Hi all,
I've been 'googling' to find a complete solution to this, but haven't been successful thus far. I've also read several threads here since joining the community, but they were more geared towards entire networks & therefore had a different approach.
First off, I know a bit about PCs. I can re-image my own, built my own PC from scratch & set up my network, routers, etc. - BUT I am not a 'techy' & I don't have an IT background. I just like techy stuff.
So, of the many connections on my home network - I need to control access to certain websites on one particular laptop, but not on anything else like other tablets, smartphones, my desktop, etc.
I've read and implemented the whole 'host' procedure (Windows>system32>drivers>etc) and entered a number of URL's after the usual 127.0.0.1 thingy, which worked great and blocked the sites.
The problem now is twofold. (1) Although this method worked in preventing access to the site by directly typing the url in the address bar, if I Google the site and click on the first result - I gain access to the site again via some kind of backdoor? (2) While the 'host' option works to an extent, it's only good with IE. If I try to access the same (supposedly) restricted site via Firefox or Chrome, I can waltz straight in the front door!
How can I block my kid's access to any site (a) regardless of what browser they use, (b) without a Google search giving them backdoor access, (c) without them knowing I have done it and (d) without taking their laptop away?
As above, it's only applicable to one laptop on home network, so I don't want any restrictions on the rest of the network - hence why I didn't look at firewall settings (applicable to everyone) or router settings.
Obviously the laptop in question jumps onto the wireless network sporadically, so the internal IP often changes.
Hope I've been clear enough and would greatly appreciate any IT wisdom (in semi-layman's terms of course).
Many thanks for reading this.
I've been 'googling' to find a complete solution to this, but haven't been successful thus far. I've also read several threads here since joining the community, but they were more geared towards entire networks & therefore had a different approach.
First off, I know a bit about PCs. I can re-image my own, built my own PC from scratch & set up my network, routers, etc. - BUT I am not a 'techy' & I don't have an IT background. I just like techy stuff.
So, of the many connections on my home network - I need to control access to certain websites on one particular laptop, but not on anything else like other tablets, smartphones, my desktop, etc.
I've read and implemented the whole 'host' procedure (Windows>system32>drivers>etc) and entered a number of URL's after the usual 127.0.0.1 thingy, which worked great and blocked the sites.
The problem now is twofold. (1) Although this method worked in preventing access to the site by directly typing the url in the address bar, if I Google the site and click on the first result - I gain access to the site again via some kind of backdoor? (2) While the 'host' option works to an extent, it's only good with IE. If I try to access the same (supposedly) restricted site via Firefox or Chrome, I can waltz straight in the front door!
How can I block my kid's access to any site (a) regardless of what browser they use, (b) without a Google search giving them backdoor access, (c) without them knowing I have done it and (d) without taking their laptop away?
As above, it's only applicable to one laptop on home network, so I don't want any restrictions on the rest of the network - hence why I didn't look at firewall settings (applicable to everyone) or router settings.
Obviously the laptop in question jumps onto the wireless network sporadically, so the internal IP often changes.
Hope I've been clear enough and would greatly appreciate any IT wisdom (in semi-layman's terms of course).
Many thanks for reading this.
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