Parental controls being circumvented

GunJack

OP, you have my sympathies....our youngest (now 17) is ASD and ADHD and know that trying to reason with them is almost impossible at times...thankfully it's eased as he's got older.

As stated by others above, technically it'll be almost impossible to block all access to such stuff. Hang in there and talk about it as much as poss with him, and show him examples of e.g., firms looking at social media etc accounts as part of recruitment (news reports etc. online). It's probably that or a total ban of internet access (for your peace of mind)...

Undervalued

RugbyPete81 wrote: »

It all comes down to maturity and how you handle content, however we have a child here that unless you say "put your phone down your spilling your soup into your lap!" or wireless timed to go off at 10pm, he will be on it 24/7.

He has almost an ADHD/autism and lacks all common sense - so, he wanted the dark web because he wanted to try to buy drugs and guns to show off with his mates not realising doing so could land him in prison. Put a noose around his neck to find out what it might be like to hang himself (when we weren't home) and luckily didnt have the brains to do it from something strong (why have you got a red neck mate?), tried to smoke a receipt because he saw a youtube video and nearly burned the house down, Tried to freeze his tongue with a can of aerosol not realising if it got in his lungs the gas is heavy and would suffocate him.


We have a special case here - zero sense, low intelligence, highly influenced and when he does go on p*rn sites we know about it because he's not descrete, hesnaked in his room "dont come in im naked!!" and there's 'stuff' all over the place. As a step dad, I dont want to see that !


So for that, no he's not exactly capable of being an adult online.. I took down his facebook account because he thought being called HailHitler might be funny and join lots of right wing groupsyet as I explain he might need to get a job some-day, and if anyone linked it to him it would be socially detrimental!

Ideally id like him offline completely, but as kids are today, they all communicate online and he has a mother who isnt strict in that way. I stillw ant him to integrate where possible so he has internet and plays games online


My other two girls, are fine. They're intelligent, descrete, respectful and road aware and if they ever did dip into those areas I dont know about it. If that was the case here with the boy, I wouldnt be having this conversation.



So, now the life-story is out, I could do with some real ideas, ive not seen anyone block puffin browser but i found that one by chance. Opera browser i think uses a VPN, i wonder if there are some quick wins and ip's we could block, UTM has application and deep packet inspection but im unsure exactly how to get a virtual machine into the right place on my LAN.

Other options i packet capture, find the ports his pc is using for steam and disallow all others

I am sorry but you have had some "real ideas". I genuinely don't think you are going to achieve what you want by increased IT security. You have already done far more than 99% of parents could manage. I expect one or two of the IT professionals that post here could suggest a few further tweaks. However it seems the lad is highly computer literate (as would often go hand in hand with the condition you describe) and the inevitable result is that he will just see it as a further challenge at which he will most likely succeed.

As I also said, even if you make your network as secure as reasonably possible, there will be plenty of others within WiFi range that will be basic at best. You have no control over those short of physically removing all wifi enabled devices from the house!

Yes, there are some horrible things in the virtual world but, from what you have posted today, I would be far more concerned about potential physical dangers.

I sympathise greatly and have had some experience, many years ago, of living with a relative who was at times a danger to themselves and their surroundings. It is desperately difficult. However I genuinely do not think you will achieve much more than you already have in the IT area however hard you try.

AndyPix

Better advice given above - but if you really want to go down the tech route then :-


https://www.lifewire.com/best-parental-control-routers-4160776


But if he is as determined and able as you suggest , then he will just crack next door's wifi and use that

esuhl

RugbyPete81 wrote: »

Using OpenDNS with all DNS queried forced to their servers (i found them changing their dns to google)

Have you tried setting up a firewall rule on your router to block DNS servers other than OpenDNS?


https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/227988027-How-to-prevent-users-from-circumventing-OpenDNS-using-firewall-rules

Heedtheadvice

cannot but agree with others that technology might not be a good solution but I feel for your concern and problem. As difficult as it may be, education is the likely best solution - if that can be achieved.



In the short term the router can be blocked for all activity as and when you wish....by pulling out the plug.

that

of the opinion (have not tried it) that if you set the main router to a fixed channel, put another second router of the same type upstairs with the same channel, ssid, password, mac and settings, his laptop will grab the more powerful but useless signal, and he wont be able to differentiate from the two signals of the devices making his internet life hell, and there is no easy way he can detect the cause, If he comes downstairs hopefully the upstairs one is far enough not to affect the signal

Another easy way it to open the router and disconnect the wifi antenna cable (strictly speaking, possibly should terminate it with a 50ohm resistor), so that Ethernet only works, and you only have shorter cables;)

Another way is to create your own dmz using DansGuardian, ipSense (or opnsense) plus addon modules. A free vpn or tor will probably bypass these. I am unsure how you blocked his vpn, unless you disabled ports

debitcardmayhem

Of course you can get round some of the aforementioned blocks by trying this https://dns.google.com/query?name=moneysavingexpert.com in your browser et voila you know the ip address, then they can be put into the local host file and .....

DoaM

esuhl wrote: »

Have you tried setting up a firewall rule on your router to block DNS servers other than OpenDNS?


https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/227988027-How-to-prevent-users-from-circumventing-OpenDNS-using-firewall-rules

This, plus change the router admin login details from the standard info shown on the router.

But as Andy mentions above ... if he's tech-savvy he'll find a way around any tech solution you try to implement.

arciere

that wrote: »

of the opinion (have not tried it) that if you set the main router to a fixed channel, put another second router of the same type upstairs with the same channel, ssid, password, mac and settings, his laptop will grab the more powerful but useless signal, and he wont be able to differentiate from the two signals of the devices making his internet life hell, and there is no easy way he can detect the cause, If he comes downstairs hopefully the upstairs one is far enough not to affect the signal

Another easy way it to open the router and disconnect the wifi antenna cable (strictly speaking, possibly should terminate it with a 50ohm resistor), so that Ethernet only works, and you only have shorter cables;)

Another way is to create your own dmz using DansGuardian, ipSense (or opnsense) plus addon modules. A free vpn or tor will probably bypass these. I am unsure how you blocked his vpn, unless you disabled ports

a) what? You'll never get two 'identical' wifi signals. You may get the same SSID, but not the same BSSID. You can't (easily) change the MAC address of an access point (don't confuse router and access point, it's two separate devices)
b) Disable the WiFi on the router maybe? There are hundreds of less-intrusive solutions to stop the WiFi
c) Why would you use a dmz?

Stoke

When I was a kid, albeit we were using much crappier OS's etc, I got around every filter my parents ever put in place.

Just saying.... Good luck though