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Block Internet Access

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13 replies

by mby.talha

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We Want to Restrict Internet Access of a some employeess to few sites and Outlook mails

We dont have a server, domain etc
We Use a Workgroup to share data
and are connected via a Switch
We have a routor to connect to the Internet
We use windows XP Pro and Vista Buisness

Kindly advice on the best way to block access

I was trying by editing the host file on
C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts

But it requies all the sites that are to be blocked to be entered

Is there a way where i can enter only the site hat are allowed to be given access

13 replies

by triathlete1981

your easiest way to block the websites is from the router. that's of course if your router has that ability.

as for the outlook, you want to block domains that they can send to? can you do that in outlook? can you talk to your mail provider and see if they can block domains that you can send to?

by sidekick

If the router can do it, that would be the easiest way.

If not, you can probably still use the hosts file. Put in the domains and address you want to be able to get through, then delete the DNS server settings from the IP settings in any computer you want to have this limitted access.

However, you will need to either be using a hosted mail solution or, if you are hosting your own mail server, the mail server would need to be relaying it's outgoing mail. You will need to add the mail server IPs to the host files in the first case, or the IP info for the mail server being relayed to on your mail server inthe second case.

by mohmmansour

Have u got any luck with this problem
I have the same problem over here
and the router doesn't support this feature
IF u got any luky plz tell me
My email: mohmmansour@gmail.com
Thnx

by kingface

You have to see if your router has a firewall inside and does it support site filtering .
in that case you can restrict visiting sites for the user's which are not permited .but for outlook you have uninstall microsoft outlook on their computers :)

by sidekick

Just to clarify, are you trying to do any filtering on email? Or do you want to let all email through and just filter web access? There seems to be a couple of different ways that part is being interpreted.

by mby.talha

I want to allow all Microcoft Outlook mails

and Block all web access, except for 3 or 4 sites

by sidekick

There seemed to be some confusion with that.

I would try to do it through the router if possible, otherwise you can try the dns settings and hosts file as I mentioned or replace your router with something that can do what you want, possibly the Endian or Astaro products I mentioned earlier.

Post back what you end up doing. I would be interested to know how you make out.

by mby.talha

As a temp measure i have changed the proxy lan settings to 127.0.0.1, but somes guys have guessed what i have done,

My routor does not support ULR filtering,
I try the DNS settings, but am a little confused on how to allow access to mails then

by sidekick

Depends on how you are accessing mail. If you have an internal mail server, you just need to allow the mail server to use DNS to resolve any address it needs to.

If everyone is accessing a mail server outside of the company, such as POP being hosted by a 3rd party, you need to either configure everyone's mail settings with IP addresses or put the ip addresses into the host file for the mail server settings. For example:

76.96.30.119 pop.comcast.net
76.96.30.117 smtp.comcast.net

If you are using a web browser to access email, then add the web address to the host file.

Another option is to set up a local DNS server with no forwarding and add the DNS records you want manually and have the clients use that. It might be easier than managing it on each machine.

by mby.talha

Could you please explain in a litte more detail how i can go about doing this
i liked the idea

"Another option is to set up a local DNS server with no forwarding and add the DNS records you want manually and have the clients use that. It might be easier than managing it on each machine."

by sidekick

I was just rereading your original post. I forgot you don't have any servers. You will need some kind of a server to do this.

DNS servers use forwarders to resolve domain names they don't have information themselves. A forwarder is an external DNS server, usually your ISP's DNS server. If you have a DNS server that can resolve addresses for your local network and no forwarders configured, it will only resolve the local addresses. You can then add external addresses that you want resolved manually, such as mit.edu -> 18.7.22.69

The exact steps will depend on what platform you are using for a DNS server, but basically it is a DNS for the LAN, no forwarders, and manual entries for any external IP address you want accessible.

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