Dos_Box Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 I've just had an interesting question here at LWF. Someone wanted to know if there are any solutions to filter an entire home wireless network? We are talking full filtering, webmin, reporting, updating etc. Does anyone know of such a product? I assume it would have to sit between the ISDN\Cable connection and wireless router\access point?
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) This was discussed in http://www.edugeek.net/forums/internet-related-filtering-firewall/67851-uk-adult-filter-2.html#post608615 I think we found that currently it's lacking (the suggestion being that routers aren't powerful enough for content filtering, or that kids would find out the passwords and circumvent). Edited January 11, 2011 by Willott updated link to target start of relevant info
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Doesnt Windows Live Family Safety do this. That's per PC installation - I think Dos_Box was referring to a gateway type solution.
m25man Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 That's per PC installation - I think Dos_Box was referring to a gateway type solution. Doh! Then a router with a subscription to a service seems the only sensible way, Draytek and Netgear do it you may have to set up a syslog server for reporting though.
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) I think the only thing I found close to it at present is packetprotector.org which requires putting a new firmware on one of the routers which is supported and then has DG and a full interface on it. Edit - I stand corrected - there are some which do filtering - they seem to be category types with subscriptions, no dynamic content filtering Edited January 11, 2011 by Willott
cpjitservices Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Easy..... Setup an EBox or Squid/Dansguardian server filter whatever you like and then on your internet options on your router set that server as your default gateway. Then setup proxy settings in your browser to use the proxy. Setting the server up as Gateway means that clients who connect to any part of the network HAVE to have the proxy settings in their browser or there will be NO access to the net, no proxy settings no internet. But do make sure you set the server IP as your default gateway on all your machines either dole it out through DHCP or Static assign.
browolf Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 you'd have to disable the wireless on the router and insert a wireless switch between the computers and the proxy filtering device so that it would be: computers > wireless/lan > filtering device > router > internet
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 you'd have to disable the wireless on the router and insert a wireless switch between the computers and the proxy filtering device so that it would be: computers > wireless/lan > filtering device > router > internet Dependant on your net connection - if you're on cable (ie cable modem) you could have computers > wireless router > "gateway" filtering device (does routing as well) > cable modem > internet
FN-GM Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 You can buy little sonicwall firewalls with filtering. Network Security, Firewall & Wireless - The New TZ Series - SonicWALL, Inc.
cpjitservices Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Setup an EBox or Squid/Dansguardian server, set it as default-gateway and add proxy settings to browsers. It's Free and can be done within 30 minutes
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Setup an EBox or Squid/Dansguardian server, set it as default-gateway and add proxy settings to browsers. It's Free and can be done within 30 minutes Although this may be a solution for techies, I have a feeling the Dos_Box has been asked in the sense of "what's available for Jo Bloggs, a parent at our school". A Squid server is an easy setup for a techy, but put a non-tech in front of a computer and see how they manage (also, it requires the user to have a space PC kicking around, so not totally free...)
m25man Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Setup an EBox or Squid/Dansguardian server, set it as default-gateway and add proxy settings to browsers. It's Free and can be done within 30 minutes The origional question was "Someone wanted to know", lets not all assume that someone is as technically knowledgable as ourselves or suitably equipped to install a server farm in their front room... Its a simple add on for many domestic routers and Netgear now support OpenDNS out of the box. KISS! @willott beat me...
cpjitservices Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 lol no thats very true however - couldn't a Teccie offer to install this kind of service for a parent, after all if parents want there kids safe online and are going to buy some piece of expensive software - for the price of a second hand PC a teccie could install this for someone for way cheaper and it's a better solution - you could even use a virtual PC using MS Virtual PC 2007, save them a bit of money and charge them for labor lol But yeah I see what you mean, there was one called cyberpatrol but I think it needs a client installing on each PC., and also netnanny but again needs a client to be installed.
tom_newton Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 OpenDNS - fairly imperfect as a filter, but not a bad start, and easy to implement at router level.
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 You can buy little sonicwall firewalls with filtering. Network Security, Firewall & Wireless - The New TZ Series - SonicWALL, Inc. Seems that yearly filtering cost is ~£150 with rough cost for the hardware ~£200-250, which may be out of the grasp of most home networks.
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 OpenDNS - fairly imperfect as a filter, but not a bad start, and easy to implement at router level. This is why Smoothwall should team up with a router manufacturer...
K.C.Leblanc Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 It's fairly easy to get round, but OpenDNS | Internet Navigation And Security can be setup on a router.
tom_newton Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Unfortunately, our filtering is quite CPU intensive (due to the dynamic nature of the content filter) and uses a massive amount of RAM (compared to what a router has). Routers are better off with "off box" "is this URL dodgy" type filters - they're not effective against anonymisers but are all you can expect from a very... price competitive... plastic box.
Dos_Box Posted January 11, 2011 Author Posted January 11, 2011 Thnaks all for the replies so far, but it has to be almost plug'n'play for novice users, and offer such features as groups, authorised devices (MAC filtering) etc, and it MUST be hadware based.
Willott Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 According to DG website, 50 users requires ~ 300MHz CPU and 96MB RAM - something like RouterStation Pro has 720MHz CPU and 128Mb RAM (and you're not likely to get 50 users on a home network), maybe what's needed is a slight rethink on router design to allow for some more RAM and higher CPU (the elonex ebook things with a 1GHz CPU and 256MB RAM sell for £150 - so surely some electronics/router manufacturer can build hardware with a significant amount of RAM a decent CPU and a decent amount of Flash storage for short term logs and configuration for less than that), or the start of a new device type - home wireless security gateways or something!
jamesreedersmith Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Untangle if you have an old pc lying around!
m25man Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Live Parental Controls - Appears to be free if you use one of thier compatible routers.
markcuk Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) this could be your solution iBoss Web Filters - Web Filtering & Reporting Solutions for Medium to Large Networks http://www.ibosswebfilters.com/ibh_more_info_int.html Edited January 11, 2011 by markcuk
FN-GM Posted January 11, 2011 Posted January 11, 2011 Seems that yearly filtering cost is ~£150 with rough cost for the hardware ~£200-250, which may be out of the grasp of most home networks. go to the right supplier it isnt. I know someone who paid 150 for the box at 60 for the filtering.
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