Parental Controls Issues

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luvanythingpurple
I have a Netgear R7000. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Phone & an Ipad 2 that I want to use to manage Parental Controls. i have downloaed the Netgear Genie App on both my devices and set the controls to Moderate. I clicked the "Change Custom Settings" space and it took me to a OpenDNS website. I created the account & have logged in. I created 2 Pass Through Accounts for my husband & myself. At the top, I clicked Account Settings & found where I could block Youtube. I first typed www.youtube.com and it said the domain was not found. So I logged into Youtube & copied and pasted from the web browser. There were other http letters involved, so I guess its different. From what I understand, if my husband and I do not want to be restricted, we must be logged in to the Netgear Genie App or maybe its the DNS Server? I don't know which,....but I wanted to test being blocked, so I logged out of everything & closed everything out on my Ipad. I then hit the Youtube App.....and it allowed me to go right to Youtube! But then if I was in Safari and typed in www.youtube.com , then it works! I will get a message saying the Site has been blocked by DNS. So....what I want to know is how to make it work when the Youtube is accessed by an App on Iphones or Androids or Ipads? Also, can someone tell me which it is that I need to be logged into for the bypass account to work for my husband and I? Lastly, I read somewhere.....that none of these restrictions matter with Google. If my teen wants to type in Porn on Google search, it could still pop up because Google ignores all the parental controls and restrictions. My son is way more knowledgable about computers than I am and maybe he already knows this, ~ I don't know. I'm glad he says he likes Bing better. But going into Google settings to check a box for safe searching isn't going to last long when he finds out he can uncheck the box. Is there anything that can be done to restrict Google?
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    tklondon

    Hi

    quite a lot there, but ill share my experience.

    The app seems to be different to the website and I could not see how to block the app, so in my case I removed the app from the device. As the app was installed at the factory, I had to use a special utility to remove it.

    For mobile devices, I use another app called MMguardian and that has lots of features, but one is to block access to apps at times of day and week or always.

    It also can notify the parent when new apps are being installed.

    As for bypass, its ok, so long as Genie is not accessible by the child, as Genie is the key to the cookie jar.

    If you have it on only the parent devices, then you can use the bypass option.

    When your son sees the openDNS warnings, a quick search may show some flaws, so take a look at this vid and think about this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfWjR9xQpk

    As for a more holistic parental control, I have found that there is no one magic bullet and you must always be checking.

    Here is what I have used and so far so good.

    OpenDNS

    Block domains on OpenDNS

    Firewall rules in the router

    Block words in the router such as "stagram" (this blocks any instagram site or related)

    MMGuardian for the mobile functions (very simple, but it just works)

    Norton Family (free account)

    Activtrak (this one only if you are really concerned as this crosses a line, but in my case I needed it to stop some bullying)

     

    I know its a bit daunting, but its all just making sure that kids are safe and they use the internet when we want them to and how we want them to.

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    rotblitz

    "can someone tell me which it is that I need to be logged into for the bypass account to work for my husband and I?"

    You'll see your bypass user IDs when you login at https://netgear.opendns.com/

    See also http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20079/~/allowing-a-single-computer-to-bypass-netgear-opendns-live-parental-controls(lpc)

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    rotblitz

    "Is there anything that can be done to restrict Google?"

    Yes, you make Google SafeSearch persistent: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/144686

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    Alexander Harrison

    Google searches can't be restricted by OpenDNS, but the website links would be blocked upon trying to go there. You can block Google Images by adding the following to the block list. 

    encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com

    encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com

    encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com

    encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com

    encrypted-tbn.l.google.com

    encrypted-tbn.l.gstatic.com

    tbn.l.google.com

    Blocking the above subdomains is no longer completely affective, the first 5-10 images will still display because of Google's use of the Data URI scheme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_URI_scheme).

    With regards to youtube on mobile devices, add these two domains to your block list: 

    • googlevideo.com
    • ytimg.l.google.com

    Note that block lists apply to all users including bypass users. 

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