setting up a router to control internet activity

[Brian Ashton]

I have a DLink AC1750 router set up to control internet activity in the house. Specifically I have students that like to download pirated material and I want to prevent that, or at the least have a record of it so I can eventually control it. Any suggestions on how I can set the router to prevent p2p and related activities and keep internet activity logs?

[Chuck Wintle]

there should be a setting like URL filter that can be set to active to block specific url's or to block on keywords or domain names.

[Dan Hintz]

You'll likely want to block IP addresses rather than just URLs. Also consider blocking known P2P ports... that will kill a surprising number of sites alone. If you think specific people are a problem, set up filtering rules for their MAC address, and then confront them about it should they get around the rules (proxy sites, etc.).

Long ans hort of it, though, is students will work hard to get their "free" stuff. Make them sign an agreement that says if they are caught doing this, they will be turned into the dean, expelled from school, and kicked out of the house. It won't stop everyone, but being kicked out of college is a pretty big thing for many. Since you have a limited number of people connected, captyuring MAC addresses and tieing it to a specific machine shouldn't be hard at all.

[Brian Ashton]

Looks like I'll have to rethink this. Sounds like I need a router that keeps comprehensive logs and just get it to alert me if certain parameters are exceeded and then do a simple investigation... Anyone got any suggestions on what router I'm looking for?

[Dan Hintz]

The router itself won't keep the logs, but if everything goes through a software-based firewall, you can set that up to keep logs.

How many students are we talking about? You could run into privacy issues pretty quickly if you start keeping logs of where people go. Better talk to a lawyer first.

Or save yourself a lot of hassle and just shut off their access to the net altogether...

[Myk Rian]

Or save yourself a lot of hassle and just shut off their access to the net altogether...
So they can't do research for classes?

[Curt Harms]

I wonder if DD-WRT or one of the other 3rd party firmwares would be better than your stock router firmware? I'm not familiar with DLink products so don't know their capabilities. If DD-WRT or one of the other 3rd party firmwares would be better but not available for your current router, could you install DD-WRT on an old router and let your students use that? Here's a screenshot:
307301


DD-WRT also supports logging. You could check the logs periodically and block the I.P.s/sites that are of questionable legality. It's pretty simple to daisy chain routers and give the little perps(:D) their own WiFi network. Their activities would still be going through your internet connection but there may be some traceability if there are separate SSIDs, dunno.

[Dan Hintz]

So they can't do research for classes?

I'm not saying it's the best answer...

But by allowing them unfettered access to the net, the housemaster (Brian... I'm assuming this in on-campus housing of some form or another) is taking on a lot of risk. Unless the school requires the house to have internet access, it may be easier/safer to tell the students to get their access using campus computers. Let the campus IT guys sort out the P2P problem. If everyone can't follow the rules, then no one will be allowed the temptation. Sometimes draconian measures like that tend to pit the "bad guys" against each other, and in the end an "honor among thieves" deal is struck to the benefit of all.

[Greg R Bradley]

The owner of the Internet Connection is the one that the copyright owners will sue. If they are downloading copyrighted material through the school's connection, the school is liable.

If you are providing Internet access as part of something that makes you money, like renting rooms to students that includes wireless, you want to use a commercial product and keep it up to date.

You either want to have no exposure, be a very small target to copyright holders, or be very well protected. Being in the middle is not a good idea and you won't know about the problem until it is too late. You are way ahead of most people in that you are even asking questions.

[Jim Becker]

While you can certainly set filters "in" the router, that can impact performance, especially for the typical kind of equipment used for Cable/DSL/FTTH connections in the home. They don't have a whole lot of computing power.

What I do is use OpenDNS (https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/) for filtering. It not only allows me to filter by category, but I can also white list and black list specific sites to best meet the needs of my family. The subscription isn't expensive and you don't have to be home to make changes and adjustments. Further, there are reporting tools available so you can check up on activity in case "creative minds" start finding a way to get around something you've disallowed. And this method doesn't put any additional computing requirements on your home router...you're just setting it to use the OpenDNS servers.