DGN2200 V3 Time based access by mac address. How?

[SimonFinch]

Hi,

I've got a need to both limit the time spent connected to the internet and the content accessed by Family members and visitors. WE only have wireless connections.

I need a router or WiFi router with the firmware that will allow me to do the following.

Need 1: Set Custom DNS - I'm using OpenDNS and this works fine for my needs on this router, so this need is fulfilled.

Need 2: Identify individual connected mac addresses to Limit connection time by hourly schedule, ideally it could be different by different days but at very least I want to set up set up something like;

Older Son Laptop 1 - Block from 23:30-07:00
Younger Son iPod Touch 1 - Block from 21:00 to 07:00
Parent1 - Laptop - No Block
and so on...

Can I do this with this router? I started to look at rules but in honesty, soon got lost.

Cheers,

Simon

[Scubbie]

The router doesn't support such precise control over access. You can set it up so that neither computer works after 21:00 or 23:00, but not separate times. You would do this via the Schedule and set it up so that your computer is excluded from the schedule.

The best option would be to install suitable software on both their computers.

Set up their computers so that only your account has Admin privileges and they can't install any software or modify the parental control software. Make sure that you use a password that only you know and never write it down too.

[SimonFinch]

Scubbie,

Thanks for the full reply. This would work fine for PC/Mac users but the kids have iPod Touchs which AFAIK, you can't filter out this way. We're trying to cut out the "under the covers" late night Facebooking etc. especially for the younger one.

Our (now) old BT HomeHub 2 allowed us to set times for each MAC address which worked fine as we could let the older kid have access later but cut the young one's off earlier. However, the HomeHub2 wouldn't allow us to set the DNS servers to OpenDNS.

I've only just got the DGN2200 this weekend so I can send it back to Amazon if there's another Netgear one that you can suggest that will allow me to do what I want.

Thanks,

Simon

[Scubbie]

The BT HomeHubv2 does have one of the best parental control features for routers. Unfortunately it is locked down on other features.

I think that you need to look at a high-end Netgear ADSL router, such as the DGND4000 or consider using a high-end cable router, configuring the BT HomeHubv2 to act effectively like a Modem (i.e. disable the WiFi and set the Cable router in it's DMZ).

Before doing this, please read through the Parental Controls feature on the high-end routers, with Netgear Genie. I haven't explored this feature, but it may resolve what you are doing.

The DGND4000 is a new product. I recently changed my DGND3700 for the WNDR3800 and would not suggest the DGND3700 for a couple of reasons, one being that it too doesn't do what you are asking.

The WNDR3800 does have the Parental Control section so please feel free to read it's manual and/or the DGND4000 manual.

[SimonFinch]

Scubbie,

Given that the DGN2200 allows me to do the filtering, could I piggy back the DGN2200 to the BT HomeHub with the HomeHub's WiFi disabled as you mentioned?

So, I'd have my ADSL line into the HomeHub (which would filter by time and Mac address). Then an Ethernet cable to the DGN2200 which would then filter content (via OpenDNS) and the broadcast content by Wifi.

I'd need to read up about setting the DMZ though.

If the set up above is possible, then it would save me buying another router!

Thanks so much for your full answers

[Scubbie]

If you were to piggyback the DGN2200 to the BT HomeHub, then you would need to disable the DHCP service on the DGN2200 and the BT HomeHub would control all the LAN & Internet access, including the parental controls and DNS Server.

The DGN2200 would be left to work as an access point.

Have you tried changing the DNS settings on their Laptop & iPod? Whilst I am not familiar with the iPod, but the Laptop will allow you to do this. The specifics will depend upon which OS is installed and a quick search will reveal this information.

My current setup looks something like this:

Sky Router (or Netgear DGN2000) --> WNDR3800 (via WAN port)

The WAN IP Address of the WNDR3800 is a LAN address on the Sky Router. This address is then set as the DMZ on the Sky Router (or Netgear DGN2000).

All the Internet traffic is passed straight through to my WNDR3800, which handles my LAN. It has all the port forwarding set up as required. This also means that I am ready for when I get FTTC.

I just took a quick look at the Parental Controls and they require me to have an OpenDNS Account. Since I don't have an account I couldn't proceed. However a useful link is provided that you may wish to read to see if it helps:

http://netgear.opendns.com/support/manage/windows

[Scubbie]

I have found another useful link to check out regarding Parental controls for the newer Netgear routers: http://countries.netgear.com/lpc

[jmizoguchi]

Your two options are

1. LPC- netgear's free parental control partner with dyndns which fully free. But dyndns account recently became not free

2. Be secure - besecure.com. They used to be partner with dlink and was always subscription base but this services has more feature than LPC