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Help Blocking YouTube on Orbi RBR50
My kid's YouTube watching has gotten out of hand during distance learning school hours and I can't for the life of me figure out how to block YouTube at the router level. It seems like what I've done in the Advanced Settings -> Security -> Block Sites should work but it isnt. See screenshot for details. What am I missing???
I have an Orbi RBR50 with Firmware V2.5.2.4.
Thanks!
With the Circle app, you can block specific websites for your kids' profiles too. Go to your child's profile, block YouTube, then select Custome Filter where you can add websites. Make sure you save the settings to the profile before exiting out. You can also select History and block sites visited from there too.
6 Replies
Alas, you have encountered the reason why Orbi's Block Sites feature is worthless:
It blocks ONLY http. It does not block https.
I fear the only solution is some sort of "Parental Controls", which might be:
- Using features from OpenDNS (free and subscription versions)
- Activating Disney Circle, which has an annual fee
- Activating Netgear's "new" Parental Controls which is available on the very latest firmware versions.
- Installing a seprate DNS server, such as Pi-Hole which can be set up to block almost anything.
This requires either a computer (I use a Raspberry Pi) or something like the Amazon Cloud.
This also can be defeated if the kids are able to reconfigure their devices to use a different DNS.
Caveat: I have never implemented Parental Controls. As a "first step", you might want to browse the Netgear community form for Disney Circle and see what people who are interested in Parental Controls have to say about that product and alternatives they have considered:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Circle-Smart-Parental-Controls/bd-p/en-home-circle
Thank you for answering this for me, and yes a totally worthless feature from Orbi?!! It was driving me crazy.
I tried the integrated Circle parental control - also rather worthless - seems to let me block the YouTube App but not the website.
I started looking into OpenDNS but havent figured that out yet. I'll look into the Pi-Hole as well.
Thanks again!
With the Circle app, you can block specific websites for your kids' profiles too. Go to your child's profile, block YouTube, then select Custome Filter where you can add websites. Make sure you save the settings to the profile before exiting out. You can also select History and block sites visited from there too.
