topic Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy... in Archive

My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

luluweth — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 11:38:32 GMT

I use Sky Broadband Buddy to help control my sons' internet use - the curfew is really useful as they go to bed after me and it's a real help making sure they switch off at a reasonable time. It works perfectly for the Xboxes, which are assigned to home, and it also works perfectly for my eldest son's phone. HOWEVER, my youngest is both extremely tech-savvy and extremely crafty and I keep getting messages saying that his phone hasn't been seen on the network for a while. When I check, some of the settings have been changed so I change them back and it works for a while until he fiddles with the settings again.

Last night I noticed he was still up long past his curfew so I went and took his phone away. When I looked at it I could see that it was still connected to Sky Broadband Buddy, but none of the curfews I've set are showing up.

My son admits to 'doing something with the VPN' but 'can't remember' what he did and doesn't know how to fix it. That's fine, the pause function still works so he will have to do without internet access until either he remembers or I figure out what he's done.

So - my son's phone is connected to Sky Broadband Buddy and the internet is paused, but I can't control his bedtimes through the app. I did get a message once that another device had joined the network and was managing Sky Broadband Buddy and I never got to the bottom of that. If anyone has any ideas how to fix this I'd be grateul!!

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Skull+Treaty — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 11:49:33 GMT

@luluweth

Couple of little scamps, get them enrolled on hacking course 🙂

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Bobbybob8 — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 19:38:48 GMT

I'm having the same problem. I have the bedtime settings turned on because my step son was staying up all night and going to sleep when we go to work. Whilst also keeping the rest of the house awake. I've found he was using a VPN to avoid the restrictions and removed the router until he could prove it was deleted. Then he was okay for a while but now he's back up all night and the usage show sparadic usage throughout the night for example Instagram at 3am then nothing until YouTube at 5am. It's very confusing I try to keep upto date with tech but it would seem a jobless 17yr has more time on his hand to figure it out. Either way I'm quite disappointed and as you can imagine the smug look on his face and lack of sleep on my part is doing neither of us any favours. My next move will be to cancel the internet completely as we can afford to use our phone data. After that it's see you later at 18. Would love some advice either about the sky broadband or about coping with jobless college dropouts.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Chrisee — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 19:50:41 GMT

@Bobbybob8 & @luluweth no system is 100% hack proof and determined knowledgable kids wil be able get round the controls. The Buddy should block most obvious hacks though including VPNs if the age filters are set correctly see http://storage.sky.com/prod/helpcentre/manuals/skybroadband/SkyBroadbandBuddy-CategoriesandPlatforms.pdf

Check you have set the app to deny access to any unknown devices but I suspect they can getv ound that as well. The only good thing is the skills they are learning are highly employable including with GCHQ. 😀

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

sushe — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 02:10:58 GMT

@luluweth @Bobbybob8

If you are using using Sky Hub you can create a firewall rule that blocks all outgoing traffic and then schedule it to start and stop at designated times. This will completely block any internet activity during those times. Bypassing the block will be difficult, unless someone can access the router setup page and disable the firewall. This can be avoided by changing the password.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Chrisee — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 06:05:22 GMT

@sushe you can also unplug the router overnight but of course the kid can get round both of those by using mobile data.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

lettice — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:46:41 GMT

Not sure if you have setup the Kids Sky Buddy VPN on the actual device with the QR code correctly.

Are they using VPNs?

An easy way to stop this is to block VPN at certain times from the Home profile. That will block all VPN activity locally.

When using Sky Broadband Buddy you have to set your Sky Account Broadband shield to 18 and use Buddy to control your netowrk at lower levels.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

sushe — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 13:08:48 GMT

@Chrisee but switching off the router might mess up the DLM and line speed?

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Chrisee — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 13:25:39 GMT

@sushe not unless you switch it off and on over 10 times a day which is the DLM threshold.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

purple4me — Sun, 02 May 2021 00:55:24 GMT

Please can someone tell me how to actually pause the Internet after a certain time? I've tried different options in my settings and nothing seems to work. I previously had broadband buddy but since I moved and took out a new broadband package, I don't seem to have it and not sure why! Really need something to pause the Internet for example just on playstation and laptop at certain time of night for my Teenager! Any advice at all.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Chrisee — Sun, 02 May 2021 07:38:30 GMT

@purple4me the Buddy is the easiest way to achieve what you want but if your new package did not include the Broabaand Boost bundle you can add it by giving Sky a call.

As posted earlier you can programme the hub to cut all internet activity according to a schedule but while in theory thst can be limited to specific devices it is really simple to get round that restriction so you have to do it for everyone. It involves logging into the router set up a firewall rule as shown below

then go tomthecschedulectab and set the times you want the block to start and stop. Alternatively just wiire the Sky hub to a time switch.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Chrisee — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 19:23:55 GMT

@rpountain the physical reset button on Sky hubs cannot be disabled unfortunately.

Re: My son keeps bypassing Sky Broadband Buddy...

Bobbybob8 — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 13:59:15 GMT

Hi. My problem is sorted now but I think I can still help. Ask for a new router to be sent out to you. When it arrives remove the sticker that has the factory set passwords on it. Keep this safe somewhere out of reach, I kept it at work. Then set up the router and change the WiFi password via the 192. Page make it a simple password. Give this password to your son to use the internet. If he resets the router he still won't know the factory settings so can't access it. I would regularly change the password too. Hope this helps and good luck.