I recently reached the point where I decided that being able to control my children's Internet use more closely would be a good idea.
The computer has always been installed with both desktop security (limiting software installation) and Microsoft Family Safety which allows me to monitor and control both application and browser usage.
My boys are 11 and 13 and access the Internet using a Windows 8 computer, Amazon Fire HD tablets, and Samsung Galaxy Ace phones.
But I found that after the boys had their mobile devices, the monthly broadband usage tripled. It seems they were quite enamoured of a few Minecraft specialists on YouTube and were spending huge amounts of time watching these videos, often when they were supposed to be doing other things.
In some cases we could just withdraw their devices, but both need them for communicating with friends (sometimes about homework) or for doing research for homework.
Netgear LPC (www.netgear.com/lpc) is a tool that's built into many Netgear routers. It's been around for a few years and has changed a few times.
At it's core it has the ability to limit people on your network from accessing particular sites on the Internet. It does this using about 60 different categories of site that allow you to do things like:
The categories are provided by a company called OpenDNS who ensure that all the web site classifications are up to date and provide the ability to set up different roles and times that individuals can or can't access specific sites.
The protection is provided for specific devices, meaning that you can protect computers, phones, and tablets.
What is Netgear Live Parental Controls (LPC)?
Netgear LPC (www.netgear.com/lpc) is a tool that's built into many Netgear routers. It's been around for a few years and has changed a few times.At it's core it has the ability to limit people on your network from accessing particular sites on the Internet. It does this using about 60 different categories of site that allow you to do things like:
- Protect everyone from phishing sites
- Ensure that your kids don't access sites with "Adult Themes"
- Keep kids away from "Time Wasters" like YouTube during the hours they're supposed to be doing homework
The categories are provided by a company called OpenDNS who ensure that all the web site classifications are up to date and provide the ability to set up different roles and times that individuals can or can't access specific sites.The protection is provided for specific devices, meaning that you can protect computers, phones, and tablets.
Do Netgear Live Parental Controls (LPC) work?
The bottom line is that, yes, they work and work well. It's comprehensive and extremely flexible, allowing you to give the access needed to individuals or groups, and ensuring that guests can use the Internet as needed when visiting.
But while LPC are a great solution, Netgear's documentation is not good.
- My router came without software and detailed instructions
- Online documentation is badly out of date and refers to tools that are no longer available
- Documentation on the tools is non-existent
- The tools are not highly intuitive
So I figured I'd write a few short articles here on how to set up and run Netgear LPC. If you have any questions, please drop a comment on the relevant article.
Following articles are...
- What do you need to run Netgear LPC?
- Designing your Netgear LPC security rules
- Using OpenDNS to set up Netgear LPC bypass accounts
- Configuring individual devices using Netgear Genie
