Sonic.net

Shelter in place, kids keep using the school chrome-book to watch youtube during class, How can I block "youtube.com" for kids.

School school district did not block youtube, and also lock the chrome not to add any extensions
I did try contact the School school district, have them to either give me some rights to add chrome extensions to block url , they say that cannot do that .

The School school district blocking parent to block url for their kids !!???

Help!!

I don’t believe the Pace 5268ac provides any sort of content filtering. You could replace it with a router that does; use a DNS service or utilize something like Pi-hole to accomplish this by blacklisting youtube.com and any other sites you don’t want them browsing. Pi-hole was designed to block ads but you can block any domains of your choice using the blacklist feature and it runs great on a Rasberry Pi. If you want to limit the filtering to just the Chromebooks then configure the DNS server properties on the Chromebooks themselves and not on the Pace.

Thanks , the chromebook belong to the School , and that are not willing to change any setting !!!
DNS service seem doable, never try it before , any step by step instruction specific for how to setup the Pace 5268AC Router ?

Is OpenDNS Home Free a good options ? I just need to block "youtube.com"

Is OpenDNS Home have scheduling so it will automatically turn On/OFF filter "youtube.com"? (I don't want turn it On/OFF every time) , because seem OpenDNS everyone using the home wifi ? Right

Will user with PC physically connect to router affected ?

Thanks in Advance

I don’t think OpenDNS offers scheduling so you can try another service like SafeDNS which does. SafeDNS isn’t free but perhaps there’s others that are.

Once you decide on a service then set the Pace’s DNS server field to the DNS service provider IP addresses and configure the DNS filtering from the provider’s dashboard accordingly. You’ll need to download their ddclient utility and run it from the wired PC which will report your WAN address so your network’s DNS requests will be filtered according to your account settings. Instructions for setting this up should be available on the their site.

If you don’t want the wired PC or other clients using the SafeDNS service then set a static DNS server on that device’s network adapter properties like 9.9.9.9 and/or 8.8.8.8. That should bypass the SafeDNS filter.

I should have mentioned this by the way but if the school-provided Chromebooks are configured to connect to the school's VPN or proxy server then you're most likely out of luck on this since that will bypass your custom DNS filters, etc...

Good luck!

Our Pace 5268ac does not include parental control features but we do offer rental Eero mesh routers that have easily accessible parental control options you can modify through an app. If installing Eero mesh routers or making changes on your router settings that would affect all devices don't sound like good options, you could probably look into third party devices/services that won't be supported but may work with our service. There are some devices out there that control what sites can be reached over wifi but if the chrome book is using a VPN it would bypass most of the rules you would set up.

js9erfan wrote:I don’t think OpenDNS offers scheduling so you can try another service like SafeDNS which does. SafeDNS isn’t free but perhaps there’s others that are.

Once you decide on a service then set the Pace’s DNS server field to the DNS service provider IP addresses and configure the DNS filtering from the provider’s dashboard accordingly. You’ll need to download their ddclient utility and run it from the wired PC which will report your WAN address so your network’s DNS requests will be filtered according to your account settings. Instructions for setting this up should be available on the their site.

If you don’t want the wired PC or other clients using the SafeDNS service then set a static DNS server on that device’s network adapter properties like 9.9.9.9 and/or 8.8.8.8. That should bypass the SafeDNS filter.

I should have mentioned this by the way but if the school-provided Chromebooks are configured to connect to the school's VPN or proxy server then you're most likely out of luck on this since that will bypass your custom DNS filters, etc...

Good luck!

Thanks js9erfan, I am so surprised that you said with some DNS services, I can setup the way to only block youtube access for my kids Chromebook , but my wired PC will still have access to youtube. I was think the whole family have to give up youtube because of the kids ! Did I got that right or misinterpret what you mean "If you don’t want the wired PC or other clients using the SafeDNS service then set a static DNS server on that device’s network adapter properties like 9.9.9.9 and/or 8.8.8.8. That should bypass the SafeDNS filter." My Kids ChromeBook only have Wifi access.

Is the separation of access rights setup only apply for SafeDNS service ? or it can work for free OpenDNS also.

I never setup DNS in the Pace 5268AC Router before, but if I have detailed instructions to follow , I think I can get it done.

Any more advice will be welcome form anyone. Thx

As I mentioned in my last reply the DNS filter will likely have no effect if the Chromebooks were configured to use the school’s VPN or proxy server. Check if this is the case by looking at the proxy and VPN configuration on the Chromebooks (you can google this if you’re not sure how to access those settings).

If no VPN or proxy (or like software) is in place then yes, proceed to use one of those DNS services (just need one, not both). Changing the DNS servers on the Pace is straightforward but you will need to follow the DNS provider instructions on how to configure the SafeDNS or OpenDNS service for it to work. Once that is setup test it from all computers in your home to confirm youtube is blocked. If successful then you will need to configure the wired PC and any other local device you choose to use an alternate DNS server (not SafeDNS/OpenDNS). Doing that should bypass the DNS filter so they can access youtube.com.

There are other ways to go about this but this is the least costly of them. Hope that helps.

We're going through this at our school too - remember that a lot of teachers are using YouTube videos in their coursework, so blocking it would end up being counterproductive. Check with your teachers first

Look up "edit hosts file, on YouTube. I have to go to work in a minute or I'd write it out here.
Anyway google search for "edit hosts file" for the Chrome os"

You can redirect all the page requests for "Youtube.com" to any other URL or working IP.
Or just kill it with a redirect to 127.0.0.1