router for a short time hoping that it would reset his connection but that doesn't work either.
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I thought about the old working off line but he seemed to able to go to pages that he hadn't opened earlier which indicated to me that the connection was maintained. For whatever reason he was still able to continue playing his games and doing what he wanted to do on those sites, including using social chat programs that were running before the restrictions came into effect. So the fact remains that time restrictions couldn't stop his activities completely and neither could OpenDNS. They just restricted him to those sites and programs that were already running.
I'm now setting up a second router in the line that only the boys connect through (I have read that a second router can cause trouble with connections if not setup correctly). It will be on a digital timer and they will be denied access through the main router. Let's see him continue playing with no power to the router. Might have to lock up the router and timer or put them in a place where he can't get to them un-noticed. I have no idea on the effects of cutting power to the router every day but it is an old unused router so it will be worth the risk if it works.
This is probably not the place for these next comments but I do wish that there were an option in the routers that cuts the connection completely to selected computers and causes the computer to ask for a new lease from the router which will be denied, that should stop connections after bed time. The other problem that I found with restrictions, unless it has been changed on later routers, is that the restrictions apply to all computers in the list so if you had 3 children and wanted to block 2 of them at 7pm and the other at say 9pm you just can't do it, the restrictions are applied to all or none on the list, they are not individual restrictions but group restrictions. Surely it would be possible to use something like user permissions in Windows where it can be done by group or individually.
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Seems to me time blocking using custom time blocks has a limitation that disallows working across dates. I couldn't set a time block from 9p-7a either. Using multiple time blocks leaves at least a 15 minute gap if you go from 9p-11:45p then 12a-7a. Not best but still worth a try! A custom time block from anytime p-12am does not work.
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I have teenage boys who have managed to out-tech me at every turn. Short of physically unplugging the internet connection every night and sleeping with the box under my pillow (which I may well have to do), I'd like to shut the internet off from 10 pm to 6 am. Surely there is a way to do this?
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I just switched from a Telstra modem technicolor TG587n v3. I could on that modem stop all internet access from individual computers in 1 hour time blocks. Now with the new Netgear DGND3700 I can only find ways to filter the content in time blocks..
Very disappointed that I purchased this Netgear unit believing it to be a better unit but it doesn't have the same capability in this respect.
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My old D-Link router allows router based scheduling. Simply set up a schedule, and then can apply it to any user, and it does cut that persons connection off completely. I am still trying to figure out how to do that on my new NETGEAR R6100, without having to download other parental controls, as NETGEAR's parental controls seem useless for this function, and i don't want their NETGEAR Genie to set up a bypass account, which only filters. I don't want to filter anything categorically, just time bock my child's access.
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To block the full Internet, this may be a feature on the NETGEAR router's configuration page at http://routerlogin.net. The NETGEAR Live Parental Controls (LPC) system is able to set time-based filtering (all categories comes close); however, for total limitation during certain hours you would need to configure the settings on the router itself under its own controls or firewall.
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I also have R6100 and it either blocks all devices or none for the schedule. I've set mine to do 00:00 to 06:00 for all days (and it shows every time in the settings) but it does NOT work! Not happy about that as my son does not know how to set his own limits and was up until 5am last night. That said, you can unblock one device in another area so I've done that to my device only.
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DNS does not block games if they already have the server IP resolved, correct? So time-based blocking using DNS doesn't work so well due to caching. Seems to me that a router manufacturer could implement better parental controls. Can someone recommend the best router for parents of teens? My son has figured out how to push the factory reset button on the router to get the factory admin password and/or turn off parental controls. I think they are off by default. Maybe someone could make a nice lock box for their router so teens would not have physical access to the router. Would be best if a router manufacturer specified the dimensions and material so that it would not impede the performance of WiFi too much.
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Alexander is on the right track with his suggestion, but the NetGear R6100 does not appear to allow scheduling of access control, only service or site control. And there is no option for "all sites" or "all services". This functionality does not rely on OpenDNS or NetGear Live Parental Controls. It is found at ADVANCED > Security > Schedule after logging in at as mentioned at http://routerlogin.net. So perhaps someone can provide a link to the NetGear support site where we can ask for more router-based parental control options in the router's own firmware. It would be nice to have different schedules based on day of week as has been repeatedly asked for at OpenDNS, but this is not the place to request that. NetGear needs to implement this in their firmware in addition to the OpenDNS capabilities. NetGear has gotten off track by trying to implement time-based restrictions based on OpenDNS because THEY DON'T WORK as rotblitz has said over and over, and many of us with kids can attest to! Further cooperation between OpenDNS and NetGear might make choosing the services or sites to block easier for us parents, but it will have to be done at http://routerlogin.net, not at OpenDNS, IMHO. But then you have the physical security issue I mentioned above. A nice lock box with a regular old physical key on my keychain would solve that, I believe, unless my son finds my keys while I'm sleeping. So don't put it on your key chain; hide it somewhere else. In the meantime, NetGear should make the schedule apply to access control, so we can at least block everything for all users based on schedule or block by MAC address (which has also been noted to be able to be spoofed by smart teens). I would probably block all access to the R6100 during bedtime hours, and if I need access while teen is asleep, I will use the U-Verse router which he won't be given password to. But that means U-Verse folks (2Wire, Arris?) need to build me a lock box too, because once he figures out what I'm doing, he'll try to do the same.
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"How exactly do I assign a static IP?"
Sad to hear that seach engines don't work for you. :(
https://startpage.com/do/search?q=android+assign+static+IP+address
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For me the easier answer was to put the wifi channel on a timer instead.
Basically I give myself and the wife access to the N network, and the rest of the family gets G. At night the G band turns off which cuts out any browsing after hours (unless the kid lies staring at a single page until the wee hours). THe more expensive multi-channel routers allow this and it works great. -
To assign a static IP "reservation" on the NetGear R6100, go to ADVANCED->LAN SETUP and click the "Add" button at the bottom. That opens an "Address Reservation" page that is pretty self-explanatory. Once you have assigned a static IP, you can use the services page under SECURITY to block services for that IP. You can block all services by specifying all ports 0-65535 and UDP/TCP. That is the techie way.
It sounds like king_family is just using a timer on the "G" router like we used for our Christmas tree, and then not giving out the WiFi password for the 'N' router. The trouble is that my son is 16 and would just unplug the router from the timer and plug it in to the wall socket directly while I am asleep. He at least would be honest about it: it would be left that way the next morning. I am at least a little happy that he doesn't try to hide his bad habits from me. As it is now, he doesn't have to reset the R6100 to factory defaults because he knows the default admin password on the U-Verse router, so if I turn off wifi there, he just logs in with Ethernet and turns it back on! Physical access to the device is a problem that is hard to solve in a home. Businesses can mount devices out of reach or place them in locked communications closets. By the way, since he has the default admin password to the router, he can change the wifi password to whatever he likes. I have been meaning to call AT&T to find out a way to fix that issue. Maybe they need to send me a new router with a different password, and I'll have to make sure he never gets it. It is printed right on the outside of the router, so that will need to be marked out before he sees it. I suppose that is better than the NetGear because the netgear's default is to have no password, I think, after a factory reset.
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Bingo Matt.
I've yet to see a device that is "n only". So I put all "controlled" content on the G band. The N band uses a unique password that I don't hand out. G band is plenty fast enough for gaming, only thing that really needs that sustained throughput would be streaming but my Roku's are all hardwired anyway. Technically if the kids wanted to run into some other room to find the hardwires (ethernet) they could get around it but lets face it: today's youth is lazy. They'd probably rather waste more time trying to guess the neighbors wifi then actually getting up. If I felt like it I could have configured a whitelist for MAC addresses on the switch (allowing only specific interfaces to use the ethernet) but I've not had the need. At some point you have to accept you are still just managing a home ... not some secret organization.
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