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How to Block URLs with your Cradlepoint Router

Using a Cradlepoint router is one of the most popular (and most effective, and easiest) ways to share your mobile broadband service, but many people don't realize that these routers are capable of a lot more than just "routing". For example, did you know that you can easily block access to websites/URLs you do not want users on your network to visit?

It's true - with just a few quick changes in the admin page for your Cradlepoint MBR1000, CTR500, PHS300, CTR350, MBR800, or CBA250, you can prevent any or all of the computers connecting via your router from accessing any URL you specify. With Cradlepoint's Access Control and Web Filter functionality, you can control what content your kids can access online or prevent users from visiting data-intensive websites that could eat up your 5GB limit.

Great! How do I Accomplish This?

In order to block websites for computers connecting through your Cradlepoint router there are three processes which must be performed: first, Access Control must be enabled, second, Web Filters must be applied, and finally we recommend saving your settings to an external file in the event you need to set them up again in the future.

Step One: Enable Access Control

1. Connect to your router either via WiFi or ethernet, open a web browser (IE, Firefox, or Safari) and type 192.168.0.1 into the address field at the top. Press Enter. This will bring you to the Cradlepoint Administration Login page. Log in with your administration password (by default your password is the last 6 characters of your router's MAC address, which you can find on a label pasted on the underside of your router).

2. Once logged in, you will be presented with a page that has a row of tabs across the top in a red stripe with the Cradlepoint logo just above it. Click on the Advanced tab. From the list of links on the left, click on the link entitled Access Control.

3. In the Access Control section, place a check in the box next to "Enable Access Control" and then click the Add Policy button. An outline of the next six steps will ensue; click Next to proceed.

4. In the Policy Name field, give your policy a name (anything you like - "blockedsites", "kids_control", whatever describes the policy) and then click next.

5. Choose a schedule from the dropdown menu (in our case we are going to select Always, which is the most common selection) and click Next.

6. For Address Type, select Other Machines. For IP Address use the dropdown menu to select the computer you want to block access to and then click on the OK button. Repeat this step for each machine you want to limit the access on. As you do this each limited machine will be listed at the bottom ogf the section. Once done click Next.

7. For Method we want to select Block Some and then add a check next to Apply Web Filter. Click Next.

8. The next page is a setting to allow you to log websites visited by computers connected to the router, this can be enabled or disabled at your discretion depending on your preferences. Click Save.

After a few moments the new policy you just created will show up under the Policy Table section. Access control has been successfully set up on your router, but we still need to specify the sites we want to filter.

Step Two: Apply Web Filter Settings

1. Log in to your router's admin (see step 1 above).

2. Once logged in, you will be presented with a page that has a row of tabs across the top in a red stripe with the Cradlepoint logo just above it. Click on the Advanced tab. From the list of links on the left, click on the link entitled Web Filter.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you will see a section entitled Add Web Filtering Rule. Add a check to the Make Filtering Rules a Blacklist box, add the website you want blocked to the Website URL/Domain field. Click Save.

4. Repeat this procedure for each website you want to block. As you add rules they will be listed in the Website Filtering Rules section at the bottom of the page.

Step Three: Save Your Settings!

After making involved changes like this to your router's settings, it is highly recommended that you save your settings so that if you ever lose the settings you don't have to repeat your steps.

1. Log in to your router's admin (see step 1 above).

2. Once logged in, you will be presented with a page that has a row of tabs across the top in a red stripe with the Cradlepoint logo just above it. Click on the Tools tab. From the list of links on the left, click on the link entitled System (note: some firmware revisions of the CTR350 and PHS300 call this tab Admin instead of System.).

3. In the System Settings section, click on the Save Configuration button. This will prompt you to open or save a file entitled gateway_settings.gws. Save the file to a secure location such as you My Documents folder or a backup storage drive.

That's it - you've successfully backed up your new settings and can easily revert back to them whenever you need. To add these settings back to your router in the future, simply follow the same steps but instead of clicking on Save Configuration, click on Browse or Get File (depending on your browser) and navigate to the saved file. Click on open and then click on Restore Configuration from File to load the settings back to your router.

Related links:

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