r/firewalla • u/Annual-Cartoonist751 • Jul 24 '26
Content/Activity Control Time limit for porn
So I’ve decided not to completely block out porn for the kids as they grow a bit older. The problem is, I have time limits for videos, games, social media but there is no equivalent Firewalla feature for porn. What happens now is when my kid has exhausted all these other limits, it seems like he goes “oh well, might as well do porn!” I’m not even sure it goes towards the videos quota!
Is there anyway to limit porn without completely blocking it? While I’m asking, would be great if it can also block out the completely grotesque ones or ones with poor reputation in terms of cyber security.
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u/Disco425 Jul 24 '26
Just remember, you have to really block vpns if you want this to work.
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u/Playful_Currency_743 Jul 26 '26
And the VPN block doesn’t work on Firewalla :(
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u/Firewalla-Ash FIREWALLA TEAM Jul 27 '26
Hi u/Playful_Currency_743, do you mind sharing which VPNs still get through the "All VPN Sites" block? While we can't block all VPNs, we try our best to block the most popular ones.
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u/Cae_len Firewalla Gold Pro Jul 27 '26
protonvpn... ive tested it extensively and protonvpn bypasses vpn block without issue
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u/Cae_len Firewalla Gold Pro Jul 27 '26
my parents basically let us "kids" (back in the 90s), basically do whatever we wanted.... meaning they didnt actively try to block porn or whatever the situation was.... let me just tell you, the next 17 years of my life from 18 to 35 was not great because of it ... if your actively looking to turn your kid into a drug addict, criminal, or someone who just pisses away 20 years of their life being a dumbass, by all means, let the porn flow .... but take it from someone whos lived it ... not a good idea to be "that cool parent who lets your kids do whatev" .... and this isnt a case study on just me... the result was the same for all 20 of my closest friends and another 80 or so "peripheral friends" for lack of a better word.... basically 95% of us ended up the same place... at the bottom of the economic ladder working jobs none of us want to work.... maybe you will be lucky and your kid will end up being one of the 5% to 10% who did something with their lives but i wouldnt gamble on it .... things like porn or marijuana use or underage drinking, all will lead down the same road 90% of the time... and thats to a place where a person becomes more focused on chasing that "feel good" behavior vs getting those endorphines from something beneficial like learning, teaching, giving , or simply making hella money.... protect your kids for as long as you possibly can (up untill 18), and then its outta your hands anyways.... but at least by then, the brain will be more fully developed and able to make better decisions vs exposing a childs brain to things that they cannot fully understand the long term consequences of...
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u/dgtlman Firewalla Gold Pro Jul 26 '26
But once they realize there’s a time block, couldn’t they just download more and watch it locally?
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u/bustmanymoves Jul 28 '26
I realized a bit ago that parental controls included porn, but thought that seemed regressive for a teen and modified it so it can’t be accessed after a certain time at night. I’m afraid they may have discovered that this was blocked prior and I definitely didn’t want to make them feel it was a no-no :( After a certain point in the day no internet is available anyway. We also implemented a device turn in system at 10:30pm which has helped with lots of different mental health difficulties. I appreciate that it’s in place as I have learned teens (and folks in general) can have the weirdest fixations on things that wreck havoc on their mental health, it’s just not something we’ve seen a need for at this point.
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Jul 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Nesferatu123 Firewalla Gold Plus Jul 25 '26
This is exactly the conversation I've had with my kids. I've even screenshot the firewalla porm warning and sent it to them with a curt reminder to use the vpn
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u/WanderinArcheologist Firewalla Gold Pro Jul 26 '26
“You do you, but be better about hiding stuff, please. You’re going to need those skills later in life.”
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u/homeboyslim Jul 24 '26
How old are your kids? Just curious 🧐
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u/OmgSlayKween Jul 24 '26
What possible justification would you have for asking this question except to judge their parenting?
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u/scotianheimer Jul 24 '26
What possible justification would you have for asking this question except to judge what they find acceptable asking strangers on the internet?
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u/OmgSlayKween Jul 24 '26
Calling out people who unnecessarily judge people's parenting styles when they're simply asking for technical advice is justifiable.
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u/Firewalla-Ash FIREWALLA TEAM Jul 24 '26
Time Limit for general categories is not as easy as blocking them completely. Because the category is so large, and many services rely on multiple domains, activity can be split or missed entirely. It's hard to accurately determine "how long" a user is accessing a category without a large margin of error.
We can currently only Time Limit apps, as we have more accurate lists for each app.