I think i read somewhere that i could route all the comps on my home network through my computer in order to cut down on my kids getting around the firewalls and virus protection. i am fixing to go to linksys E3000 and AE2500 adapters for their comps. can anyone point me in the right direction on how to make everything run through me, so i dont have probs with the kids circumventing the network.
You could install free for home use K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filter and Parental Control Software this way you could control what they are allowed to interact with over the tinternet and at what times etc.
Depending on how advanced the kids are technically, there are a few options available to you ...
Stage one would be to ensure that they all have standard user accounts with passwords and the administrator level accounts have passwords too, that the kids do not know
assuming we are talking about all windows 7 systems you can then use the parental controls built into the OS to control many aspects of their access to programs and times for the net.
would also look at setting your router to pick up it's DNS from somewhere like OpenDNS which includes access restriction policies to a large list of "bad" sites
Also ensure that the router set-up page has a password set
If possible I would use hard wired connections to the router with wireless interfaces disabled so that they have to access the net via your router and not an open neighbour's system, (hence the reason for standard accounts to prevent a tech savvy child resetting anything.
yes , all are win 7 64 bit os. i was trying to find out if i could make it so that all security was on my comp and the router, because my kids turn off their virus protection and firewalls to try and speed up their connections in order to cut lag in their games. i just wondered if i kept my firewall and virus protection on and the security from the router, would there be a way to set it up to keep them from getting their comps in trouble? i am changing from wireless g to wireless n E3000 linksys and AE2500 adapters. i had tomato on my g but have wanted to jump to n for a long time. would it be better to stay with firmware on the router or put tomato on it for more control?
The biggest contribution to security is the "Standard Account", this will allow you to configure each system so as to stop the user from changing any critical system settings such as firewall or AV,in fact there is normally no "set-up needed is most security systems require Administrative access to adjust.
When you add the parental controls the security possibilities are multiplied many-fold, the user will require your admin password to add or change anything, Kids will not like this, but it returns control of the systems to the adult, which is the best for their safety on-line.
The internet filters I mentioned are usable with a standard router so an alternate firmware is not required, though you may find that other system management options may be enhanced by the use of Tomato or similar
thank you for the help.
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