Monitoring Individual Computers

• 1). Choose whether to use the parental controls included in the computer's operating system or a commercial software application. Microsoft has included parental control features in the Windows operating systems since releasing Windows 2000. The features offer parents basic, but limited, controls.
  
  
• 2). Turn off the operating system's parental controls when using a third-party commercial software application. Commercial software will likely experience conflicts with any native parental control software if both are used concurrently.
  
  
• 3). Install appropriate parental control software on each computer. Many commercial software applications are available for parents to use to limit and monitor their family's computer usage. Each of these software applications must be individually installed and configured on each family computer.
  
  
• 4). Educate family members as to the limits, usage and presence of Internet monitoring software. While parents do not have to discuss the decision to install monitoring software, their children should be aware of its presence and how it will be used.
  
  

Router-based Internet Monitoring Controls

• 1). Install a central router which contains built in parental controls. The ZyXEL HomeSafe parental control Gateway includes parental monitoring and parental limiting capabilities. By using a parental control enabled router, each computer in the system is automatically monitored and controlled by the router's permissions.
  
  
• 2). Configure the parental control router with a set of priorities which will affect the entire family. The biggest difference between an individually installed software application and a parental control router is that individual applications can be set to varying control levels on each machine. A parental control router will control every computer's access on the network, and use the same guidelines for each.
  
  
• 3). Educate family members as to the presence and function of the parental control router. The device will create delays in computer operations as the router pauses web site requests while it checks content suitability. Family members should be made aware of the router's presence and how it will affect the home's Internet access.