Homeshield does not block website on BE230 on latest firmware
Hi there,
Just bought this and set it up. Just need to be able to turn on/off devices and filter content so HomeShield on the device is sufficient. Turning devices access to Internet on/off works 100% - immediate effect.
Blocking websites does nothing. I enter the URL (youtube.com) and nothihng happens - device still able to access. Have tried different browsers and flushed DNS cache and still allows the access fine. In the "Top Visited Websites" it lists youtube.com along with Blocked so it recognises the device is accessing it, however it still allows the access.
Device is a laptop with a static MAC address and HomeShield works fine for blocking internet - just not content blocking. No other content categories are marked as blocked.
Can you please advise why this feature is not working at all? Otherwise this needs to go back to Amazon with a low rating for false advertising.
Thanks
Hi,
Please switch off "Secure DNS" in your web browser and then try again. The screenshot shows Chrome as example, but it is similar in Microsoft Edge and probably others.
The thing is that when the web browser encrypts its DNS requests, then the router cannot filter them.
@woozle Thanks for the quick reply. Toggling the secure DNS doesn't make any difference in Google Chrome or Edge. I noticed in Edge that it said my DNS provider didn't support secure DNS so that's probably why it makes no difference.
Note that since the router can see all the individual websites and even lists youtube.com with a blocked icon it must be able to see the requests - i.e. secure DNS isn't operating otherwise the router wouldn't know what sites are being visited? To assist I've put a screenshot off the Tether app of the device showing it can see websites and that it lists the blocked website as being visited as well. I setup the block yesterday and this is today's traffic from just switching the laptop on and trying to go to youtube.com.
@Joseph-TP Thanks for your post.
1. Parental controls are set - this does not seem complex? and router is identifying the site as a blocked site in the list - it's just not blocking it
2. Cleared cache and cookies on browser however makes no difference
3. No VPN software running on any devices
4. Secure DNS feature disabled in broswer as per earlier posts
Have also flushed the DNS cache on the machine (ipconfig /flushdns)
Am posting screenshots of website list on test machine showing youtube recognised as on blocked list, and the parental control screens you requested.
Hi @LondonFamily,
Thank you for your detailed reply.
Some websites and apps have multiple domain names. It is necessary to add key domain names to completely disable these websites or apps.
Please add the following Key domain names for a try:
youtube.com
youtubei.googleapis.com
youtube-ui.google.com
m.youtube.com
In some cases, Web Protection and Parental Control / Web Control may not work correctly when support for QUIC is enabled in Google Chrome
If you have encountered some of these functionality issues, you may try to disable QUIC support in Google Chrome manually.
Follow the steps below to disable QUIC protocol on Google Chrome internet:
-
Open Google Chrome.
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In the URL address field, type chrome://flags and press Enter.
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Type
quicinto the Search flags field to filter the list of flags. Select Disabled from the drop-down menu next to Experimental QUIC protocol.In the URL address field, type chrome://flags and press Enter.
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Restart Google Chrome for your changes to take effect.
@Joseph-TP Chrome isn't using QUIC (using h2/h3). Router identifies traffic as being blocked but doesn't block. Blocking is by keyword and "youtube" doesn't work either which would cover all the sites you recommend.
Clearly this functionality isn't working. Have used TP-Link for many years (10+), however am giving up as it seems others have and using another manufacturer going forward.
You can ignore this ticket going forward - issue never resolved. Router webiste blocking functionality useless.
