Problems with the smart filter

[Arcath]

At one of my schools they requested access to the web interface of a printer so that they could monitor toner levels etc...

So i created a record on the DNS server called "printer" and pointed it to the printers ip. launched firefox and typed in "http://printer/" (assuming that because the dhcp server sets the DNS Suffix to domain.local it would append it for me) and i get greeted by a smarfilter message. try printer.domain.local and again smart filtered. so i sent a request to have it unblocked with the message "This is an internal network address for one of my printers".

I got an email back saying

The filter only restricts access to internet sites. If you are experiencing access problems within a school intranet then contact an the school network administrator.

which isnt very helpful. At this point i decided to do a little research into what exactly was blocked.

http://printer/ - Blocked
http://linkstation/ - Blocked
http://fog/ - Unblocked
http://hpserver - Blocked

Obviously the message i got from the filter is implying that all 4 of those addresses should be unblocked.

Anyone know why these addresses are filtered?

[MYK-IT]

I assume the printers are using local fixed ip addresses....
You will need to modify the Proxy connection settings with IE, so that local ip addresses don't use the proxy server.

Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings:
Enable (Tick) bypass proxy for local addresses

You may have to go into the Advanced settings are enter part of the fixed ip address ranged in:
Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with

for example 10.*;10.192.* etc etc

UPDATE
Just realised you're using Firefox, same principle applies but i've not got FF to hand for correct procedure.

[Arcath]

I knew that for the IP you have to put in a proxy bypass, but i was setting up a DNS domain name specifically so that i didnt have to do that. Plus for staff "Printer" is much easier to rember than "10.x.x.x"

[tom_newton]

You may run into problems here - because these won't be resolved as local IPs until they hit the filter. You should be telling the browser not to proxy for these hostnames either.

If your smartfilter box is local, there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to access these devices through it - I presume they give you the opportunity to add a custom whitelist?

Tom

[Arcath]

The Smart Filter box is at CLEO, it looks like im just going to have to add the hostnames to the proxy bypass list.

[tom_newton]

The Smart Filter box is at CLEO, it looks like im just going to have to add the hostnames to the proxy bypass list.

if you can add wildcards or partials, it might be good to add *.local, and have folk bookmark/access these as fooprinter.local. Saves you adding a new one every time!

Certain popular web browsers don't always cope awfully well with one-word dns names either, so its a win-win