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Forum Discussion
Solved
Domain Fronting / Inability to Block Sites
All, I'm trying to block websites for my child (without Disney app, which I didn't find useful) and am having some issues. I've tested various sites to block, e..g, - discord / discordapp /...
This issue is solved
By going through the 3rd party DNS (eg OpenDNS), which was free, easy to set up and easy to add/configure in the Orbi settings, I was able to successfully block all the sites that I wanted.
Additionally, OpenDNS
- already had different tiers/levels of security with pre-screened + blocked sites
- once you choose a tier, you can add additional blocked sites
- you can also add 'always allowed' sites
- and, finally, the reporting gave me all the details that I need to actively monitor and protect my child; I can browse the list daily and identify/block any new, questionable sites
The earlier response which indicated failures between Chrome and Safari was purely a timing issue. Chrome recognized the updated settings almost immediately whereas Safari needed a couple hours (likely some caching somewhere, but it finally accepted).
Now that I'm using OpenDNS, if anyone recommends other DNS providers instead (Quad9, others), please share your thoughts.
Thank you, CrimpOn, appreciate the help and very helpful/insightful
Realizing that the Orbi/Netgear features were limited, inadequate and not going to be resolved in the near future, I extended my test through 3rd party DNS providers (eg Quad9, OpenDNS, etc.). and integrating them into the Orbi configuration
Note: Dynamic DNS was ENABLED during this test. I'm not sure what impact that has had on resultes.
Sites tested:
- discordapp
- youtube
- cnn
- foxnews
Random sites. I'm not preparing to block my daughter from coservative or liberal content, I just wanted a relevant and expansive sampling to test results. ;)
Results:
- discord app: BLOCKED on Chrome, BLOCKED on Safari
- YouTube: NOT BLOCKED on either
- CNN: SEMI-BLOCKED (no images, text only, unable to open links) on Chrome, NOT BLOCKED on Safari
- FoxNews: NOT BLOCKED on either
Every test opens up a new issue. I'll keep working on this path but there are so many issues and so many inconsistencies; it is very difficult to track all of the failure points and most likely, intentionally so. Looking at the list above, I think I'll try smaller businesses next vs bigger businesses (Facebook, YouTube, etc.) to (likely) confirm that they are using Fronting techniques to avoid the checks.
This issue is solved
By going through the 3rd party DNS (eg OpenDNS), which was free, easy to set up and easy to add/configure in the Orbi settings, I was able to successfully block all the sites that I wanted.
Additionally, OpenDNS
- already had different tiers/levels of security with pre-screened + blocked sites
- once you choose a tier, you can add additional blocked sites
- you can also add 'always allowed' sites
- and, finally, the reporting gave me all the details that I need to actively monitor and protect my child; I can browse the list daily and identify/block any new, questionable sites
The earlier response which indicated failures between Chrome and Safari was purely a timing issue. Chrome recognized the updated settings almost immediately whereas Safari needed a couple hours (likely some caching somewhere, but it finally accepted).
Now that I'm using OpenDNS, if anyone recommends other DNS providers instead (Quad9, others), please share your thoughts.