Free content filtering solution?

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LoneWolf

2[H]4U
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Jul 13, 2004
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Looking for a zero-cost solution that will do Internet content filtering. I have five machines in a small lab; I'm doing this as a favor for the computer club that runs it. Locking the machines down so users can't install malware, and restricting privileges some has not been an issue, but finding content filtering software that works has been (I've tried two solutions already; one's automatic updates just don't work, the other solution is so overly restrictive it blocks some CNN links because of key words). I just need to keep some people off of pr0n sites, and probably things like online casinos. Does anyone have a good solution?

P.S. The systems are running XP Home SP2 over a broadband connection.
 
LoneWolf said:
Looking for a zero-cost solution that will do Internet content filtering. I have five machines in a small lab; I'm doing this as a favor for the computer club that runs it. Locking the machines down so users can't install malware, and restricting privileges some has not been an issue, but finding content filtering software that works has been (I've tried two solutions already; one's automatic updates just don't work, the other solution is so overly restrictive it blocks some CNN links because of key words). I just need to keep some people off of pr0n sites, and probably things like online casinos. Does anyone have a good solution?

P.S. The systems are running XP Home SP2 over a broadband connection.
Click to expand...

Well, without knowing what the two other solutions you tried were.....

Squid proxy and Dansguardian
http://www.squid-cache.org/
http://dansguardian.org/
 
Also, www.clarkconnect.org. Its a router/firewall solution which has dansgaurdian and squid built in and is completely noob friendly if that's an issue. You just need an old computer with 2 NICs to run it on so in that respect it may not be totally free, but the software itself doesn't cost anything.
 
Malk-a-mite said:
Well, without knowing what the two other solutions you tried were.....

Squid proxy and Dansguardian
http://www.squid-cache.org/
http://dansguardian.org/
Click to expand...

I tried We-Blocker, and I don't remember the name of the other (I'll post it when I get home from work); both of those are ones I haven't seen yet. Thanks!

P.S. I should add that these systems do not have a dedicated server, so solutions that require a separate box to run them on may not be an option, unless I can scare up a box I can run them on.
 
LoneWolf said:
P.S. I should add that these systems do not have a dedicated server, so solutions that require a separate box to run them on may not be an option, unless I can scare up a box I can run them on.
Click to expand...

The clarkconnect option as suggested above can run on an extremely old machine. p1 or p2 with a good bit of memory and you would be in good shape.
 
I've used censornet for over 2 years and it works well.

I've never heard of Willow. I might check that out. I'm always looking for something better.
 
It looks like I may have a spare box to set this up now. Censornet looks pretty good, Rosco. What are system requirements for it? They didn't seem to list that up front. How flexible is their NIC support without going out and finding drivers?
 
Lonewolf- The specs of the machine really depend on how many users you plan on supporting. For 2 of the installations, I've purchasd a low end Dell server for less than $400, added some memory and supported up to 75 users without breaking a sweat.

It looks like you're only talking about 5 users so I'd say Pentium II or higher, with 256mb of ram or higher. At least 3gig hdd not that you can find many smaller.

NIC support has been good for me. No NIC I've tried has never not been detected. Stick with something Intel or 3com if you're worried.
 
Nate7311 said:
If using another box is possible, check out http://www.censornet.com/ It features integration w/ NT4 and AD domains too...
Click to expand...

with a little bit of work, you can also make squid work with AD, by using samba as an intermediary....so if you are handy with *nix, you could give that a shot too :D
 
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