How to Block Websites on Your Router — and What Router Blocking Can’t Do

Blocking a website on the router applies to every device on your Wi-Fi at once: the kids’ tablet, the game console, the smart TV and guests’ phones, with no software to install on each of them. It is the easiest way to keep a distracting or unsuitable site off the home network. It also has clear limits, and knowing them up front saves a lot of frustration.

Three Ways to Block Sites at the Router

Most homes combine two: a family DNS filter as the base, and router parental controls for specific sites and bedtimes.

NETGEAR: Block Sites

NETGEAR’s own instructions for routers managed in a browser:

1. Open http://routerlogin.net and log in with the username admin and your password. See NETGEAR router login if you do not know them.
2. Go to ADVANCED → Security → Block Sites (on some models Settings → Content Filtering → Block Sites).
3. Under Keyword Blocking, choose Always, or Per Schedule to block only at certain times.
4. Type a domain such as www.youtube.com or a keyword, click Add Keyword, and repeat for each site.
5. Click Apply.

Newer NETGEAR routers and Orbi systems handle this in the Nighthawk or Orbi app, often as part of NETGEAR’s parental controls subscription.

TP-Link: Parental Controls and Access Control

On current TP-Link routers, use the Tether or Deco app, or the web interface at http://tplinkwifi.net: Parental Controls lets you create a profile for each person, add their devices, and block sites by keyword or category, with time limits. See TP-Link router login for the address and login.

Older TP-Link models without profiles use Access Control, according to TP-Link’s guide for routers such as the TL-WR841N:

1. Access Control → Host — add the devices to restrict, by IP address range.
2. Access Control → Target — add the site by domain name or keyword.
3. Access Control → Schedule — set when the block applies. Check that the router’s clock is right under System Tools → Time Settings.
4. Access Control → Rule — enable Internet Access Control and add a rule that combines host, target and schedule with the action Deny.

Rules by IP address only work if the device keeps its address, so reserve an address for it in the router’s DHCP settings first.

ASUS, Provider Gateways and Others

ASUS routers offer Parental Controls with time scheduling and, on models with AiProtection, content filtering by category; the ASUS Router app has the same options. Provider gateways, such as those from Xfinity and AT&T, usually put content filters and pause buttons in their apps. Google Nest Wifi and eero handle it in their apps too, eero mostly through its paid Plus plan. Look for menus called Parental Controls, Access Control, URL Filter, Content Filtering or Block Sites; the idea is the same everywhere.

Family DNS: Blocking Whole Categories

Listing sites one by one does not scale. A family DNS service blocks entire categories by refusing to resolve their domains:

• Cloudflare for Families: 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 block malware and adult content.
• OpenDNS FamilyShield: 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123 block adult content.

Enter them as the DNS servers on the router — under Internet, WAN or DHCP settings — and every device that uses the router’s DNS is covered. Our guide to the best DNS server compares these and other services.

What Router Blocking Can’t Do

It works by domain, not by page. Almost all sites use HTTPS, which hides the page addresses from the router. It can block youtube.com entirely, but not one channel or video. Keyword blocking only catches keywords in the domain name.

Encrypted DNS can bypass DNS filters. Browsers and phones that use DNS over HTTPS or Android’s Private DNS ask their own DNS server, not your router’s. Turn off secure DNS in the browser on children’s devices, or add device-level controls (below) that do not depend on DNS.

VPNs and proxies get around everything. A VPN app hides all traffic from the router. Some routers can block known VPN services; device-level controls can block installing them.

Mobile data is outside your network. A phone that switches to 4G or 5G is no longer filtered by your router at all.

Neighbors’ and public Wi-Fi are out of reach. Router blocks only apply at home.

For children’s own phones and tablets, combine the router with device-level controls — Screen Time on iPhone and iPad, Google Family Link on Android, Microsoft Family Safety on Windows and Xbox — which work on every network. And check the router’s device list from time to time; who is connected to my Wi-Fi shows how.