Need to block one computer from accessing network...wired ethernet connection

[daman4469]

I have a home network consisting of several computers....I have a problem with my sister, who password protects her computer so that I can't see what she is doing on her computer.  I need to block her access to the network (and ultimately, the internet).  It is not a wireless connection, it is wired...and there are no options in the router to block access.  Any ideas?  I figured I could just make the usable IP addresses for our network in a different range than they are now, so as to block her access.  Any other ideas?  Thanks !!!

[dlewis23]

what kind of router do you have? and if there really is no options you could just give her a static IP that will not work on your network so she cant get on the internet.

[water]

I have a home network consisting of several computers....I have a problem with my sister, who password protects her computer so that I can't see what she is doing on her computer.  I need to block her access to the network (and ultimately, the internet).  It is not a wireless connection, it is wired...and there are no options in the router to block access.  Any ideas?  I figured I could just make the usable IP addresses for our network in a different range than they are now, so as to block her access.  Any other ideas?  Thanks !!!

There probably aren't options in the router to block access, but there should be options in the router to only allow access from certain mac addresses.

See if you can find these in your router manual, if you aren't sure where to look, tell us the brand and model number of your router, and we will look it up for you.

[daman4469]

my router is a Westell VersaLink model 327W....for Verizon DSL.

[dlewis23]

my router is a Westell VersaLink model 327W....for Verizon DSL.

you can't do nothing in there for blocking. your going to have to eather just unplug her computer or change it to a IP that will not work on your network like 192.168.55.1

[daman4469]

Yea I just changed the IP address setup of my network....I was using static IPs, which hers is set up for....and I changed the rest of the computers to use dynamic IPs...so that should take care of that....thanks for the quick help!

                  -Rob

[water]

my router is a Westell VersaLink model 327W....for Horizon DSL.

Well my friend, I'm afraid I have some bad news. I could be wrong and I hope I am - but here is what I found out.

The router you bought does have mac address filtering, but only for wireless connections, not for hard wired connections. With that information I can tell you that the only way around her ability to get on-line is to physically pull the wire.

(I keep my router in my bedroom so I can do that with my kids.)

There are some things you can do to keep the kid off the net on the kid's computer, but kids have a tendency to either know how to get around that or friends who can figure it out for them. Software is never a 100 % fix.

The good news is a new router is only 20 - 40 bucks at wal mart, and despite what everyone who is L33T likes to think, name brands don't matter at all.

Would you like some recommendations?

[water]

well there you go, dlewis won the race. Good job buddy!

Just remember she can change her IP with the click of a mouse and be back online.

[dlewis23]

Just remember she can change her IP with the click of a mouse and be back online.

only if she knows how..

[water]

she'll find a way, kids are insidiously intellingent and resourceful.

Just a head's up, don't consider it a premanent fix is all I'm saying.

[Swimmer]

looks like you could write a firewall policy to drop any packets incoming or outgoing..

Disabling lan access is a lot harder to do..  WIth out running some type of authentication server..  If if you assign her a static IP out of the DHCP range is it still going to work..  You are going to have to fudge the address or the subnet mask..

[water]

Swimmer: I agree this could work, but there is absolutely no documentation on how to write it. We can guess at it, but it would be a long process and would probably at some point cut him off from the internet (and from myself which would be a travesty even though I don't know this guy, but he's a guy )

I'm sticking with the bottom line: keep the router in his room, and unplug at will. OR if someone on this forum has access to documentation on the syantax for firewall rules for a Westell router, what we would want to do is create a rule to drop all incoming traffic with a destination IP that matches her computer. Then again, if ya'll wanna risk it, lemme know - I'll get Jimmy working on writing something! "D

[Swimmer]

It is possible.. there are 4 levels of security on these routers.. 1-3 are pre-programmed and the user selects a level and the correct script is executed..

Level 4 is a custom configuration where you can write your own firewall rules.. http://www.westell.com/content/sales/327W.pdf  right around pg57..  So... you would have to write a rule that would disallow outbound and inbound access on * for your ip.. which still means that the ip address is going to need to be static..  I will try and find a guide tonight and write the rule if I can..

[water]

You rock Swimmer!

[Swimmer]

That is a good call.. I have the firewall rule written.. I am about 95% sure that it will work.. however, I am with cholla... More information on the situtation would be helpful before I post what I came up with..  You can either post it here or send a pm to one of the mods..

There are other ways of "figuring" out what she is doing without cutting her internet access..  While we may not go into all of that, as it is kind of a Gray area, cutting someones internet might not be the best thing to do.

[daman4469]

Well here is the catch....I am running a server on this network as well, and she is 23 years old and rebellious, with a boyfriend who thinks he knows all about computers.  When he found out that I cleared her cache/cookies (as a part of my weekly maintenance), he password protected her computer.  My parents said to keep her offline until they talk to him and her.  So I guess I am asking you guys for help in my dirty work, but it really isn't dirty....he has caused some problems on our computers, and this is a way to keep him (and her) off until things are straightenened out. 

As far as my problem, I think I have it well sorted out.  I changed IPs to dynamic...the router is the DHCP server.  Since there are 5 computers on my network, I assigned the IP range from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.5.  This allows only 4 computers to have an assigned IP  from that server.  The lease time I have set to 365 days, so it is good for one year (computers wont give up their IPs for a year). 

[daman4469]

Oh and P.S....if you guys don't want to help b/c you're unsure of the situation or whatever, I completely understand...thanks!

[disturbed]

I have a home network consisting of several computers....I have a problem with my sister, who password protects her computer so that I can't see what she is doing on her computer.  I need to block her access to the network (and ultimately, the internet).  It is not a wireless connection, it is wired...and there are no options in the router to block access.  Any ideas?  I figured I could just make the usable IP addresses for our network in a different range than they are now, so as to block her access.  Any other ideas?  Thanks !!!

if you dont want someone looking into your computer, wouldnt you password protect it ?

[resopalrabotnick]

if you want to keep her off the net use this handy tool on her comp.

http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/

[wknight40]

If you were to change the IP address scheme to something other then her computer and password protect the router so that her boyfriend cannot get in should slow him down greatly.  Especially if the router is limited to only a specific number of addresses.

I have a linksys router that I can block IP addresses and MAC address on the local network.  Since the MAC address is hardwired to the nic card they would have to change cards, or set it to allow only certain MAC addresses.  There are routers out there that can do all kinds of blocking.

In closing who is paying for the network?  Whoever is the owner of the network they should be able to say who has access or not.  Also who paid for the computer?  I do like that etherkiller cable though I would say it is a bit extreme in this situation.  Could also get a few broken cables to connect that could have a slow down too.

Not much but hope it helps.

[php]

if you want to keep her off the net use this handy tool on her comp.

http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/

That would be rather effective... lol

[tommie gorman]

Sometimes you can be just nasty resopalrabotnick,    with style. 

[cholla]

reading resopalrabotnick's link reminded me of something not so deadly.Does anyone remember the aluminuf (foil) covered shock books Or gift.The book would have a title like sexy pictures & when you opened it you would gwt a shock kind of like a spark plug wire gives.The gift box worked basically the same if someone picked it up the got shocked.

I rigged my front door to play a prank on a friend of mine.I used a fence charger like for cattle.Then to make sure I wet down the porch.When he grabbed the screen handle to come in he got it.

[Guest philp]

reading resopalrabotnick's link reminded me of something not so deadly.Does anyone remember the aluminuf (foil) covered shock books Or gift.The book would have a title like sexy pictures & when you opened it you would gwt a shock kind of like a spark plug wire gives.The gift box worked basically the same if someone picked it up the got shocked.

I rigged my front door to play a prank on a friend of mine.I used a fence charger like for cattle.Then to make sure I wet down the porch.When he grabbed the screen handle to come in he got it.

Remind me to call first before coming over to your place.   

[tommie gorman]

Just remember to see if it looks like he pee'd on the porch.