How does opendns parental controls work

For sites like Reddit and Tumblr which are full of porn alongside non-pornographic content this is unfortunate, because your only way to keep kids from the porn on those social networks is to block them entirely.

Here are the IP addresses you need to use—you can also find them at the bottom of the dashboard. You can set up these addresses at the router or device level; check out our ultimate guide to changing your DNS server to learn how to do that on your router and your various devices. If you want your computer to have access to adult sites for, ahem , educational reasons, you can do that.

Be aware, however, that your kids could just as easily do this themselves. The only way to stop this is to not give your kids the administrator password for any computers they use…which is probably a good idea anyway. The Best Tech Newsletter Anywhere Join , subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. Account Password. How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology.

Since we launched in , our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. How do you keep all these clients connected while keeping younger users out of trouble? While you can block keywords and domains, you will quickly find out that controlling that is akin to the time-worn analogy of the finger the dike.

The nice thing with OpenDNS is, you can do web filtering at the router, or you can assign it to individual clients. First go to OpenDNS. All they really need is some basic information, however, they may prompt you for more. The next screen you encounter will explain to you how to change your DNS for various clients and access points on your network.

Instructions for changing your DNS on your router, PC, server, and even mobile devices are available. You have two configuration options on your home network. You can change the DNS on your router, which is the main connection point to and from the Internet.

This has the advantage of covering everything in an umbrella of protection. This is also its disadvantage because every computer behind the router must then use the same router settings unless you specifically assign a client to use another DNS server.

In general though, this is what you should expect when configuring your router. In the screenshot below, we see where we enter that on our router. This feature means fixing a free account and a couple of extra configuration steps but gives you tons of control over which websites are blocked and which are allowed. OpenDNS connects to high-performance DNS serves and stores the IPs of many sites during a cache to scale back the time it takes to resolve your requests.

Third-party options like OpenDNS offer increased speed or other features, like content filtering. There are two ways to urge started: one simple, one complex. It should only take a couple of minutes to line up. This pre-configured service blocks adult sites and is as easy to configure as switching DNS addresses. Here are the addresses you would like to use:.

This service allows you to log into an account and block entire content categories, supplying you with plenty of control. The downside: this service only works on your network. Second, confirm you employ a secure password because this service will constantly be tracking your home IP address.

If you use laptops, close the software once you leave the house. Take a while to configure things to your liking. Note that blocking is on an all-or-nothing basis: you either need to block all of a site or none of it. For sites like Reddit and Tumblr which are filled with porn alongside non-pornographic content , this is often unfortunate because your only thanks to keeping kids from the porn on those social networks is to dam them entirely.