Need logging router with login internet access and more

This forum contains discussions related to keeping families and individuals safe while making use of technology. Acceptable topics would range from how to protect families from Internet predators and online pornography, monitoring and protecting cell phone usage and text messaging, locking unwanted television and movies from various devices, protecting and monitoring computer game usage, and promoting safe Internet and technology use.
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miket1024-p40
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Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:26 am

Need logging router with login internet access and more

#1

Post by miket1024-p40 »

From my perspective, Satan is very effectively using technology, but we are not effectively using technology to counter the threat.

I have raised two relatively technology savvy teens. I found that filtering was not so much needed as much as effective monitoring. The principle is to remove annonymity and help the boys develop good habits on the internet by discussing their usage in FHE. Currently I use Microsoft's family safety monitoring software, but it is not optimal. What I like is that it stores the log on a server so the boys can't delete or edit it and I can get access to it from any computer anywhere in the world. What I don't like is that it often slows internet access to a crawl due to server overload.

I want two technologies developed, and both are relatively simple:

1. I want to replace my DSL (or cable) WiFi router with a router that includes considerable storage that monitors and logs all internet access from all computers in the home. This router would enforce username and password so that it can identify the specific user. Logs should be kept for all users, including parents; no filtering of the results. It should capture thumbnails of all photos and videos. It should also provide a usage log so that it is possible to see how long family members are on and it should have a setting to auto logoff of the internet after periods of inactivity so that teens can't claim the usage numbers are wrong because they walked away from their computer with it still connected. Finally it should allow for the usual blocking based on adult content identification and a family list of blocked sites and allowed sites. I want all of this in the router, with web access to settings, rather than software on the computer because then it is not subject to changes in operating system and works as well for Mac as PC, as well as the increasing number of cellphones and other devices that can access the internet via WiFi. Fixed IP with auto login can be used for things like my Direct TV box that don't have individual username and password.

The second technology I want is software for Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, and iPhone that provides logging of text messages and sent photos. Relatively simple to develop (I've worked in mobile SW for 25 years; this is very doable on smartphone platforms). Again, the idea is to remove the perception of annonymity so that better choices are made and better habits devleoped.

I checked with the Dept of Electrical and Computer engineering at BYU Provo to see if there was any directive to focus on technologies to protect families. There was not. The response was that the Church currently relies on the industry to develope these technologies. Fox guarding the henhouse if you ask me.

I would gladly replace my existing router with one that provides these safety features.

Lots of pieces out there; but I'm not aware of complete solutions that do what I have outlined.
eeyore-p40
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Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA

#2

Post by eeyore-p40 »

While I agree that both of these would be useful, I don't think their development would be practical. The development of such a router would take some time, and the resources necessary would additionally drive up cost. Most networked hard drives are well over $100. Add to that the cost of a significant processor to handle such processing, and this would become a significantly expensive endeavor. Given that, and the likely small market for such a problem, I doubt it'd ever go anywhere. Not many people would be willing to pay $300+ for a router. It's a good idea, I just don't think it will happen.

I'd make the suggestion of grabbing an old computer, throw some version of linux on there, and set it up as a proxy server. I believe that could be customized to accomplish basically the same thing. User log-in, activity logs, filtering, etc. Just a thought.
sochsner
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Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:08 am
Location: Henderson, Nevada

#3

Post by sochsner »

I'd make the suggestion of grabbing an old computer, throw some version of linux on there, and set it up as a proxy server. I believe that could be customized to accomplish basically the same thing. User log-in, activity logs, filtering, etc. Just a thought.
Exactly what I was thinking. Since you said you had a server, you could adapt that to use Squid, and route your DNS traffic through that. It does pretty much everything. Then if you choose, you could add a filter to protect the innocent like DansGuardian. Very effective. AND/AlSO, there is a free solution called OpenDNS, that filters, among other power tools. (K-12 package provides statistics.)

In our household, we implement both, and we also considering buying hardware that specifically filters and logs traffic. (Our reasoning is that the only way to circumvent this hardware network filter is just short of unplugging it and essentially re-wiring the network, but we believe that the kids will have a difficult time utilizing our internet connection with out it plugged in. ;) )

If your children use Windows, then you might be interested in using K-9 internet filtering software. It is free, and does a wonderful job filtering on a local level.

Hopes this helps! Now that I look back on this post, it seems obsessive or strict. But, it provides layers of security where some filters fail, other pick up. I guess it is not strict if the kids still have access to all the good internet content! :D
---
~ Spencer O.
faazshift
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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:27 am
Location: Riverton, Utah, United States

#4

Post by faazshift »

Thats similar to what we do at my house. We have a big network (like 15-ish running computers, including web-servers and, file servers). My older brother took an old, but descent, computer, installed gentoo linux on it, and set it up as the router for the whole network. We then set up iptables to direct all web traffic through squid (the proxy). Squid is set up with squidguard to block items listed in a massive database that my brother found. We can then control what types of content are allowed and for which computers (by their ip address, currently all computers except those explicitly specified are filtered). I also made a 'content blocked' page that allows unblocking a page for half an hour (as well as sending an email to me and my brother about which computer was used and what site was unblocked, so we can review such things). There is no noticeable slowdown and all visited sites are logged. It works quite well. For us it was trivial to do, as most people in my family are quite technically skilled.
The_Earl
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Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:12 am

Squid

#5

Post by The_Earl »

I would use squid and a dedicated firewall / router distribution.

I like pfsense. It has great features, and is GUI driven for most things. It comes with squid installed. You can download a livecd that will also install on a minimalist computer. You will need 2 NICs unless you like VLANs.
http://www.pfsense.com/

There are some good tutorials for setting up squid and squidguard, a blacklist service. I would also recommend openDNS to help with some filtering.

squid tutorial
http://johncrackernet.blogspot.com/2009 ... sense.html

squidguard
http://files.pfsense.org/tutorials/squi ... dQuick.htm

You might try OpenWRT or DDWRT and a linksys router. I have not used squid on them, but the other stuff is nicely integrated. I worry that the router will not have enough storage to keep your logs long enough to be useful. You could mount an nfs or cifs share, but you would need a secure host for the share. For that amount of trouble, I would just install a firewall distro on a spare machine.
The_Earl
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Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:12 am

Monitoring vs filtering

#6

Post by The_Earl »

miket1024 wrote: I have raised two relatively technology savvy teens. I found that filtering was not so much needed as much as effective monitoring. The principle is to remove annonymity and help the boys develop good habits on the internet by discussing their usage in FHE.
miket1024 wrote:
Logs should be kept for all users, including parents; no filtering of the results.
I completely agree with you here. I think it is most important to teach your children how to make good decisions about what they view and access. I think it is very important to help them develop their values by making them responsible for their internet usage.

I like that you do not except parents from your accountability. I believe in teaching by example.

I think a filter is useful to keep people out of obviously dangerous stuff, but no usable filter is foolproof.

Thanks
The Earl
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