OpenDNS FamilyShield Blocks 18+ Contents Automatically

Martin Brinkmann
Jun 23, 2010
Updated • Dec 11, 2014
Internet
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21

Users of the free DNS service OpenDNS are already familiar with additional blocking options that an OpenDNS account offers. It is for instance possible to configure web filters to block contents such as adult themes, pornography, proxies and anonymizers or gambling.

The web filter is fully customizable to block only the selected contents in the network the DNS servers are used. Those filtering customizations are on the other hand only available for free or paid OpenDNS account owners and not for users who have simply switched their DNS servers to the provider.

OpenDNS FamilyShield has been designed for families who want a ready to run solution. The DNS servers come with family friendly filtering activated so that account creation and configuration is not necessary.

Filters to block adult contents, proxies and anonymizers are automatically active after changing the DNS servers to FamilyShield IPs.

DNS servers have an advantage over parental control software as they can be configured on a computer system or router. All devices that use the router to connect to the Internet are subject to the filtering and additional security.

Parental control software on the other hand can only be installed on supported computer systems and not devices such as Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's Playstation 3, Nintendo's Wii or 3Ds as they are usually operating system specific.

The DNS server IPs that need to be used are 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123. These need to be entered into the router configuration or computer configuration, depending largely on the network setup and situation.

opendns familyshield
opendns familyshield

The OpenDNS Knowledge Base offers information on how to setup the DNS servers on various operating systems and devices.

Advanced users may prefer to create an account on the site instead to block only specific web contents. Families on the other hand can use the DNS servers to install a solid web filtering solution without the hassles of configuration.

OpenDNS users have two options now to set up DNS servers from the company without account. Either the standard OpenDNS account or the FamilyShield account which offers additional protection suitable for family environments.

Update: OpenDNS FamilyShield is still freely available. You find additional information about setup and operation on the official OpenDNS website.

Summary
OpenDNS FamilyShield Blocks 18+ Contents Automatically
Article Name
OpenDNS FamilyShield Blocks 18+ Contents Automatically
Description
OpenDNS FamilyShield is a new public DNS service by the company that families can use to block inappropriate contents on the Internet automatically.
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Comments

  1. ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
    Reply

    Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 4, 2012 at 7:57 pm
      Reply

      Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.

    2. Leonidas Burton said on September 4, 2023 at 4:51 am
      Reply

      I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
      http://www.google.com/saved

  2. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:26 pm
    Reply

    @Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!

  3. Karl said on August 17, 2023 at 10:36 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/

    Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.

  4. Anonymous said on August 25, 2023 at 11:44 am
    Reply

    Omg a badge!!!
    Some tangible reward lmao.

    It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.

  5. Scroogled said on August 25, 2023 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.

    1. lollmaoeven said on August 27, 2023 at 6:24 am
      Reply

      This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)

  6. El Duderino said on August 25, 2023 at 11:14 pm
    Reply

    Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.

    And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.

  7. John G. said on August 26, 2023 at 1:29 am
    Reply

    First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[

  8. Kalmly said on August 26, 2023 at 4:42 pm
    Reply

    Yes. Please. Fix the comments.

  9. Kim Schmidt said on September 3, 2023 at 3:42 pm
    Reply

    With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.

    Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.

    The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.

    If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.

    And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.

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