Security

The easy way to setup an Internet filter for your kids

There are plenty of great internet filters available online however we’re going to give you the two best internet filters we’ve found to date.

Option #1 OpenDNS Family Shield - Free internet filter for Mac, PC & mobile devices - Difficulty level: Easy

Offering more than just internet filtering - OpenDNS is a completely free service - www.opendns.com

Offering more than just internet filtering - OpenDNS is a completely free service - www.opendns.com

OpenDNS is a technology company that provides a simple solution to allow people to surf the web faster and more safely by using their Domain Name System. SIMPLY PUT, you make one easy change to your computer internet configuration and you’re using the free OpenDNS Domain Name System for faster and safer internet browsing.

For a step-by-step guide on applying family shield internet filtering to your home computer or router click here.

All up it should only take maximum 5 minutes to complete the configuration. If you would prefer a technician to take care this for you, feel free to give us a call on: 0280317759 and we’ll come to you.

Advanced OpenDNS filtering options are also available. For the ultimate filter setup that will protect against tampering from even the most tech savvy kids and adults, we recommend using a combination of applications.

We've found the best solution for filtering is a combination of a DD-WRT enabled router configured with options described in the following guide: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/OpenDNS to feed your dynamic IP address to a free DNS-O-Matic account which then updates your free OpenDNS account with filtering enabled. Using the appropriate configuration mentioned in the DD-WRT wiki it is also possible to force all DNS connections to use the OpenDNS servers. This means users of your network cannot manually change DNS settings on their computer or mobile device to circumvent filtering.

If you require assistance with getting this working please feel free to contact us using our contact form and we'll be happy to help.

Option #2 K9 Web protection - Another free internet filter for Mac, PC & Mobile Devices - Difficulty level: Medium

K9 Web protection is free software that you can install on your Mac, PC, Android or iOS device that will enable you to selectively block any websites or categories of websites you like. The key difference toOpenDNS is that K9 allows internet filtering on the device itself - no matter which network you are connected to.

With K9 you can select from a predefined list of over 70 categories or add your own custom list of blocked or allowed websites, giving you complete control over what you or your family are exposed to online. With one master password that you administer, K9 is completely tamper-proof and can even force “safe search” on search engines like Google, ensuring nobody can bypass the restrictions in place. Reports can also be generated to show what sites have been blocked and when access was tempted. K9 also has a time selection feature, allowing you to block out websites for a selected period of time - Perfect for ensuring work and study get done without any distractions. Whether it’s protecting your children from adult content or risky interactions, yourself from scams and viruses, or your organisation from threats or adventurous users, K9 is an ideal and feature-rich web filter that’s completely free. For more information or to try it out for yourself, click here