Block Skype on Router

[Rolovis]

Hello everyone.

I have a 13 year old daughter that's skyping more than I'd like her to. I'd like to block Skype on my Netgear WPN824v3 router. However, I've tried blocking Skype as a keyword, and all ports from 1024 to 65535 and it still allows the calls going through on my tests.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dwarf]

It is notoriously difficult, and virtually impossible, to block Skype due to the way it operates. It is capable of utilising multiple protocols and can dynamically assign ports for its use if others are blocked. The only practical way would be to uninstall the application.

 

[Solidwave]

Any ideas?

Uhhh, talk to your daughter about her phone use?

You're looking for a passive-aggressive technological fix for a parenting problem. That's really not an appropriate solution.

 

[Golden]

Nor is it appropriate to make generalised suggestions about what we perceive to be a "parenting problem". Who is to say she hasn't already talked to her daughter, and that this is a last resort?

Don't be too quick to pass judgment on what appears to you to be an inappropriate solution - you do not know the facts of the situation.

Regards,
Golden

 

[JMH]

Yes Golden, we do not have the facts at our disposal.

I agree with Dwarf's premise that it is almost impossible to block Skype without removing it totally.

If the "child" is technically deprived of Skype she can readily substitute with other more costly forms of communication.

Solidwave has merely stated the obvious.
The "elephant" in the room is the child /parent relationship.

 

[Sparr0w]

I read a solution on a website regarding the same for the old tumblr dashboard. Its say you can block skype by having Routers that support NBAR (Network Based Application Recognition) protocols. It enables the recognition of Skype packets and enables blocking them. There are some Cisco routers that support this technology for tumblr. You can try it.

____________________
Every man dies. Not every man really lives

 

[Infinite]

You might be able to use a third party software to block Skype without a password or setup Parental Controls.

 

[metalmania31]

There's always the 1911 to daughters computer. Kidding.
You might look into this article.
Yahoo! Answers - How to block skype in my network? ten points to the best answer!?

 

[acuratlsdit]

I know for a fact that Kaspersky Labs Internet Security 2012 has a function to block certain applications from running.

Keeping that in mind,

Do you have any parental software on her computer possible Norton, Kaspersky that you can enable the parental control to stop that application from running.

 

[calverley79]

blocking skype

1. Set up a guest network on your router.
2. change the username and password on the router
3. enable firewall on the guest network
4. change the wep key on the primary network
5. use the guest network on any shared pc.
6. if you can find the mac address you can limit internet usage to specific times through the firewall
7. to block skype add the following to your web filter

111.221.74.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
111.221.77.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
157.55.235.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
157.55.56.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
157.56.52.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
213.199.179.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
64.4.23.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
65.55.223.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
skype.com ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
talk.google.com ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
talkx.l.google.com ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
chatenable.mail.google.com ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
talkgadget.google.com ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
157.55.130.0 ALL 11:00 PM 09:00 AM 24 24 TCP Block Yes
dir1.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir2.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir3.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir4.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir5.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir6.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir7.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
dir8.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http1.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http2.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http3.sd.skype.net: ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http4.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http5.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http6.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http7.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
http8.sd.skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes
skype.net ALL 11:00 PM 07:00 AM 0 0 TCP Block Yes

(I have blocked skype from 11 pm to 7 am on all days on all ports. It might be overkill but it's worth it to keep the kid from doing bad stuff in the middle of the night, it also blocks google talk and google chat)

 

[Alejandro85]

It's trivial to block skype at the router level. You need to block outgoing connections to ports 80 and 443, it apparently uses standard HTTP(S) traffic internally, and a peer to peer approach if available on the same network. It also deprives computers of all web access too.

A more realistic, and still trivial, option is to use Windows Firewall. Just add an outgoing rule, select skype.exe executable file, and deny the connection, so it can't even connect to anything.

 

[ddr1958]

Block Skype the easy way...

I have exactly the same problem. Just blocking skype does not work. I solved it by using OpenDNS .

I solved it by using OpenDNS and making it the default domain in my router. From that point you can simply filter what categories you want blocked including skype

Hint: If you don't want to be filtered like your daughter put the domain from your pc to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
These are google DNS servers. That will bypass OpenDNS

OpenDNS is free ////dns severs 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

You now have an advanced system able to block groups you select

 

[ddr1958]

Block Skype the easy way

OpenDNS[FONT=&quot] is a company and service, which extends the Domain Name System ([/FONT]DNS[FONT=&quot]) by adding features such as phishing protection and optional content filtering to traditional recursive [/FONT]DNS[FONT=&quot] services. It is free. The DNS servers they use are [/FONT]208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. These DNS entries must be placed in your router
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You can use OpenDNS and it will block skype. You can also block many others things such as xrated material if requested.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Note: If you don’t want your computer to be filtered place 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 to bypass OpenDNS. This allows you to filter the entire house but not you or others. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This also provides stats on your DNS usage.[/FONT]

 

[Kyodan75]

OpenDNS does NOT block Skype!

OpenDNS does not block Skype. You can block the website, but not the services used to communicate via Skype. I am a little surprised anyone posted that this was possible!

https://support.opendns.com/entries/66514184-How-do-I-block-Skype-with-OpenDNS-

 

[ddr1958]

OpenDNS

Categories you can block including skype.

Academic Fraud
Adult Themes
Adware
Alcohol
Anime/Manga/Webcomic
Auctions
Automotive
Blogs
Business Services
Chat
Classifieds
Dating
Drugs
Ecommerce/Shopping
Educational Institutions
File Storage
Financial Institutions
Forums/Message boards
Gambling
Games
German Youth Protection
Government
Hate/Discrimination
Health and Fitness
Humor
Instant Messaging
Jobs/Employment
Lingerie/Bikini
Movies
Music
News/Media
Non-Profits
Nudity
P2P/File sharing
Parked Domains
Photo Sharing
Podcasts
Politics
Pornography
Portals
Proxy/Anonymizer
Radio
Religious
Research/Reference
Search Engines
Sexuality
Social Networking
Software/Technology
Sports
Tasteless
Television
Tobacco
Travel
Video Sharing <- Skype
Visual Search Engines
Weapons
Web Spam
Webmail