Internet Access Restriction
This tutorial will show you how to configure an Internet access Policy in order to restrict Internet access for your network computers. This article is designed for CCNA students, network engineers, and anyone looking to use Internet access Policies on a Linksys wireless router.
Linksys router allows customizing the activity of your network devices on the Internet. This includes:
- Limit online time.
- Limit online activity such as email, VPN, web surfing, downloading files…
- Block websites per keyword basis or per URL basis.
To accomplish this, use the Linksys built-in Internet Access Policies. By default, the Linksys router offers 10 Internet Access Policies. You cannot add or delete an Internet Access Policy, but you can reset the one(s) you want. Additionally, each policy can be applied to one or more network devices based on the MAC address field, the IP address field, or both. If the Internet Access Policy has to be applied on a set of devices having contiguous IP addresses, then you can enter the first and last IP addresses in the Enter the IP Range of the PCs area.
To start configuring an Internet Access Policy, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open your favorite web browser application, and enter the IP address 192.168.1.1 in the address field. Then press Enter.
Step 2: In the authentication dialog box, enter the administrator’s username and password. The default values are admin/admin for the username/password. However, on some Linksys router platforms, the default value for the username is the blank and for the password is admin.
Step 3: Open the Access Restriction tab.
Step 4: Select the policy number in the Internet Access Policy drop-down list.
Step 5: Click Enable in order to activate the policy, or Disable if you want to disable it.
Step 6: Enter a Name for your Internet access policy in the appropriate text box.
Step 7: Click Edit List of PCs in order to open the Internet Access PC List window, and then enter the MAC addresses, or IP addresses of the PCs concerned by the current policy. If the current Internet Access policy affects a group of PC having contiguous IP addresses, then you can enter the first and last IP addresses in the Enter the IP Range of the PCs area. Once you finish your changes, click Save Settings in order to save you configuration.
Step 8: In the Access Restriction section, click Deny in order block Internet access during selected days and hours. Otherwise, click Allow.
Step 9: In the Schedule section:
- Under the Days area, select everyday if you want the policy to active all days. Otherwise, select the appropriate check boxes in order to specify individual days.
- Select 24 hours under the Times area, in order to make the policy active all the day. Otherwise, select the starting time the ending time during which the policy will be in effect.
Step 10: In the Website Blocking by URL Address area, enter the URLs of the websites you want to block.
Step 11: In the Website Blocking by Keyword area, enter the keywords you want to block web pages including at least one of them in their URLs.
Step 12: In the Blocked Services area, add the services you want to block. For example, you can block email access, files downloading, VPN access and other services. Additionally, you can also edit existing services or add new services.
Step 13: Click Save Settings.
The following video will show the exact steps to configure an Internet access Policy and apply it to a set of computers. Note that it does not matter whether your PCs are connected to the router through your wireless network or using RJ-45 cables.
This video was developed using the Linksys Router WAG200. We will configure an Internet access policy according to the following requirements:
- Internet Access Policy Number: 2.
- Enter Policy Name: Demo-Policy.
- PCs List: 9202A5CB9489, D155C102080E, 192.168.1.2; 192.168.1.10 through 192.168.1.200.
- Access Restriction: Allow.
- Schedule:
- Days: Monday through Friday.
- Times: 8:00 AM through 5:00 PM.
- Website Blocking by URL Address: http://www.facebook.com, http://www.myspace.com, and http://www.youtube.com.
- Website Blocking by Keyword: cisco.
- Blocked Services: Telnet.
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