Setting up OPNSense on ProtectLi for home use with parental control (Part 1&2)

Photo by Jordan Harrison on Unsplash

I recently purchased a ProtectLi with OPNSense pre-installed for my home use. Below is the basic setup to accomplish 3 requirements:

1. Have a simple firewall blocking unwanted sites from children
2. Create a schedule to shutdown certain machines from accessing the internet
3. Create a subnet to separate all the IOT devices into a DMZ zone

Willie Howe bundle

I bought the Willie Howe bundle with the Protectli 4 port. It’s pre-configured to work out of the box.

You can order one here.

Part one. Turning on Unbound DNS Blacklist

Login to OPNSense. Select Services -> UnboundDNS->Backlist

Check the type of sites you want to block and click on [Apply].

That’s It. Now these sites are blocked at the DNS level.

Next, you want to setup Firewall rules so that users (your kids) cannot by pass the DNS setting.