Time Restrictions for Internet Access

Discussion in 'Software' started by Nelix, Jul 15, 2003.

  1. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Hi All,

    Just a quick question for you all.

    My son has just left school and he has started staying up late playing on "Habbo Hotel", when i say late i mean 3 and 4 in the morning, and getting up 12 hours later.

    So , what i am looking for is a program that i can put on the server or on his machine that will allow me to restrict his internet access between certain hours, if it were password protected so he cant change it would be help ful too.

    Anyone got any ideas.
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  2. Sandy

    Sandy Ex-Member

    1,091
    2
    65
    More info please

    What OS are you using?

    How IT savvy is he?
     
  3. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Sorry, should have known you would need this info.

    Running win 2000 on all client machines and the server machine has win 2000 server, ICS enabled for internet access, however, i will be getting a linksys router within the net week or 2

    He is not very IT savvy at all, so even basic easy to get round security would probably be fine but the tighter the better, just incase he accquires a taste for hacking. :twisted:

    If you need anymore info just let me know

    :bluegrab
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  4. Phil
    Honorary Member

    Phil Gigabyte Poster

    1,680
    7
    87
    Winproxy appears to do what you're looking for, though I've never used it and it depends on how much you want to spend :)

    I use surfcontrol at work which would be overkill and way too expensive, I have installed and supported cyberpatrol Cyberpatrol in the past which was ok for controlling internet access from a single PC but a complete bitch if it went wrong.

    I would go with something you can control from the server such as winproxy, that way it's less susceptible to being messed around with.
     
    Certifications: MCSE:M & S MCSA:M CCNA CNA
    WIP: 2003 Upgrade, CCNA Upgrade
  5. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Downloading a 30 day evaluation copy just to see if it does what it says, thanks for the info, dont know if it will work once i get the router though?

    :bluegrab
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  6. Phil
    Honorary Member

    Phil Gigabyte Poster

    1,680
    7
    87
    How is the network going to be configured when you get the linksys router?
     
    Certifications: MCSE:M & S MCSA:M CCNA CNA
    WIP: 2003 Upgrade, CCNA Upgrade
  7. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

    13,493
    180
    287
    Does everyone in your family have their own user account? If so (and here, I'm assuming you're the admin for the local machine), just restrict the hours he can logon to the machine. Of course this doesn't just restrict his internet access but the whole shebang, but if he's staying up late to play games, I doubt he'll switch to staying up late to write papers. BTW, how old is he, anyway?
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  8. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Phil

    Got the evaluation copy of Winproxy, tryed to install it and it does not run with ICS enabled, dont think it will run when i get the router either as it mentions in one of the .PDF files that the modem must be plugged into the machine running Winproxy, and the modem will be plugged into the router when i get it

    Tripwire

    He has just turned 16, (I know what your thinking, "you must have started young", not the case, mind you not for the want of trying :) , he is really my partners son from a previous marrage).

    I had thought about restricting his log on times, but i though that was beinga little too strong, if, after restricting his internet access time, he is still staying up late then i will restrict his log on times aswell. BTW, when you restrict someones log on times, if they are aready logged on when the the restriction start time is met, will it log them off and will it give them the oportunity to save any work :?:
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  9. Sandy

    Sandy Ex-Member

    1,091
    2
    65
    You could block the ports that the game runs on. Wont stop him surfing but stops him playing (and you could always say oops I was playing with the settings)
     
  10. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    I could but that would stop him from playing the game during the day, it's just the night times i want to restrict.

    :bluegrab
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  11. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

    13,493
    180
    287
    Sure, use the Local Users and Groups MMC. Under Security Options, enable "Automatically Log Off Users When Logon Time Expires"
    I assume you're kidding here, Sandy. I don't doubt that the young fellow has been warned, etc...so I'd let him know what action I was taking (ok, maybe I wouldn't tell him exactly technically what I was doing) and why. I've got 17 year old twin boys and a 15 year old girl. Fortunately, they aren't involved in a computer game to this extent, but we have had to kick them off the PC a few times when they needed to be doing other tasks.
    You are a rather young and handsome guy. :lol:
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  12. Sandy

    Sandy Ex-Member

    1,091
    2
    65
    Trip I was! Currently our 11 month old points at things and says UGHH so I have a lot to learn about parenthood!
     
  13. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    thanks for the compliment tripwire

    Will he have the chance to save any work (just incase heis doing something useful)?
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  14. AndyL

    AndyL Nibble Poster

    92
    0
    21
    My Linksys router has a time filter so you can block traffic at certain times. It's customisable like windows logon times. It blocks for all users though.
     
    Certifications: MCSE 2000,2K3,MCSA:M 2000, MCSA 2K3
    WIP: Painting the doorframes.
  15. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

    13,493
    180
    287
    I don't thing you can add a warning...at least I've never seen one. I found this one out the hard way. A team of us were upgrading a state office from NT to 2000. We were pulling a late night, hoping to get the new system up and running by Monday. I was logged on to the system one minute and then...nothing. It was literally a Cinderella moment. The clock struck midnight, and my logon privledges turned back into a pumpkin.

    I had a little talk with one of my sons about telling time the other night. He was at a friend's place...just around the corner, but midnight came and midnight went and no kid. I'd lent him my cell phone since our home phone was having some troubles. Finally I called him and told him to get his keester home. He arrived home shortly and explained that he had intended to come home before midnight but had lost track of time. I reminded him that he wears a watch and can tell time. I also reminded him as a fellow job seeker that, should he get a job, showing up to work late because he "lost track of time" is a poor excuse.

    He's a really responsible kid and practically gives me no trouble at all, but sometimes you just have to remind them that they have the ability to take responsibility for their time and actions. If you can't find the right technical solutions, perhaps he can just save his work before stroke of midnight.

    If not, you can set up Word to periodically and automatically save work being done so he won't lose it all in the event he's kicked off the local machine or there happens to be a sudden power outage. :)
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  16. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Thanks for all the tips and info i will take them on board and work out which road i am going to travel upon.

    AndyL
    What model o Linksys Router do you have :?:
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  17. Taz69

    Taz69 Byte Poster

    125
    0
    26
    :idea: If you want to be kind and send a message just before he is logged off you could always use Scheduled Tasks to run a simple bat file.

    The bat file would only need to include 1 line along the lines of

    net send [his IP address] "Bed Time"

    All you would then need to do would be to scedule the bat file to be run nightly 10 minutes before he was logged off
     
    Certifications: MCSE: S, MCSA:M, MCSA: S, Net+ & 70-284
    WIP: MCSA 2003 & MCSA:Messaging 2003
  18. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Good idea Taz, Never thought of that


    Thanks
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  19. Nelix
    Honorary Member

    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

    1,416
    3
    82
    Just to let you all know that i may have resolved the problem,

    I was messing around with the new ver of zonealarm Pro (Ver 4), and if i am reading it right, it looks like you are able to specify a host name and restrict access to the server (which provides internet access) by specific times of the day, you can even specify different times on different days.

    I havent attempted to set it up yet but intend to have a play later this week, so it looks like zonealarm has answered my question, i will be using this option (if it works), along with a scheduled netsend command so that he has enough time to say goodbye to his mates on the net.

    Thanks again for all the suggestions, much appreiciated
     
    Certifications: A+, 70-210, 70-290, 70-291, 74-409, 70-410, 70-411, 70-337, 70-347
    WIP: 70-346
  20. SimonV
    Honorary Member

    SimonV Petabyte Poster Gold Member

    6,651
    180
    258
    I use this but never looked that far into it. If thats the case then thanks for the heads up on this nelix, that feature could be very handy indeed. :P
     
    Certifications: MOS Master 2003, CompTIA A+, MCSA:M, MCSE
    WIP: Keeping CF Alive...

Share This Page

Loading...
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.