Time Limits on the net

[expat]

but short of soldering it to the wall relatively easy to circumvent....

So many answers, and the application hasn't been specified yet, only its major requirement. Is it to stop the kids surfing after bedtime? Then you want netnanny or BT parental controls (or a firm parental hand). Or is it to isolate an unattended system out of its required hours? Or what?

[NoddY]

Pick up a small form factor PC here http://search.ebay.co.uk/sff (£30-70) plus an additional network card (£25)

Install http://www.pfsense.com/ on it (£0)

and you've got yourself first class router, including a transparent web cache at application level which can restricted by time/user etc.; all configured within a comfortable web interface and running headless.

[BoredBloke]

OK, why I am asking is my mother in law fosters a child. She has got her a computer and I have given them an old router so that she can use the net. What is currently happening is this kid is going on the net when she is supposed to be in bed. What is needed is some way to ensure that the internet connection closes at say 9pm and is not available until the next day. Unplugging the connection is hassle and my mother in law often forgets. What she wants is a way to set it up so that it does this automatically so it can be set up she can forget about it.

If she unplugs the connection then this kid goes off on one which is not ideal for my mother in law (the kid should be in a looney bin if you ask me!). If I can setup the kit so that it automatically does this then it takes away the 'why have you unpluged the computer' type arguments.

I did think of going down the net-nanny route but thought it was overkill for something so simple.

[expat]

OK, why I am asking is my mother in law fosters a child. She has got her a computer and I have given them an old router so that she can use the net. What is currently happening is this kid is going on the net when she is supposed to be in bed. What is needed is some way to ensure that the internet connection closes at say 9pm and is not available until the next day.

PC in the living-room instead of the bedroom?

[BoredBloke]

"PC in the living-room instead of the bedroom?"

No space plus my mother in law prefers her to have it down there.

[eternalnomad]

"PC in the living-room instead of the bedroom?"

No space plus my mother in law prefers her to have it down there.

how about she just make the little darling understand that whilst living in her home she lives by her rules.

If rule say no internet after 9pm then its no internet after 9pm

Failing that......netnanny is one option....or purchase a new router with a time based lock-out (many netgear routers have this facility)