Websafe settings no longer having effect

[leeatkinson]

I have WebSafe ChildSafe enabled, and use it to block websites (including roblox.com). I noticed a few days ago that it stopped blocking any of the sites it is supposed to (including the specific site above, and gambling sites. It is still shown as enabled on the WebSafe website, and Virgin Support was of little use.

How do I report this problem?

[Client62]

Is it possible that the OP's public IP address changed at or around the time the Child Safe DNS ceased to function ?

Could it be that Child Safe DNS perhaps works like OpenDNS where the desired exclusion settings are applied to DNS requests arriving from specified public IP(s) and any changes in ISPs public IP(s) have to be kept up to date for OpenDNS to remain effective as a content filter.

[Ilyas_Y]

Hey @leeatkinson, thanks for reaching out to us on the forums.

I'm sorry to hear about the issues with web safe occur.
May I ask if you've been able to check the MyVM app or your Connect App to see if any settings have been changed which may be affecting this?
Let us know.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[leeatkinson]

Hi - nothing has changed in the settings of either app, as far as I can tell.

[Client62]

If this is not resolved, have a look at Open DNS Home which is  free and would get a functioning content filter and even better full control the process too.

[leeatkinson]

Thanks - I have little belief that this will be resolved, so I am now evaluating the Parental Controls either using PiHole or via my router's manufacturer (Netgear) and this is working. It's a pity that VirginMedia support has no way to engage with (beyond 'it's enabled' and 'have you tried looking at X?'). I'll still continue to use Virgin's resolvers upstream just in case they start working again.

[Client62]

Good to see you have taken back control !

We see the same issues over and over & resolutions are too few. 
It would be better to know what is broken then we can come with a workaround and move on.

Current common examples are ...

"I can not turn Child Safe On / Off" delete as applies the VM Team show zero understanding and equal interest in solving this.

I can not Pause or Un-Pause a WiFi device or everyone is locked out of WiFi.   RESET & don't touch this again.

Hub5 in Router mode - the firmware issues cover failures of DHCP, WiFi and a security hole on VOIP  The fix NONE for the spam VOIP calls.

What on earth is happening on the email platforms !
Every man and his dog + cat are posting my email has been hacked or stopped working and that appears to cover at least email 3 domains. 

Hub 4 - increasing in numbers are affected by a VM WiFi policy that resets to the default SSID. - the fix modem mode & a Router

Hub 4 and Hub 5 - failure to transmit on 2.4Ghz WiFi band - the fix NONE this side of a modem mode and a Router

VM Connect app that shows vastly inflated figures for Hub 3 Latency and Jitter.  - Samknow Realspeed appears better.

[Matthew_ML]

Hey leeatkinson, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear you are having some child safety issues.

If you want I can look at this to confirm the settings are turned on / off if you would like this.

Please do let me know. Thanks 

[leeatkinson]

Hi thanks for looking into this. I can see that the configuration is enabled, and others in this forum have confirmed that it is enabled. What it needs, however, is someone within Virgin to test and check that is working (if there is such a way to fake a DNS query from my account / IP address) rather than trusting the configuration. 

[用心棒]

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@leeatkinson wrote:

⋮
… to fake a DNS query from my account / IP address) rather than trusting the configuration. 

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No there is not; technically not possible.

If Virgin Media are telling you Web Safe is on and when you make the following queries from a Command Shall or Terminal:

nslookup protonvpn.com
nslookup protonvpn.com 194.168.4.100
nslookup protonvpn.com 9.9.9.9

and they all return the same result:

⋮
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: protonvpn.com
Address: 185.159.159.140

then that is sufficient to show Web Safe is not working despite what its status is reported as.

[leeatkinson]

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@用心棒 wrote:

No there is not; technically not possible

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While it's impossible to do this within DNS, I would be surprised that Virgin doesn't have the ability to test WebSafe by checking what its response would be for a client that has my current IP address. All it seems that Virgin have done so far is to confirm that WebSafe is enabled, without testing it.

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@用心棒 wrote:

nslookup protonvpn.com
nslookup protonvpn.com 194.168.4.100
nslookup protonvpn.com 9.9.9.9

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I do get all the same response (185.159.159.140).