I need suggestions for how to limit the internet access of a relatively computer-savvy young adult. I don’t want to get into the whys and wherefores. Just hoping for some good ol’ straight dope on this issue. I don’t know much about Net Nanny software or whatever. Hypothetically I could install a program that restricts web sites on the person’s laptop (in this case, I want only job search websites to be accessible all day; and I want them to be able to do unrestricted surfing about 2 hours per day) with the condition that they have to have it on there if they want to stay with us. But won’t they just be able to uninstall it? Alternatively, I can do a guest log-in for our wireless network, right, and just disable the guest log-in when I want to stop their access? But that would not allow me to filter the web sites they use. Thoughts? Thanks in advance – I’m dealing with a lot of issues here and am hoping for sincere and kind advice on topic. Much appreciated.
I have seen some net nanny software that works okay, though I’m not familiar with it enough to recommend a particular brand. Most of them are a pain in the arse to deal with.
Be aware that they’re usually quite easy to circumvent if the person in question is motivated to do so. It really only works when the people restricted by it are willing to abide by your rules and fall more into the ‘lack of self control’ category than ‘fighting you tooth and nail’ category.
Thanks. We just had a chat and it sounds like it’s going to be more like the lack of self control category than the fighting tooth and nail category. So that’s good. She doesn’t know I’m considering software yet - I’m going to break that to her gently. She told me that thinks that rules are a good idea and will help her be more productive. So far so good. We shall see what she says when I explain the way the “rules” will be implemented.
Without installing software of or getting into programming all kinds of specific websites into the computer my suggestion would be just to shut off access right at the router.
Most routers allow you to allow/disallow access on a set schedule fairly easily so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Just make sure you it’s set up to pay attention to MAC address as opposed to IP address. Assuming your network is set up as a DHCP network, changing your IP address is easy, your MAC address, not quite as easy (but still doable).
Of course, if they’re using a wireless laptop, they’ll just connect to the neighbor’s network.
Yeah, the wireless router should provide the time-limiting tools; if your neighbor’s router is appropriately protected she shouldn’t be able to use that instead.
I don’t know if the router would provide the ability to limit sites, however.
My kids have access to a laptop we don’t use anymore, and I just disabled wife access on it. To enable it, a password has to be punched in, and they don’t know the password. Instead, if they want to go online they have to sit at the desk in the kitchen, in full view of me and/or my wife, and plug in to the Cat5 cable. So they can’t get online by bringing it up to their bedroom, or something.
It sounds like my kids are younger than the person you’re dealing with, so I don’t know if this will work for you.
Leechblockshould work, it’s a free firefox plugin
I would have the blocklist set up like this.
I would also try to find a way to block him changing the clock.
I would physically remove the modem (the box between the wire from the wall and the router). Unless the kid buys their own modem, it’s pretty hard to get around that restriction.
I was an Internet-addicted kid so … yeah.
Thanks for suggestions. One of our challenges is that we need to be able to get on the internet while blocking or filtering her access. Tricky. Though actually that would work while we’re at work. Leechblock looks promising – have to look more into that.
My router allows me to set different access for each device using it, either by time of day, or by website or services.
Without getting into technicals, (because it’s mostly a joke) I would get a program that redirects all URLs to a job search website, just to make the point more elegantly. 
Leechblock can do that
But Leechblock only works if the person uses enough self-control to not go in and turn it off. All she has to do is open up the Firefox extensions and disable it and boom, no restrictions.
(Checking my own installation of Leechblock that I use to keep myself off my blogs during work and should probably add the Dope boards to as well…) Leechblock has an ‘access control’ tab where you can set up a password that will be needed to make changes. It also lets you turn off the ‘restart browser with all addons disabled’ option. I haven’t used it for this purpose, but it looks like it’s about as capable as most net nanny software. The bigger problem would be keeping the person in question from just installing a different browser.
I have been using cold turkey. it’s a very simple piece of software that does one thing. It flat out blocks certain that you specify for a certain amount of time. I have not tried to disable it, but I’ve read that if one really wanted to they would have to do a full reboot, then go into safe mode to uninstall it. Additionally, it doesn’t leave an icon anywhere while it is running (but does have a task manager process). Conceivably, one can run it, and your guest would never know unless they go digging through the task list.
Here is a list of similar/alternatives to cold turkey. You can look through the list and see what their features are.
Your wife probably doesn’t need access to your kids’ laptop anyway.