R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
It's pretty easy... I simply want to block Youtube from my kids iPads and a laptop (via Mac address - 3 total) I've had plenty of routers previously where this was very straightfoward.. but apparently not with a $400 router... instead I am supposed to create an OpenDNS account, and install their garbage Genie program??? Seriously??
Re: R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
I don't want to block it from all devices.. Like I said, I was just looking for an easy way to block it from 2 iPads and a Windows laptop.. I could edit the DNS registry in the laptop easy enough, but it seems the entire "Parental Controls" baked into the router are completely worthless. I am extremely disappointed with Netgears entire approach to it, and will probably just return it for something else.. it's absolutely ridiculous.
Re: R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
Yes, I understand that it's available per device..that doens't make it GOOD. I don't need "Parental Control" to determine what is available to my kid. The listed categories are so vague, I don't know how you ever expected someone to "customize Parental Control" with what you have provided. It's a JOKE.
According to this, there is no way to block a SINGLE SPECIFIC website, I have to block an entire category, and I'm not even sure which of these vague and non-descript categories would work?
The "tools" which you have provided would be fantastic if I were a fascist dictator running a 3rd world country... that's about it.
Re: R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
My kids are grown, so my views on the value of parental controls is probably too dated to be helpful.
One observation: Blocking the youtube mobile app is not as simple as blocking www.youtube.com - it uses more than one domain.
The technical issue is that the router is blocking based on keywords (including words in the domain name). Personally I think that blocking keywords in http made some sense years ago, but is not a very useful feature today. It fails with https because the browser connection is encrypted, and the browsers are designed to use https by default to improve security. So I agree that feature might as well be removed.
To do what you want, the router will need to filter the DNS service that it provides. Doing that on a schedule won't work 100% because DNS names are cached in the ipads and PCs.
You might be able to live with that. But there are other ways it could still be bypassed by tech-savvy kids - they could for instance simply set their devices to use Google's DNS server. So the next step would also require the router to block outside DNS services. But a more sophisticated kid could connect to a vpn tunnel... So it can become a bit of an arms race.
Other kids will just use a different app/service to get their video fix.
Re: R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
One suggestion would be to set limits on device connection time frames for those who need to go to sleep and be ready for school the next morning. Ya means blocking all access however can be useful for time frames when they are allowed online.
My Setup (Cable 1Gbps/50Mbps)>CM1200 v2.02.03(LAG Disabled)>RBK853 v3.2.17.12 RBK50 v2.7.2.104(WW) Circle Enabled Additional NG HW: C7800/CM1100/CAX80/CM2000, Orbi CBK40, R7800, R7960P, EX7500/EX7700, XR450 and WNHDE111
Re: R8500 - Need to block Youtube via mac address... why is this so hard?
Stephen - Thanks for your response, I truly appreciate your time and helpful input.
My kids are very young (6 & 8) - They don't have the YT app on their ipads, (As for your arms race comment; they HAVE figured out how to get to it from a browser! LOL) But I sincerely think that's about their technical capable limit, (at least for now) and if I could simply block "youtube.com" from their MAC address, I really believe that would be sufficient. (again, at least for now) They aren't doing anything bad per se (or age inappropriate) They just spend entirely too much time watching "You Tube Stars" play games and that is what I am trying to cull.
I suppose I could try to block it through the settings on the ipad itself..I haven't looked at that yet as I just really thought the router would have been the fastest and easiest way to do it.
