To add another tip to this post... 
Blocking bad sites via OpenDNS:
In addition to simply speeding up your Internet speeds, advanced DNS services give you control over blocking "bad sites". Parents out there can input the OpenDNS into the router, and then password-protect the router. Little Timmy and Suzy then have no way to go around your protections*, unlike nanny software, because the blocks are hardwired in at the earliest part of the incoming signal. Schools use this kind of technology to block any number of time-wasters: Facebook, mySpace, Youtube, porn, games, malware, proxies, etc. By default, OpenDNS already blocks known phishing and malware sites, but you can add custom domain names to be blocked.
(* Unless they both have administrative access to the computer and know how to change DNS on the computer itself; however, most kids won't know about DNS blocking. Not yet, anyway, from my experience. Kids should never have full admin access to shared family computers. Give them a login, and restrict their ability to change networking settings in the control panel.)
This is done by signing up for free OpenDNS service (or paid version) and then logging into the
OpenDNS dashboard.
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While I don't believe in puritanical censorship, there is something to be said for blocking specific porn sites. These sites are time-wasters, and generally project unrealistic portrayals of sex to teens and college students. Kids should be outside being social and making real relationships, not sitting alone in front of a glowing screen. With a few entries, you can block all of the biggest
Youtube-like porn sites: youporn.com, spankwire.com, xvideos.com, xhamster.com, tnaflix.com, redtube.com, and others. (Tip: Look at the
Alexa Top 500 list, and scan for pornography sites.)
You can also block a lot of
sites known for "sharing" malicious software, unauthorized software downloads, torrents, porn downloads, etc. Generally speaking, it's just stuff that your kids might do, which in some way may come back to harm you -- either by subjecting you to letters from lawyers, or by hosing your computer with malware. Sites worth blocking include: thepiratebay.org, rapidshare.com, megaupload.com, and quite a few others. It will take some research on your part. Google keywords "torrent" and "rapidshare" and you'll quickly come up with a list of junk domains.
The thing to remember is that the goal is not blocking everything, but simply to block the easiest targets. Frustration will generally cause a person to get back on-task, as opposed to continuing to look for more outlets. OpenDNS even lets you add custom block pages, should you feel the need to scare anybody and make warnings.
You can also block entire categories via OpenDNS, but I suggest against it, because there may be false positives, meaning legitimate and non-harmful are now unavailable to you. Overly aggressive (and misguided) parents may also opt to block Facebook, mySpace, Youtube and others. But that's really taking it to the extreme. Wacky conservative types have gone so far as to block news sites like CNN and MSNBC, because they want their kids to be indoctrinated by the cult of Fox News. Please block sensibly.
To see what traffic is happening on your network, you can also enable stats in the dashboard. That will let you analyze traffic in/out, and you can identify any new problem domains that may need to be blocked.
Important notes on dynamic vs static IP, and IP tracking:
Cable internet providers generally provide semi-
static IP address. If your modem is on 24/7, and you have the same router, your IP address likely does not change often, if ever. You can always check up on your IP address by visiting a site like
WhatisMyIP.com.
DSL users, and dial-up users (the dozen of you still left out there), have new IP addresses every few hours, because of how that dated technology works. This is called
dynamic IP addressing. OpenDNS has accounted for this, as can be read at this page:
Dynamic IP Technical Details. They suggest using their other free service
DNS-O-Matic, which tracks your IP changes and ties it automatically to your OpenDNS account. In fact, I don't believe I've ever used DNS-O-Matic before, but my OpenDNS login works there, too!
And that's it for now...
I almost feel like an OpenDNS ad right now, but this service is immensely helpful in a number of ways -- not just speeding up slow internet.
If this post/thread has helped you, let us know. Or if you have questions, feel free to reply at any time.
Take care.
