# Parental software for home router



## telco (2 Dec 2016)

Hi there

Any recommendations for parental control software which attaches to the house router and not individual devices ? I heard an Irish product on the tech show on Newstalk about a month ago , googled it with no luck , from memory it was called Ikids/Eyekids ?

or any other recommendations ?

thanks


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## PaddyBloggit (2 Dec 2016)

Would it be called iboss?
http://uk.pcmag.com/iboss-home-parental-control/3104/review/iboss-home-parental-control

A list of free alternatives mentioned here:

http://www.techradar.com/news/softw...are-9-programs-to-keep-your-kids-safe-1140315


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## Jim2007 (2 Dec 2016)

No sorry. My provider here in Switzerland have made a few attempts of delivering routers with such software preloaded on them, but I gather they have all failed to win popular support.  Some efforts were too easy for the kits to hack and some were to complicated to use, requiring you to know and type in the MAC address of each device....


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## Mrs Vimes (2 Dec 2016)

Hi Telco,

we recently switched provider to Digiweb and the modem/router they provided "Fritz!box" has this as standard. You have to log in as admin and you can see what devices are on the network, then can restrict them one by one, either to only work between certain hours or to have a daily budget (eg allow for 1 hour per day and when it's gone...). You can also set up a blacklist of sites, or a whitelist.

We love it but the teenager is threatening to call childline, if he can figure out how to use a phone that isn't online!


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## mathepac (2 Dec 2016)

Mrs Vimes said:


> ... the teenager is threatening to call childline


When I lived with one of those making similar threats, I said I'd found ParentLine.


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## Ceist Beag (5 Dec 2016)

telco said:


> Hi there
> 
> Any recommendations for parental control software which attaches to the house router and not individual devices ? I heard an Irish product on the tech show on Newstalk about a month ago , googled it with no luck , from memory it was called Ikids/Eyekids ?
> 
> ...


The product you're looking for is  - don't ask me why the name is spelt this way as it makes it very hard to find with a Google search! I'm getting this for our house this Christmas as it sounds ideal but would be good to hear any of views on it if anyone has already bought it.


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## telco (5 Dec 2016)

thanks Ceist Beag. link appears to be broken


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## Leo (5 Dec 2016)

Ceist Beag said:


> The product you're looking for is  - don't ask me why the name is spelt this way ...



Because Apple beat them to registering ikids.  Fixed the link in you post btw.


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## telco (5 Dec 2016)

that's the one alright - thanks again , interested to hear any views from buyers


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## demoivre (5 Dec 2016)

Use Opendns, which is free.


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## telco (6 Dec 2016)

thanks demoivre- was wondering what the catch is and from initial research the basic family shield option would cover the protection I am seeking ie block adult content however is it possible to just limit the content filtering to allow U Tube access but filter out adult content on u tube ? some of the reviews would suggest you can't all of u tube would be blocked ?


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## demoivre (6 Dec 2016)

telco said:


> thanks demoivre- was wondering what the catch is and from initial research the basic family shield option would cover the protection I am seeking ie block adult content however is it possible to just limit the content filtering to allow U Tube access but filter out adult content on u tube ? some of the reviews would suggest you can't all of u tube would be blocked ?



Don't think Family Shield allows you to part block Youtube. However Youtube has it's own content filtering settings that can be locked using your Google account. See here.


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## AlbacoreA (3 Nov 2018)

Any one find any solution to this. 

I've tried the ikydz for a over a year and when it works it's great but for me its very buggy and a recent update stopped the app working on the phone. 

I tried family safety on Windows and again it's buggy, complicated and can be bypassed. 

I'm about to try locking it all down via the router. As I'm fed up fighting these buggy systems.


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## mathepac (3 Nov 2018)

Blocking or filtering content at the home router level is fine once the children connect to the world wide web via that router. What about when they're out and about with their mobile devices, phones, watches, tablets, laptops? I think if a parent wants to go belt and braces they need blocking and filtering at the home router level with multiple log-in IDs for fixed, home-based devices and device-level filtering for those devices the kids take into "the wild".

Have a look here https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/ they seem to have all the angles covered BUT knowledgeable kids with admin account access can superceed settings, so how is your device security?

I have no connection with Open DNS other than as a free registered user for several years


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## AlbacoreA (3 Nov 2018)

By the time they are allowed out of the home on their own with smart phone and laptops I think they are on their own.

Filtering at home is more about younger kids and also not to facilitate other kids and people who might abuse your WiFi. Also controlling screen time.

Once into the teens they can generally get around most limitations of they really want to. 

The tech companies really have failed in this regard. They really want to facilitate content and addictive behaviour rather than control it. Hence why the controls are so bad.


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## tallpaul (5 Nov 2018)

AlbacoreA said:


> The tech companies really have failed in this regard. They really want to facilitate content and addictive behaviour rather than control it. Hence why the controls are so bad.



Apple now have screen time controls on children's devices which are effective. Access by time and by individual apps is possible and controllable.


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## AlbacoreA (5 Nov 2018)

That doesn't seem to help with YouTube filtering. I don't know anything about it, but its sounds like its simply off/on.


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