Block Internet not working!

[TinyBubu]

Hi all,

I'm wanting to block internet access overnight for all my kid's devices.

Works fine and as expected for all devices except my son's Google Home. Even if blocked, I've just discovered that he can still use it to watch YouTube videos etc!

Any idea why this particular device is still able to access the internet even when blocked and also how to fix this apparent glitch?

 

 

 

 

[Netduma Fraser]

Could you provide a screenshot of how you have setup your rules currently to block devices? Then we can advise from there

[TinyBubu]

Hi Fraser. Thanks for your reply.

Nothing that elaborate... I'm simply selecting the "BLOCK INTERNET" button in the app.

As previously explained, it works fine for every other device, just not my son's Google Home.

[Netduma Fraser]

6 hours ago, TinyBubu said:

Hi Fraser. Thanks for your reply.

Nothing that elaborate... I'm simply selecting the "BLOCK INTERNET" button in the app.

As previously explained, it works fine for every other device, just not my son's Google Home.

By the looks of it, the Google Home has a network feature called Random/Private MAC addresses enabled, I haven't got/used a Google Home so I can't say for certain but this may be something you can disable in the app for it. Essentially what it does is as you can see there, sets a new MAC address for the device everytime it connects to the router. A MAC address is a unique device identifier, essentially showing as a new device when connecting to the router so in theory he could just be unplugging it and replugging it in and then it will allow him to bypass the block.

A couple of potential solutions:

1. Disable Random/Private MAC addresses on the Google Home app - if he has access to the app and knows about this he could just re-enable it
2. Set a static/reserved IP address for the Google Home device - verify the internet works outside your block - then disable DHCP on the modem - this would require you to set a static/reserved IP for every device connected to the modem otherwise they would not be able to connect with DHCP disabled. If any of those devices have the MAC address enabled then they may not be able to connect when this changes. Any new devices you want to connect to the network would have to be given a static/reserved IP on the device itself to connect, you can then mirror that on the modem.
3. Your rule there is showing it as purely connecting to 5GHz, similar to what I've mentioned when connected to 2.4GHz the device will have a different MAC address so he could be connecting it to 2.4GHz when the rule shuts it off for 5GHz. Identify the device that appears/uses traffic at the time using 2.4GHz and block that as well. Combining the WiFi into one may also be a good idea.
4. If all else fails then probably the simplest and guaranteed way to prevent him using any tech savvyness to counteract what you do - remove the device from his room every night