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Blocking tumblr

zams2001
Hooked
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎07-09-2011

Blocking tumblr

Hi

I am trying to block tumblr website by going to safeGuard settings and then block website on plusnet member area. I have restarted the router, waited more than 2 hours yet it doesn't block it. I know I can block social networking completely by using the categories but that is not what I want. What is the solution to it, how can I block the website?

2 REPLIES 2
jaread83
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 3,438
Thanks: 2,336
Fixes: 81
Registered: ‎22-02-2016

Re: Blocking tumblr

Hi,

Welcome to the Plusnet Community!

I am not overly familiar with how Safeguard works but if you want to block access to Tumblr on a computer, you can edit the host file to direct the connection on that PC to a dead IP address. The only drawback of this is that it will only be blocked on that computer and not any mobile devices. Though not the perfect solution for completely blocking a website for every device on your network (it seems that everyone has a smart phone these days), it will work for that computer. To do this, do the following:

For Windows 10 and 8

  1. Press the Windows key.
  2. Type Notepad in the search field.
  3. In the search results, right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
  4. From Notepad, open the following file: c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
  5. Make the necessary changes to the file *.
  6. Click File > Save to save your changes.

* the changes you want to make to the host file is to reroute the chosen website to a dead IP address, copy and paste the following into the host file:

127.0.0.1 tumblr.com
127.0.0.1 www.tumblr.com

More information can be found on the following URLs:

https://support.rackspace.com/how-to/modify-your-hosts-file/ (guide for other operating systems like Linux)

http://www.guidingtech.com/4868/edit-hosts-file-block-websites/ (just some general information about blocking sites with the hosts file)

As I said, this isn't the perfect solution but should let you block any website from any computer. This doesn't stop smart phones connected wirelessly to your router from accessing those sites though... that's a whole other thing to work around which I am not sure how to do.

Frontend Web Developer | www.plus.net

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Blocking tumblr

@zams2001 - What kind of router do you have?

As @jaread83 says this is not the most elegant way to do this as you also need access to the PC of the user you want to block, but it does have the advantage of 'working' regardless of where the PC is. So if it's a laptop it still won't work if it's taken elsewhere.

Ideally you want to block it at the point of exit; the router, but this approach can also be defeated by using a mobile phone, so you may be on a hiding to nothing.