Internet monitoring software

[Floop70]

Does anyone have any suggestions on software that will allow me to limit the time any particular user spends on the internet? I've got 4 kids and would like to give them each 30 or 40 minutes of time on the 'net each day without having to watch and make sure they don't use an hour or something. While monitoring what sites they go to would be nice, it really isn't my main goal. Our computer sits in the living room so I'm not worried about them visiting inappropriate sites (this hasn't happened in the last year yet anyway)

I'm thinking something that will force a login for internet access and then cut off access after a specified amount of time. Any suggestions are appreciated

Thanks,
Bruce

[robzilla]

i've downloaded but havent tried yet is a program called shutdown.

http://www.download.com/3120-20_4.ht...=srch&tg=dl-20

something similiar to these, it just shuts off the whole computer,

just an idea

[BC564]

You can try net nanny...its not free..but I think its exactly what your looking for. There is also a PC magazine review of it and its features....


http://www.netnanny.com/

[Shipwreck]

Windows vista seems to have good parental controls, time limits, limited types of sites or only specific sites allowed, parental reports, etc. I have only just begun to setup my kids but looks good so far.

[Aquattro]

I used a timer for my kids. Set it to 30 minutes, put it on the desk, when the ringer goes off, time is up. Teaches them scheduling and self control as well. Make them think and be responsible, rather than run them with software.

[DanG]

Here's a free one. I haven't had time to actually play with it, but the guys I've talked to about it really like how it works and what can be accomplished with it. It may not have quite enough on the parental monitoring side for what you're looking for, but does offer a lot in the way of whole system protection from people changing things.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/default.mspx

Originally Posted by reef_raf

I used a timer for my kids. Set it to 30 minutes, put it on the desk, when the ringer goes off, time is up. Teaches them scheduling and self control as well. Make them think and be responsible, rather than run them with software.

"Billy sits on the couch starring a whole through the back of dads head as dearest daddy surfs canreef for a few hours after billys time runs out...."

lol..........j/k....but honestly???

[Aquattro]

Maybe it's just me, but I never looked at software solutions to parenting.

[Floop70]

With 4 kids it's not easy to keep track of who's been on the computer and for how long. Frankly though, I loved the timer idea and I think we'll probably use that in addition to some sort of internet filtering software.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Floop70

With 4 kids it's not easy to keep track of who's been on the computer and for how long. .

Always start with the youngest. They're afraid of the bigger kids and will get off in time, then will be more than willing to tell on the older ones if they go past their time. Easy!!