standalone PC setup to run as an internet filter/whitelist

[mr moose]

Hi guys, I have a pc with two network cards, I need to set it up as an internet filter.

 

The pc needs to be able to be accessed remotely from my PC or laptop,  be able to whitelist websites and url's,  be able to allow steam and minecraft. and if possible allow only certain youtube channels (although I know this will be almost impossible,  you never know if you don't ask).

 

I would normally just block them in my modem/router, except that I still want the wifi and selected parts of my network to have full internet.

 

Here is a pic. of my current setup:

 

Modem ----------switch--------------wifi connection*

                            |

                            |

                            ------------home theatre/file server*

                            |

                            |

                            ----------------My pc*

                            |

                            |

                        internet filter pc--------------------------switch-------------filtered network of kids pcs and guest kids pcs.

 

*full internet

 

 

Can anyone recommend software (standalone or that will run in linux or one windows) that will do this for me?

 

Thanks.

[blu4]

You could just get a switch with hardware and software filtering. If you want software filtering that runs on an OS your best best would be to get a paid subscription. Where I work we use Smoothwall for filtering and it's quite good. I am not sure how much it would cost for a single person. You need to email them to ask.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Instead of blocking your kids internet instead explore it with him / her, together. You don't do anything good for them by taking away their freedom. The bloke needs porn, and he's going to get it one way or the other.

[blu4]

Instead of blocking your kids internet instead explore it with him / her, together. You don't do anything good for them by taking away their freedom. The bloke needs porn, and he's going to get it one way or the other.

Trust me, it's not about that. You can get into nasty internet by accident.

[Blebekblebek]

most router has this feature by now

and it's filtered by IP so just exclude your IP Address from it.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Trust me, it's not about that. You can get into nasty internet by accident.

 

And then you leave. No harm done. Just another thing they have to learn that will help them down the line.

[mr moose]

You could just get a switch with hardware and software filtering. If you want software filtering that runs on an OS your best best would be to get a paid subscription. Where I work we use Smoothwall for filtering and it's quite good. I am not sure how much it would cost for a single person. You need to email them to ask.

 

I tried smoothwall, but their website won;t load for me right now. Cheers.

 

Instead of blocking your kids internet instead explore it with him / her, together. You don't do anything good for them by taking away their freedom. The bloke needs porn, and he's going to get it one way or the other.

 

They are not old enough to be veiwing porn, I want them to be able to surf the net with a certain freedom and learn for themselves without me looking over their shoulder.  you can end up in quite nasty places when you don't know how to spell.

Trust me, it's not about that. You can get into nasty internet by accident.

in a nutshell.

 

most router has this feature by now

and it's filtered by IP so just exclude your IP Address from it.

 

Mine doesn't have this option .

 

Thanks anyway.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your suggestions guys.

[Opcode]

pfSense or Smoothwall.

[blu4]

And then you leave. No harm done. Just another thing they have to learn that will help them down the line.

For adults, yes, for kids-no.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

For adults, yes, for kids-no.

 

So when is the appropriate age to start browsing adult material?

[SIGSEGV]

Computers aren't a substitute for good parenting

[blu4]

So when is the appropriate age to start browsing adult material?

I am not talking about porn in this instance. I am talking about content such as gore, death and cruelty. Would you want your 6 year old clicking a spam pop-up with a guy being beheaded? You need to take precautions as a parent in real life as well as in the in the real world. You shield your kids from harm and distress when you can so why wouldn't you do it online? You know well enough that internet is more dangerous than it's being portrayed as.

 

Another example would be taking precautions in a business with employees using company resources- just because they wont intentionally do something stupid doesn't mean you don't need precautions against it- they might do it by accident and then YOU are to blame.

[dalekphalm]

So when is the appropriate age to start browsing adult material?

Also, there is no clear cut "age" for when that kind of material is appropriate or they are able to handle it. It's literally a case by case scenario that every parent needs to decide for themselves, based on the fact that they know their kid better then you do.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Also, there is no clear cut "age" for when that kind of material is appropriate or they are able to handle it. It's literally a case by case scenario that every parent needs to decide for themselves, based on the fact that they know their kid better then you do.

 

That's exactly why I believe the kids should have complete freedom on the internet. Honestly no parent knows when the right time comes for their children to start browsing this kind of material (in the same way that your daughter is never going to lose her virginity). Stumbling upon gore on the internet by accident is seriously unlikely. I've had free access to the internet since I was 6, and the only time in my life that I have stumbled upon gore has been when I started browsing /b/ when I was 14, however even that isn't a "danger zone" for that kind of material anymore. Whether you're 7 or 17 when you start browsing adult material you are the only one who can say when you're ready, and you're never EVER going to come running to your dad to ask him to lift the ban on porn. Your children know themselves A LOT better than you will ever think you do.

[mr moose]

O.K guys, thanks for the input.

 

To get somethings clear:

 

I am  parent with more than 23 years experience, I work as an education specialist who deals with child development, behaviour modification.  I work closely with pediatricians, psychologists and therapists.  I think I have the parenting thing covered.

 

SO some points to consider:

 

1.  Don't confuse wanting to filter out nasty internet content for minors with bad parenting.  That is just ignorant and quite unhelpful in any situation regarding the rearing of children.

 

2.  Don't assume because I want to set this box up that I am a sloppy parent who doesn't want to deal with shit, that is neither true nor fair.

 

3.  when my son's have their friends around for mini lan parties they all have unfetted access to the internet, as I have a duty of care to other kids in my care, and given my job, the last thing I need is for a rumor to spread that I let someone else's kid watch porn in my care.  That would almost equal job loss.

 

4.  for interests sake, I don't care who you are, there is zero research that show a safe level of pornographic exposure when you are younger than 10-11 years old.  In fact most research shows quite the opposite.  Usually boys start looking for explicit material, spying on the girls or reading underwear catalogs from about 12. that is normal behavior.  Watching x rated rape porn is not.

 

So please, if you have nothing to say about the actually technically issues at hand then, while I thank you for your concern and taking the time to express your opinion,  don't bother posting.

 

Now back to topic, I don't have another router and I don't particularly want to clog up the boys machines with software.

[Noxxx]

On linux, there is a tool called dansguardian, which filters individual webpage based on how many "dirty" words it contains, so you could use it together with "squid" to have the linux system act as a proxy filter. But, I have no idea how to force a Windows system to use a specific proxy server.

[Blade of Grass]

Have you considered setting it up as a PFSense box and using the SquidGuard package?

 

EDIT: For reference https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/SquidGuard_package

[mr moose]

On linux, there is a tool called dansguardian, which filters individual webpage based on how many "dirty" words it contains, so you could use it together with "squid" to have the linux system act as a proxy filter. But, I have no idea how to force a Windows system to use a specific proxy server.

 

I am not tied to windows, in fact for this job I think I would prefer Linux, smaller and easier to install.

 

Have you considered setting it up as a PFSense box and using the SquidGuard package?

 

EDIT: For reference https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/SquidGuard_package

 

I did look at pfsense, when I read the bit in faq it seemed not to contain the bits that I needed, But I will have another look.

 

 

Thanks guys.

[Blebekblebek]

pfsense didn't have it out of the box, but has feature more than common router can do

it similar with tomato firmware interface, which is one of the most easiest interface I use compared any other router. (like DLINK firmware that just garbage)

http://hubpages.com/hub/URL-Filtering-How-To-Configure-SquidGuard-in-pfSense

 

and more powerful and better controlling option

You just set 2 NIC in it and plug modem, and act as gateway.

Modem>pfsense box> the rest...

 

and if you have unused box/hardware you can use it to save extra bucks although it might be to powerful (power consumption and capability)

I know what you meant, that's why I also have it, today exposure is crazy, kids just can get curious because looking popup ads, even try looking for explicit material at youtube.

[Opcode]

I personally would grab one of these and install pfSense and SquidGuard onto it. It's the only way of actually guaranteeing that your kids aren't getting around a DNS change or anything like that (a teenager can easily modify the windows TCP stack to force the use of Google DNS or another). You'll just have to check the access logs daily to see if they are poking around in places that the software doesn't cover (which can be added to the blacklist).

[mr moose]

I personally would grab one of these and install pfSense and SquidGuard onto it. It's the only way of actually guaranteeing that your kids aren't getting around a DNS change or anything like that (a teenager can easily modify the windows TCP stack to force the use of Google DNS or another). You'll just have to check the access logs daily to see if they are poking around in places that the software doesn't cover (which can be added to the blacklist).

Thanks, looks like I will go the pfsense route.

 

Fortunately I have 6 fully functioning pc's here that have no use so one will become this.