Circumventing parental controls is trivial - a suggestion

SIGHUP — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:44:20 GMT

When you set up parental controls you specify a device (or devices) in a group then apply a schedule to that group for when access should be allowed or disallowed according to a time "window".

This seems fine until you realise that the underlying mechanism relies on the MAC address(es) of the device(s) that you add to the group.

Changing the MAC address of a device in such a group is very easy - especially if the device is running Windows. Thus, by making that change, the router doesn't "see" that device as one that should be scheduled as intended.

The configuration mechanism needs to be enhanced such that one can say disable ALL devices that are not known in a well-defined list. This would mean that one could specify those items that need 24/7 wireless/internet access (e.g., an alarm system, smart thermostat, etc.).

In other words one should be able to set up those devices that ARE allowed full access rather than specify those that are NOT allowed access according to some schedule

topic Circumventing parental controls is trivial - a suggestion in Broadband & Landline

Circumventing parental controls is trivial - a suggestion