It is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity to have internet connectivity in your home. This being the case, in the majority of the cases, children are left exposed to some real threats online including cyber bullying. To control this, it is very important to have parental control and monitoring software installed on all the devices that the kids are to access. It is also a good idea to ensure that the software is comprehensive.
Download a free trial version of DutyWatch today. With ActyMac DutyWatch all computer activity is recorded and monitored. The Parental Control Bar is a free public service that helps concerned parents prevent their children from accessing adult-oriented web sites. Find out quickly with free parental control apps. Not only do you get insight into how they interact with their devices, you’re also able to limit what sites and apps they use While these aren’t free parental control apps that you have to download, they are included with your Windows or Mac system.
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NET NANNY
Net Nanny is one of the most comprehensive soft wares available in this category. It is also greatly affordable and easy to use. It features an internet filter, it blocks pornography, and it has remote management capabilities, and thus you are able to be in the know on the activities wherever you are.
Safeeyes
The tool offers great security to the internet for all home users. With this system installed, you can be in a position to filter the websites, music and videos that are acceptable. It also reports the searches made, instant messages exchanged and the social media networks accessed. It is also compatible with both Mac and Windows.
Spytech
The company offers a wide range of parental monitoring tools. With their collection, as a parent can be assured that kids remain safe from evils that can be online. This software will enable you to filter websites as well as application while at the same time enabling you to monitor the activities on these devices remotely.
Other platform
In the majority of the cases, the developers of parental monitoring soft wares tend to make them accessible on all devices platform so that they can serve as one stand across all the devices that may be in use in the home. Nevertheless, there are some that only serve a particular platform.
Witigo Parental Filter for Windows
With this software, you are able to ensure the protection of your children by the use of some effective filters. Witigo also blocks content as per the file format as well as giving password protection. You can also be able to restrict other soft wares such as games.
WebWatcher for Android
Android smartphones have really made a penetration, and it is most probable your kid has one already. The internet connectivity on these devices can also be a factor to be considered and WebWatcher for android comes in handy as it is tamper-proof and is able to look at calls and web history.
ContentBarrier X9 for Mac
Developed by Intego, the content barrier is an advanced parental monitoring software for the use exclusively on Mac platform. With the X9, you can enable network protection to avoid access to pornographic sites as well as potential cyberbullying thus creating a safe environment for your kids.
Most Popular 2016 – Qustodio
Qustodio will help you to manage effectively, understand and protect the activities of your child online. There is a lot of controls available such as on apps and games, getting their location anytime and also viewing their social media activities. There is also a feature that can monitor call as well as messages.
What is Parental Controlling Software?
Due to the fact that there are plenty of dangers and more so online, it has become essential to devise tools to protect children because they are the most vulnerable. The tools that help in doing this are called parental controlling or monitoring softwares.
Other than just protecting your kids from accessing pornographic sites and cyberbullying, these soft wares also enable you to track and consequently understand the behavior of your kid. In addition, some have complex capabilities to offer more such as tracking and thus the physical location of the children and remote monitoring.
How to Install Parental Monitoring Software?
The installation process of parental monitoring soft wares vary to a great extent, and some could be a little tricky for an average user. The reason to this is because in some cases there has to be system bypassing so as to disable uninstallation or manipulation. On some platforms such as Android, rooting may be required.
It is evident that parental monitoring is essential to every home with kids due to the multiple dangers that we experience day to day. With the info from this article, you can be in a position to determine the most appropriate for your home. It is also good to ensure that it is installed in the right way.
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Updated: November 9, 2019 Home » Computer and Internet Security » Parental Control
How to block and filter unwanted web content on XBox, Playstation, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphone, Smart TV and more? Unlike 10 years ago where the only device for accessing the internet is a laptop or desktop, today, almost every device can access the web, therefore parental control software doesn’t make any sense. The best method is to set the DNS IP Address in your home router, this will filter all traffic from all devices that uses the router for internet access, unless the smartphone has mobile internet.
Alternative 2020 Article ➤ 6 Free DNS Changer And DNS Server Speed Test
How do I set up parental controls on my computer? How to configure common routers to use DNS for Huawei HG8245H, TP Link CR700, 3COM, Actiontec, CenturyLink, Apple, Arris (Motorola), ASUS, Belkin, Billion, Buffalo, Bell Connection Hub (Sagemcom), D-Link, Digisol, DrayTek Router, Google Fiber Router, Huawei, Inteno, Linksys, Netcomm, NETGEAR, Rosewill, Sagecom, SkyDog, Speedtouch, Cisco, and Speedstream Router Configuration.
I highly recommend OpenDNS FamilyShield and Norton ConnectSafe, both are equally good in filtering websites and does the job automatically without any software. Unlike software, DNS works on any computer, laptop, tablet, smartphones, Xbox, Playstation or any devices. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and every single operating system. And Yes! DNS filtering works on all browser including internet explorer, chrome, firefox, safari and more. That is the beauty of DNS, it is a gateway.
↓ 01 – OpenDNS FamilyShield | 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123
OpenDNS Home is a free internet based parental control solution which allows parents to manage web access on every device that accesses the Internet on a home network including, wired and wireless computers and laptops, network enabled game systems and internet enabled wireless devices such as iPods and ipads. Works great on Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Apple’s macOS.
OpenDNS categorizes websites into 56 categories, like “adult,” “games,” “academic fraud” and “social media.” Parents can block entire categories of content, or just choose to block individual websites that are problematic or unsafe for your family. Or, for easier setup, you can choose a filtering level: low, medium or high. The low filtering level blocks just adult content, where the high filtering level blocks adult content, social networking sites, video sharing sites and more.
↓ 02 – Yandex.DNS Family | 77.88.8.7 and 77.88.8.3
Yandex has over 80 DNS servers located in different cities and countries. Each user’s queries are processed by the server closest to him/her, that’s why sites open faster with Yandex.DNS in “Basic” mode. Many users want to protect themselves and their children from adult sites. Yandex’s family search algorithms can detect not family friendly keywords. When opening an adult site on a computer or in a network with Yandex.DNS in “Family” mode, the user will only see a closure.
↓ 03 – Comodo SecureDNS 2.0 | 8.26.56.26 and 8.20.247.20
As a leading provider of computer security solutions, Comodo is keenly aware of the dangers that plague the Internet today. Secure DNS helps users keep safe online with its malware domain filtering feature. SecureDNS references a real-time block list (RBL) of harmful websites (i.e. phishing sites, malware sites, spyware sites, excessive advertising sites, etc.) and will warn you whenever you attempt to access a site containing potentially threatening content. Directing your requests through highly secure servers can also reduce your exposure to the DNS Cache Poisoning attacks that may affect everybody else using your ISP.
Secure DNS 2.0’s new dashboard, available to beta users, makes it simple to set content filters at a network level to help prevent unwanted content from being accessed in your home or network. To enable, simply add your network and set the categories of domains you wish to block. Customize your preferences from more than 25 categories, including proxy and anonymizer blocking.
↓ 04 – Dyn Internet Guide | 216.146.35.35 and 216.146.36.36
Finally, a better, faster, and safer way to surf the Internet with our recursive DNS service. Take complete control of your Internet experience by blocking unsafe or unwanted content based on categories or via custom white/black lists with Dyn’s free Internet Guide.
Easily install within your router to provide the same safe and fast experience on all devices connected to your network or use our Update Client to configure IG on a local Windows or Mac OS X computer. Simply install our update client to monitor your device, and your hostname will update whenever its IP address changes.
↓ 05 – Norton ConnectSafe [ Discontinued ] | 199.85.126.30 and 199.85.127.30
Norton ConnectSafe is a free service that provides a first layer of defense by blocking unsafe sites automatically. On a computer, Norton ConnectSafe does not replace the comprehensive protection of a full security product such as Norton Internet Security or Norton 360. Instead, Norton ConnectSafe provides basic browsing protection and content filtering for all Web-enabled devices on your home network. Blocks Unwanted Content – Norton ConnectSafe helps keep your kids safe from Web sites with undesirable content. Norton ConnectSafe blocks inappropriate content in 23 different languages.