parental controls on wifi units any good?

[substance12]

how are the parental controls on wifi routers? my coworker wants to get one for his family and while he's probably not thinking about it...i'm sure he would want parental controls on them.

how well do they filter?
can you specify a specific IP to have parental control but the rest don't?

 

[JackMDS]

Wireless is a replacement to Wire.

There is No difference in the parental control issue whether you use Wire or Wireless for Internet surfing.

He can start with this it is free and does what it does well.


Link to: Parental Filter - block porn.

Security of Wireless connection is a general issue has nothing to do with Kids or Internet.

Link to: Wireless Security.

:sun:

 

[substance12]

I think I was vague. He needs to get a router, which happens to be wifi. Now... how well do the filters work? and are they IP specific?

but in either case, perhaps that link would be of value as well. thanks.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Jack is right.

While most routers will allow you to block specific addresses, this doesn't amount to a practical parental control capability. How will you manage to identify all the addresses for sites that parents don't want their kids to see, and how do you keep that list updated?

The parental control packages I'm familiar with (like Norton Internet Security) rely on regularly updated lists of addresses downloaded from the vendor site. These are characterized by content, so that the adminstrator can tailor access for each user account. Besides the obvious porn blocking, parents might not want their kids surfing through satanic rituals, racial intolerance, gambling, violence, etc. On the other hand, the parents probably want the option of surfing without restrictions. Easy to set up in Norton; not so easy if you have to alter router settings. Figure on paying about $40/year for the updated address lists and software updates.

Good luck!