Internet blocking

[imported_joetech]

I am a high school Tech teacher with a room full of computers. I need the school network for much of our work but the internet is a total distraction and a source of all kinds of problems including viruses, adware and spyware. Yes we have virus protection but it must be constantly updated etc. We have a net nanny installed but it's through the county and they let all sorts of games etc in and is used to mostly block porn. Students waste too much time on games and e-mail. They can waste their time at home not in school. I find it easier to just block it than being a cop and punishing them for being on the internet.
This summer we upgraded the server to Server 2003. B4 I just put in a false DNS number and made the student accounts all user accounts. (all machines run XP pro sp1)
With 2003 this won't work. The DNS must be auto seek or I can't get to the network.
I am now using the internet connection set to a false proxy server and it seems to work.
However, if a student uses a user name and password from another lab (such as the library) they get on anyway. I have disallowed guest accounts but it works anyway. There are too many of these generic user names and password to go in and enter each just to change the proxy server. Is there any way to do this universally?

 

[ssbpgsr]

You can do it through group policy.

User configuration > Windows Settings > Internet Explorer Maintenance > Connection > Proxy Settings

 

[GeekDrew]

Am I the only person that thinks that if you're a tech teacher, you should be able to realize that what you are doing is not an effective solution at all, and you need to come up with a decent solution? You aren't even using the correct terminology... I, for example, have never seen anything known as "auto seek" used with DNS.

 

[imported_joetech]

OK go to network settings, properties, TCP/IP propertiies (you need to right click) your get a drop down and a button that sayes "obtain DNS server address automatically" I thought if I just called it auto seek I could filter out the know nothings. Anyone who actually knows about networking computers would know what Im talking about. True I don't know all there is to know about Networking. Technology is a very big area, thank you very much and I dont teach networking. Do you expect an English teacher to have read every novel and poem ever written? Every science teacher to know all the latest info from astronomy to zoology?

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: joetech
OK go to network settings, properties, TCP/IP propertiies (you need to right click) your get a drop down and a button that sayes "obtain DNS server address automatically" I thought if I just called it auto seek I could filter out the know nothings. Anyone who actually knows about networking computers would know what Im talking about. True I don't know all there is to know about Networking. Technology is a very big area, thank you very much and I dont teach networking. Do you expect an English teacher to have read every novel and poem ever written? Every science teacher to know all the latest info from astronomy to zoology?

Anyone who "actually knows about networking computers" would refer to it as DHCP, not "auto seek".

No, I do not expect a technology teacher to know everything that there is to know about technology; but I do expect them to have the very basics down, and if this thread is any indication, you do not.

Have you completed Ohio SchoolNet's "networking basics" module? I'm not sure if it's a requirement at district or state level any more, but it used to be. It definitely sounds as though you (and possible your fellow teachers) could benefit from it.

 

[nweaver]

Put into place an ACTUAL proxy server, and dissallow port 80 out of the classroom on the default gateway. Put a squid box up and allow the internal school sites, perhaps some university/district sites. It would also be an easy solution to add allowed sites, as it's a single place to change. I am suprised you do not have a proxy for the entire school, as it makes monitoring and controlling traffic much easier.

If linux/squid is not for you, ISA2k4 has a few basic setups. If changing the network to disallow port 80 outbound doesn't work, you could nat the classroom, and do it just for your classroom. It would also be easy to set it up so you could go nat/no nat as required.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: nweaver
Put into place an ACTUAL proxy server, and dissallow port 80 out of the classroom on the default gateway. Put a squid box up and allow the internal school sites, perhaps some university/district sites. It would also be an easy solution to add allowed sites, as it's a single place to change. I am suprised you do not have a proxy for the entire school, as it makes monitoring and controlling traffic much easier.

If linux/squid is not for you, ISA2k4 has a few basic setups. If changing the network to disallow port 80 outbound doesn't work, you could nat the classroom, and do it just for your classroom. It would also be easy to set it up so you could go nat/no nat as required.

Given that joetech's profile indicates that he is in Ohio, and given that law in the state of Ohio requires some form of filtering, I would assume that his school (or district) already has a proxy or proxies for web access (whether transparent or not) - which also normally provides the logging that is usually needed in a K-12 setting (not sure if it's law or not, but all of the public schools I've ever talked to fully log all of their internet requests via a proxy server).

I *could* provide a lot of advice... but as I've worked in public education in Ohio for a while, and given that he's stated that he is a teacher, and not a technician or network administrator, he probably does not have the authority to make changes to the network such as what you're describing. Yes, I'm speculating, but I would venture to guess that I am correct.

 

[assemblage]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: joetech
OK go to network settings, properties, TCP/IP propertiies (you need to right click) your get a drop down and a button that sayes "obtain DNS server address automatically" I thought if I just called it auto seek I could filter out the know nothings. Anyone who actually knows about networking computers would know what Im talking about. True I don't know all there is to know about Networking. Technology is a very big area, thank you very much and I dont teach networking. Do you expect an English teacher to have read every novel and poem ever written? Every science teacher to know all the latest info from astronomy to zoology?

Anyone who "actually knows about networking computers" would refer to it as DHCP, not "auto seek".

No, I do not expect a technology teacher to know everything that there is to know about technology; but I do expect them to have the very basics down, and if this thread is any indication, you do not.

Have you completed Ohio SchoolNet's "networking basics" module? I'm not sure if it's a requirement at district or state level any more, but it used to be. It definitely sounds as though you (and possible your fellow teachers) could benefit from it.

Geekdrew your answers to the poster's questions remind me of this.

 

[imported_joetech]

Thanks to ssbpgsr. Your simple solution works. Our IT guy is a one man show with 5 building to service and well over a hundred computers to deal with and maintain the Website etc. No, I do not have authority to do too much. Our IT guy talked about setting something up but I know he'll never get to it. No, Ohio school net is not even mentioned to anyone at any level let alone doing a networking course. Over the last few years we (teachers) have been required to get some technical skills and now everyone knows about using some basic things like Excel (I taught that one) and some Video and Digital Photo (also by me and others) Also use of a video projector and interactive whiteboards. So overall tech skills are not so hot. Networking is way down the list and no one in the HS has the proper authorization to do much anyway.