Scheduled WiFi Access Parental control easily bypassed
Quote from: oobiedoobie Why are the admin controls on the Plusnet technicolor router so easily bypassed and can anyone enlighten me on how to keep the settings that I seem to be resetting on a daily basis?
I turn the router off for 20 hours in 24 daily - it's not left on but when it is, I want to restrict my son's access to 1 hour and no more. As I stated at the start - he simply turned the router on and off and the wifi was back on. It happened twice and I would like this not to happen again when I am away and the wifi is off.
I have asked (a couple of days ago) some questions in the back ground with PlusNet contacts if they had any knowledge on this, but have not heard anything, so the technical need has not been ignored.
Having thought some more about this, it occurs to me that there are a number of reasons why this might not be working, ranging from it will not do what you want, through it is not configured to do what you want, before we arrive at the conclusion that it is actually failing to do what it is supposed to do.
First can I confirm that we are all on the same page... as it is possible that your router does not have the facilities you seek, does not do it the way you want or has simply not been configured correctly... or after all of that does not function quite as expected when rebooted.
Are you talking about the TG582n router as supplied by PlusNet?
Is it on firmware version 10.2.2.B? See the router summary scree after logging in here - http://192.168.1.254
Are you looking at restricting the access to certain time slots or just one hour when you decide? That is (say) 19:00-20:00 every weekday or different hours on weekends?
Have you set hour by hour access restrictions for each device you want to control on WiFi as per here - http://192.168.1.254/device_tod.lp?be=0&l0=4&l1=1
What hours have you allowed?
(Having though about it some more, I think the next bit might be the issue...) For the devices you want to restrict, have you configured them to have the same (static) IP address here - http://192.168.1.254/cgi/b/devs/ov/?be=0&l0=4&l1=0 - click on each device in turn and click 'configure' (top right), tick "Always use the same IP address:" and then apply.
What time servers are configured here - http://192.168.1.254/cgi/b/cfg/cfg/?be=0&l0=1&l1=1
Is the date time shown in the logs here - http://192.168.1.254/cgi/b/events/?be=0&l0=1&l1=2 - current?
If not, what is the PlusNet firewall settings here - https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=firewall
Forgive the detailed questions, but one is guilty of assuming that you know all of this and have met all of the requirements to achieve your aims.
Time access controls facilitated by the TG582n router (running firmware 10.2.2.B) enable a device having a FIXED IP ADDRESS to have inhibited or enabled access to the internet during a whole hour slot or multiples thereof. That is 09:00-10:00 or 13:00-16:00.
To support these controls, the router needs to be aware of the current time, which is enabled by the SNTP configuration, which in turn needs the right configuration on the PlusNet firewall.
If any of the above are not correctly configured, then the controls you have configured might fail.
- If the device is not set to always have the same IP address, a reboot of the router is likely to assign a new IP address to the device for which there are no defined controls
- If time management is not correctly enabled, when the router reloads, its internal date / time is set to 1st Jan 00:00 thus the day and hour restrictions will not be correctly applied
- If your expectation is that at anytime your child is permitted access for an hour from "now" then (unless you dynamically change the settings) this router will not do that
- If all of the above is correctly configured, then we need to take a closer look at what is happening during the start-up process
I know that the application of changes to the restrictions is done in real time. When I want the internet to myself (say for watching iPlayer) I apply time restrictions to my step-son's devices... soon thereafter he complains he has no internet access.
HTH?
From that description it sounds like your son doesn't
Quote from: oobiedoobie get around this by simply turning the router off and then on again and pressing the wifi button.
it appears that he is also pressing the 'factory reset' button, which clears the router's configuration memory back to default.
On most routers this would leave you with an unconfigured device, but the Plusnet router will auto-configure via the internet (using something called TR-069). In the Plusnet case, it means that the router will regain it's internet connection and reset the WiFi password to it's default.
If your son is pressing the 'factory reset' button, then no networking device will survive that - because it is intended as the last resort method of regaining control of a misconfigured device. The difference is that 99% of networking kit would remain unconfigured, whereas the Technicolor router is returning to a minimal working state - but enough to allow your son online.
Quote from: oobiedoobie Surely there must be a better way to do this than simply taking the router to work with me?
It is looking like this might be the best solution - until we come up with some drastic alternatives !
The lesson here for everyone is NEVER use the default WiFi security settings on anything, ALWAYS change the SSID and password BEFORE anyone is allowed to make a wireless connection, and keep the password secret.
Again as a general observation, I would also argue that in a household with children or guests that use your WiFi, to add a second wireless network (independent from the wireless that the adults use), so it can be switched off when things go wrong, so that time restrictions can be imposed, and filtering of which websites are allowed (using OpenDNS), applied just on their network.
Geez! A factory reset on an auto configuring router circumventing well intended security settings. That is creative out of the box thinking!
If he is smart enough to do that, then even if you had a separate wifi SSID with its own security code I suspect he'd be smart enough to reconfigure his play station to use the default SSID after a reset - the key is on the bottom of the router.
The answer here is to ensure you are confident of how to configure the PlusNET user details in the router and then disable the auto config options. A factory reset will then not automatically reconfigure and reconnect, you will have the pain of reconfiguring, but not be exposed to the risk of forgetting your changed password and ending up with a brick if you disable the factory reset function.
Can the router be located in a secure or locked location?
How about putting the play station controllers (or PSU) in a locked box?
Does the playstation's parental control functions offer any help here? See http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/basicoperations/parentallock.html
If he is smart enough to do that, then even if you had a separate wifi SSID with its own security code I suspect he'd be smart enough to reconfigure his play station to use the default SSID after a reset - the key is on the bottom of the router.
The answer here is to ensure you are confident of how to configure the PlusNET user details in the router and then disable the auto config options. A factory reset will then not automatically reconfigure and reconnect, you will have the pain of reconfiguring, but not be exposed to the risk of forgetting your changed password and ending up with a brick if you disable the factory reset function.
Can the router be located in a secure or locked location?
How about putting the play station controllers (or PSU) in a locked box?
Does the playstation's parental control functions offer any help here? See http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/basicoperations/parentallock.html
Hi again oobiedoobie,
I sorry I couldn't post back again a bit sooner due to some urgent family commitments. Thanks for taking the trouble to post your personal circumstances, that does help put it into context. Your son sounds like a bright lad who will do well in his GCSE's once he has learnt to apply himself and learnt how important discipline is in life, something in my life experience that a number of bright energetic boys lack when there has been no male parent to act as a role model and guide them through such things - something which it sounds like you have already embarked on.
As you've obviously noticed there has been a lot of technical information posted, and it can be all rather overwhelming all in one go. However don't worry, there is a fairly simple solution at the outset based on a couple of bits of info from npr, purleigh and Townman - not everything needs to be implemented immediately, if at all - whilst Townman's thoughts and heart is in the right place, he's made it sound rather complicated.
You commented about having to reset a number of things, this can also be easily overcome. Some settings need to be saved to to survive a power off (there is internal RAM), but no settings will survive a factory reset on any router or modem/router. Also just to get the context correct, a number of ISPs use the TR-069 setup process. This actually is at the crux of the simplest (part) solution to your problem.
Once the relevant solutions are in place and the modem/router has all the required settings, then it's configuration can be saved and easily reloaded after a factory reset (or indeed at any time). BUT note, I don't recommend rushing to save one right now, as you have remarked something may be faulty - but it's more likely that something isn't set correctly. We can work and guide you through each of the settings needed one at a time so that this doesn't become an overwhelming task.
Shortly after my initial post, I requested some input from Plusnet Products Group - I wasn't expecting a complete solution, just some ideas on areas to address, in case there could be things we were likely to miss. To say I'm disappointed that there has been no input from them would be a gross understatement. However, I'm pretty sure we have everything needed, having thought through the principles through since I last posted, based on suggestions and comments from npr, purleigh and Townman, so IF there is any input from Products after this point, we'll pick out any relevant salient points and incorporate it into the guidance.
Edit: One thing I forgot to mention again, in reply #9 I mentioned about the potential consequences of switching off/on or resetting (whilst the modem/router is on-line). I suggested you post the TG582n Full DSL stats (you'll get prompted to login) and we can assess what sort of impact there might be.
I'll just post this for you to read and then post back with some of the immediate steps to take. One thing however I very strongly do NOT recommend and this is, DO NOT disable the Factory Reset Button.
PS. Just in case you aren't aware, the red underlined bits are links you can click on
I sorry I couldn't post back again a bit sooner due to some urgent family commitments. Thanks for taking the trouble to post your personal circumstances, that does help put it into context. Your son sounds like a bright lad who will do well in his GCSE's once he has learnt to apply himself and learnt how important discipline is in life, something in my life experience that a number of bright energetic boys lack when there has been no male parent to act as a role model and guide them through such things - something which it sounds like you have already embarked on.
As you've obviously noticed there has been a lot of technical information posted, and it can be all rather overwhelming all in one go. However don't worry, there is a fairly simple solution at the outset based on a couple of bits of info from npr, purleigh and Townman - not everything needs to be implemented immediately, if at all - whilst Townman's thoughts and heart is in the right place, he's made it sound rather complicated.
You commented about having to reset a number of things, this can also be easily overcome. Some settings need to be saved to to survive a power off (there is internal RAM), but no settings will survive a factory reset on any router or modem/router. Also just to get the context correct, a number of ISPs use the TR-069 setup process. This actually is at the crux of the simplest (part) solution to your problem.
Once the relevant solutions are in place and the modem/router has all the required settings, then it's configuration can be saved and easily reloaded after a factory reset (or indeed at any time). BUT note, I don't recommend rushing to save one right now, as you have remarked something may be faulty - but it's more likely that something isn't set correctly. We can work and guide you through each of the settings needed one at a time so that this doesn't become an overwhelming task.
Shortly after my initial post, I requested some input from Plusnet Products Group - I wasn't expecting a complete solution, just some ideas on areas to address, in case there could be things we were likely to miss. To say I'm disappointed that there has been no input from them would be a gross understatement. However, I'm pretty sure we have everything needed, having thought through the principles through since I last posted, based on suggestions and comments from npr, purleigh and Townman, so IF there is any input from Products after this point, we'll pick out any relevant salient points and incorporate it into the guidance.
Edit: One thing I forgot to mention again, in reply #9 I mentioned about the potential consequences of switching off/on or resetting (whilst the modem/router is on-line). I suggested you post the TG582n Full DSL stats (you'll get prompted to login) and we can assess what sort of impact there might be.
I'll just post this for you to read and then post back with some of the immediate steps to take. One thing however I very strongly do NOT recommend and this is, DO NOT disable the Factory Reset Button.
PS. Just in case you aren't aware, the red underlined bits are links you can click on