Parental controls do not work at all

Parental controls do not work at all

Parental controls do not work at all
Parental controls do not work at all
Yesterday
Model: Deco X1500  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version: 1.3.0 Build 20250725 Rel. 54254

My network is based on three Deco X1500 and one M4R. One of the X1500 acts as the main Deco unit and the operation mode is Wifi-Router.

 

In the past, the free parental control features worked just fine. However, after subscribing for the extended controls, options like website blocking, bedtime, daily limits etc.  stopped working. This prevents me from managing my children's internet activity. Despite following all available troubleshooting steps on your site and community forums (e.g. restarting the network, reseting the network, deleting and recreating profiles, upgrading to the latest firmware, etc.), nothing has helped. Bear in mind that I am an IT professional.

 

I would really appreciate some advice that will assist in resolving these issues.

 

Whatever information you may need let me know and I will provide it accordingly.

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#1
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4 Reply
Re:Parental controls do not work at all
Yesterday

  @Kostas_K  I don't know who monitors this thread from TP Links, but I have suggested this many times.

 

Parental Controls are useless with new devices. Parental Controls only block based on MAC addresses, but new devices use random MAC Address generation to get around this type of block.

 

TP LINK.. if you are listening the solution to this problem is to switch to a new logic that allow us to Block All, Except MAC Addresses we specify.

This way parents can set a Block All. Tie it to a time profile. Add an exemption field and so we can add MAC Addresses to allow.

 

This solves the damn problem.

 

In short, change the logic of blocking based on MAC Addres ( useless on new devices)  to Block ALL, but Allow based on MAC Address. It is simple.

 

 

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#2
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Re:Parental controls do not work at all
Yesterday - last edited 20 hours ago

  @Kostas_K 

Hi, thank you very much for your feedback.

Could you please help me submit the Deco APP log:

How to submit Deco APP log

 

Did you run into the following issues on multiple devices under different parental control profiles?

  • Website blocking-----Can you add the websites that you want to block by parental control in the email feedback?
  • Bedtime--- Did the device still access the internet during Bedtime?
  • Daily limits---Do you mean the controlled devices can still access the internet when Time Limits run out?

 

Please also add some screenshots of the parental control configuration.

As the other user mentioned, "Random MAC Address", Deco X1500-1.3.0 has added "WiFi Access Control", but Deco M4 hasn't. In case it is related to the Random MAC address, please try to turn off "Private MAC Address or Random MAC Address" first. (or you can temporarily remove the satellite Deco M4 from the Mesh network and enable "WiFi Access Control".)

 

Wait for your reply.

Best regards.

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#3
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Re:Parental controls do not work at all
12 hours ago

Hi @David-TP ,

 

I have sent the logs following the steps that you indicated in your previous post. I included some screenshots form the parental control configuration, for a test user that I created to play with the settings.

 

Regarding your previous questions:

 

Did you run into the following issues on multiple devices under different parental control profiles? -> Yes, the controls do not work in any of the devices. In the past, the free parental controls used to work fine with the same devices that now the paid controls fail to take effect.

 

  • Website blocking-----Can you add the websites that you want to block by parental control in the email feedback? -> I included this in the screenshot that I sent you along with the logs. I have several alternatives (e.g. only the domain name, the full address, also including the https://...), nothing works.
  • Bedtime--- Did the device still access the internet during Bedtime? -> Yes, whether I set the bedtime or not, the result is the same; access is allowed.
  • Daily limits---Do you mean the controlled devices can still access the internet when Time Limits run out? -> This worked, when the time limit was met, the access was denied.

 

Regards

K

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#4
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Re:Parental controls do not work at all
5 hours ago

  @Kostas_K  Thank you very much for the APP log. It has been escalated to the senior engineers for further assistance.

Please check the email later for more suggestions.

Best regards.

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#5
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