OpenDNS FamilyShield

In addition to log monitoring and K9 on the kids computers, I also changed my routers DNS settings to utilize OpenDNS FamilyShield service. It's FREE! Appears to be fairly seamless and effective. I visit a lot of 'off-grid' sites that most filters blacklist by default (such as "hacker" forums, IRC, etc). Seems that some are so strict they filter anything with the consecutive 4 character string of h-a-c-k (lifehacker.com). So far it seems to match my needs quite well. One con would be the lack of configurability / customization.

We often have visitors use our wifi, and at least one of those I know has attempted contact to questionable websites. Please keep in mind that whatever I do needs to be almost transparent to the wife and not require real maintenance and space. So servers, home proxies, running my own DNS are out of the question for me.

If you need to access sites that this service blocks (or only wanted it for your kids), you could cascade two wifi routers. Only the second one would be shared with visitors/kids, and only it would have the DNS changed.

I am not experiencing any troubles with this OpenDNS FamilyShield service, and am wondering if anyone else is using it and what your experience is.

Thanks for your time...

relaxmosphere wrote:I am not experiencing any troubles with this OpenDNS FamilyShield service, and am wondering if anyone else is using it and what your experience is.

I use it at home. As long as families are aware that it can be easily bypassed, I think it's great as part of an overall solution.

relaxmosphere wrote:In addition to log monitoring and K9 on the kids computers, I also changed my routers DNS settings to utilize OpenDNS FamilyShield service. It's FREE! Appears to be fairly seamless and effective.
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I am not experiencing any troubles with this OpenDNS FamilyShield service, and am wondering if anyone else is using it and what your experience is.

I've used K9 on each computer, in conjunction with OpenDNS Basic for several years now. OpenDNS basic is also free, but allows more customization and reports. Not many problems, and recently added it to the wireless router.

Our Experience in a home setting with kids.
1) even with these two "layers" of protection, realize that unless you pull the power plug from the wall, you are never "safe" from influences you may wish to avoid. These are tools, working toward a "safer" online experience. They should be combined with all your other efforts, like time-of-day restrictions, moving the computer to a common room, setting strong age-appropriate "computer-use expectations" with equally strong consequences for breaking them, etc.

2)K9 allows for far simpler "unblocking allowances" by a parent who knows the password for a needed website that you generally don't allow. OpenDNS basic is more transparent, and allows you to override sites as well, but isn't near as quick or convenient to temporarily "unblock" a site. On some sites, you'll need to do this on both k9 and openDNS since they both might be blocking it. You'll get calls from a frustrated wife or child: "homework is due in half an hour and your software is blocking the website" (see #3)

3) You'll have to tolerate some inconveniences, and some people just won't make the effort to do it. Several people I know thought filtering was too inconvenient, (over-blocking,) and went back to an unblocked computer.

We use K9 currently, we haven't tried the OpenDNS but will have to try that out. Occasionally a website we consider safe, like screenit, has an ad we don't think is OK. We mostly use firefox and the firefox plugin flash blocker has been surprisingly nice to use. If there is flash content you want, just click the flash play button to use the content, or temporarily disable flash blocker. You can enable / disable by sites as well if I remember right(?), though we don't really use that per se. I think this has made a noticeable difference.

-John Robertson

relaxmosphere wrote:In addition to log monitoring and K9 on the kids computers, I also changed my routers DNS settings to utilize OpenDNS FamilyShield service. It's FREE! Appears to be fairly seamless and effective.

This is exactly what I do. I love K9 on the PCs, and OpenDNS does a decent job of filtering for all the other devices you can't put K9 on - iPods, Wii, Xbox, PS3, etc...

Yes OpenDNS is easily bypassed if a person knows how to change their DNS settings, but if you have a pretty configurable router you can set it to only allow DNS requests (port 53 outbound) to the OpenDNS servers. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

Of course, my favorite products are Open Discussion 1.0 and Personal Accountability 2010, coupled with Fostering Relationships of Trust Family edition.

When these block a site, do you get a screen announcement? I would much prefer a stealth mode that just won't allow a site to open. Or better yet, redirect to something good, like new.lds.org or even the browser's start page.

I switched off K9 for a month and set up OpenDNS on my router. I gotta say, it was great to set up, but I experienced A LOT of those "frustrated wife/child" moments. As a plus, I could allow a site from a remote location, but finally switched back to K9 for ease of use.

Now that we're 100% wireless though, I'm thinking about setting up a home-made appliance (Astaro/Untangle), but that's a project for after tax season (grin).

We run Untangle at work for 200+ users. Its a little complicated and we've had to route some exceptions for VOIP (which shouldn't be traveling http anyway,) but it works well for us.

At home I use OpenDns basic. Its definitely not all inclusive, and one thing I don't like is that it won't block google image thumbnails unless you block the entire images.google.com site.

Once my kids are old enough to use a computer we're going to have to lock things down tighter. I'm thinking usernames and passwords and logging for everyone...

dboudwin wrote:Once my kids are old enough to use a computer we're going to have to lock things down tighter. I'm thinking usernames and passwords and logging for everyone...

We do this. Sometimes the children know their passwords, sometimes they don't. Dad and Mom can change any of them at any time.

You might wish to start now, using very simple passwords for the youngest children.

We check logs and answer questions from time to time, especially when we are going to challenge one of the children about an issue. Knowing when they logged on and off, and where they went while they were logged on is very helpful to the discussion when it is handled properly.

lajackson wrote:...You might wish to start now, using very simple passwords for the youngest children.

Don't wait to create your protection until the kids are old enough...protect yourself and your wife now as well. It's not just the kids that are browsing where they shouldn't. You'll need to build strict family rules about what is appropriate and what is not, so why wait!

And realize that at a very young age your kids know far more about how to navigate your computer then you think, especially if friends (at school, at the neighbors house) are helping them find the stuff you don't like.

They quickly learn how to enable "private browsing" so they are not tracked, how to delete the history of their session, and how to turn "safe search" off, if you have not taken measures to stop these actions.

How do you track or monitor wifi traffic, like an ipod, with OpenDNS? I know how to block it but I want to see the browser history.

I use OpenDNS on my DD-WRT router.
I used K9 extensively in the past on my computers.
I changed to http://www.kidswatch.com/ as my filtering solution because it allows me to restrict access to the computer, the Internet and specific websites based on time restrictions. I've been using it for years. When I researched time control software, I looked at approximately twenty applications. I determined that this one is the best for my needs. Another application I really liked was CyberPatrol.
Alas, my 3 older kids have their mobile devices which they use to access Facebook, etc. using the WiFi. (They have Pay as you go Phones with WiFi on them and they do not get data from the cell providers. They have to use the WiFi. My oldest son spends about $15 a month for his phone.)
I have the DD-WRT router turn off the wireless at midnight. This ensures the kids are shut off the Internet (yeah, I know they can log on to one that's unencrypted) and also provides a security benefit.
I need to get filtering on their devices. Any suggestions? I understand K9 works for the iPhone/Touch/Pad but my kids have Android phones/tablets.

EarloftheWest wrote:I use OpenDNS on my DD-WRT router.
I used K9 extensively in the past on my computers.
I changed to http://www.kidswatch.com/ as my filtering solution because it allows me to restrict access to the computer, the Internet and specific websites based on time restrictions. I've been using it for years. When I researched time control software, I looked at approximately twenty applications. I determined that this one is the best for my needs. Another application I really liked was CyberPatrol.
Alas, my 3 older kids have their mobile devices which they use to access Facebook, etc. using the WiFi. (They have Pay as you go Phones with WiFi on them and they do not get data from the cell providers. They have to use the WiFi. My oldest son spends about $15 a month for his phone.)
I have the DD-WRT router turn off the wireless at midnight. This ensures the kids are shut off the Internet (yeah, I know they can log on to one that's unencrypted) and also provides a security benefit.
I need to get filtering on their devices. Any suggestions? I understand K9 works for the iPhone/Touch/Pad but my kids have Android phones/tablets.

On my son's android, I have installed "setdns" which comes with a preset already for opendns family shield. I haven't figured out a way to lock it to that, but I believe it filters both the cell-provider internet (verizon) as well as ANY wifi hotspots he might connect to.

I have also set the Market content filtering to medium.

Lastly, I have installed an app called "phone control" on his phone. It forwards his sms messages, both received and sent, to me. Although it does it in the background, I have let him know that I am monitoring his text messages. Unfortunately, most of his texting is done through facebook. I wish I had a way to log that, too.

mattprasmussen wrote:How do you track or monitor wifi traffic, like an ipod, with OpenDNS? I know how to block it but I want to see the browser history.

Answering an older question here, but if you create an account with OpenDNS, you can set your own filtering levels, and it will also do logging. It is more complicated to setup than just using the OpenDNS family-safe setting, but you have more flexibility, including logging for all devices (ps3, cell phones using the wifi, tables, ipods, etc).

Many years ago my wife and I were considering ditching TV altogether, we've never been big on TV. We decided against it.We decided it would be better to teach our kids critical use of TV and media. If we didn't they might not know how to use media critically when visiting with friends or wherver they come in contact with media. I do use OpenDNS on my router, but primarily to protect against accidentally connecting to questionable websites.
But I don't believe in control at home so tight that the kids won't be able to access questionable content, if they haven't learnt but have just been denied access they might be so curious about what has been kept for them when they are not at home and you are not around. What was it Joseph Smith said? "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves". Not quite as simple as that, but nevertheless the approach I've taken.

bgraabek wrote:Many years ago my wife and I were considering ditching TV… We decided against it. We decided it would be better to teach our kids critical use of TV and media. … I don't believe in control at home so tight that the kids won't be able to access questionable content, if they haven't learnt but have just been denied access they might be so curious about what has been kept for them when they are not at home and you are not around. What was it Joseph Smith said? "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves". Not quite as simple as that, but nevertheless the approach I've taken.

I find this a very insightful comment to this discussion. My wife and I have never had regular access to TV in our home. When we married the TV she had in storage had died and it wasn't important to us to replace it. We didn't own a TV for years, but then a home teacher who was replacing a TV offered his old one; however, we lived in a place that did not get broadcast reception, so it was just a way for us to watch our VHS movies (we frequently enjoy DVD media on our computers). We didn't get a converter box for the DTV because we didn't have any reception at the time anyway. Eventually I do expect to get a TV, and your comment has given me a new perspective on how this may be an important resource for teaching the children we (hopefully) will raise.

idjeeper2 wrote:When these block a site, do you get a screen announcement? I would much prefer a stealth mode that just won't allow a site to open. Or better yet, redirect to something good, like new.lds.org or even the browser's start page.

When you attempt to visit a site blocked by OpenDNS, you get a web page stating that the site has been blocked by your network administrator. DNS is the service that convert the names of sites into internet addresses, OpenDNS blocks by giving an incorrect address for the site you requested. If the user can figure out another way to get the address and a way to get the browser to send the request to the correct address, then OpenDNS blocking will be circumvented. This can be done fairly easily through changing DNS settings or using a proxy network. Preventing these workarounds requires a properly configured firewall.