There are many ways you can block inappropriate websites or porn and protect yourself or your family and kids from it. Most of the blockers are free and easily available but some blockers cannot be trusted. There are many instances of people getting virus or malware from a porn blocker or a site blocker extension.
That's why it's not a good idea to install porn blocker or site blocker extensions or add-ons in your browsers. They also work at a browser level only. When it comes to software blockers, most of them are paid and some blockers are only available for a specific OS like Windows or Android, not all systems like Linux, macOS or iOS or as a network level blocker.
Therefore a better and an alternative way of blocking porn and other dangerous sites is by using DNS which blocks harmful sites on a device level or network wide if you configure it on your router.
DNS stands for Domain Name System and it translates domain names into IP addresses. If you search for a website like google.com, the DNS server will look up the IP address associated with it and will serve the website. Porn blocking and other harmful content blocking DNS servers does not let you connect to sites that are in their blocklist. Most of the DNS blacklists are updated daily to add new harmful sites and block most of the popular ones by default.
Now let us look at some DNS services that you can use to block adult sites and some of them can even block other harmful sites like malware, phishing etc.
Safe Surfer DNS blocks adult content and they also provide a free app for desktop and mobile protection. The app for Linux, macOS and Windows are available here and the Android app is on the Play Store.
You can also set it up on your router without using any apps. The detailed guide on how to set it up on your router is here.
Safe Surfer nameservers:
IPv4:
104.197.28.121
104.155.237.225
Clean Browsing has two types of filters that you can use for blocking adult content.
Adult Filter - It blocks access to all pornographic, adult and explicit sites but it does not block proxy or VPN domains. It also does not block mixed content sites (sites which are mostly safe but also has a dark side which includes adult content).
The nameservers of Clean Browsing "Adult Filter" are -
IPv4:
185.228.168.10
185.228.169.11
IPv6:
2a0d:2a00:1::1
2a0d:2a00:2::1
DNS over TLS (DoT):
adult-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
You can use the above DNS over TLS (DoT) address if you have an Android device running Android 9 or above. Go to Network Settings>Advanced>Private DNS.
The other type of filter that Clean Browsing provides is the -
Family Filter which blocks access to all adult, pornographic and explicit sites along with mixed-content sites like reddit. The Family Filter also blocks proxy and VPN domains that are used to bypass the filters. Search engines are also set to safe mode and YouTube is also set to safe mode.
If you want to use Clean Browsing DNS, the Family Filter is better for protection against adult content if you have kids since it blocks mixed content sites too.
For further safety of kids and to teach your kids to be safe and secure online, Be Internet Awesome by Google is a good resource.
The nameservers of Clean Browsing "Family Filter" are:
IPv4:
185.228.168.168
185.228.169.168
IPv6:
2a0d:2a00:1::
2a0d:2a00:2::
DNS over TLS (DoT):
family-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
That's why it's not a good idea to install porn blocker or site blocker extensions or add-ons in your browsers. They also work at a browser level only. When it comes to software blockers, most of them are paid and some blockers are only available for a specific OS like Windows or Android, not all systems like Linux, macOS or iOS or as a network level blocker.
Therefore a better and an alternative way of blocking porn and other dangerous sites is by using DNS which blocks harmful sites on a device level or network wide if you configure it on your router.
DNS stands for Domain Name System and it translates domain names into IP addresses. If you search for a website like google.com, the DNS server will look up the IP address associated with it and will serve the website. Porn blocking and other harmful content blocking DNS servers does not let you connect to sites that are in their blocklist. Most of the DNS blacklists are updated daily to add new harmful sites and block most of the popular ones by default.
Now let us look at some DNS services that you can use to block adult sites and some of them can even block other harmful sites like malware, phishing etc.
1: Safe Surfer
Safe Surfer DNS blocks adult content and they also provide a free app for desktop and mobile protection. The app for Linux, macOS and Windows are available here and the Android app is on the Play Store.
You can also set it up on your router without using any apps. The detailed guide on how to set it up on your router is here.
Safe Surfer nameservers:
IPv4:
104.197.28.121
104.155.237.225
2. Clean Browsing
Clean Browsing has two types of filters that you can use for blocking adult content.
Adult Filter - It blocks access to all pornographic, adult and explicit sites but it does not block proxy or VPN domains. It also does not block mixed content sites (sites which are mostly safe but also has a dark side which includes adult content).
The nameservers of Clean Browsing "Adult Filter" are -
IPv4:
185.228.168.10
185.228.169.11
IPv6:
2a0d:2a00:1::1
2a0d:2a00:2::1
DNS over TLS (DoT):
adult-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
You can use the above DNS over TLS (DoT) address if you have an Android device running Android 9 or above. Go to Network Settings>Advanced>Private DNS.
The other type of filter that Clean Browsing provides is the -
Family Filter which blocks access to all adult, pornographic and explicit sites along with mixed-content sites like reddit. The Family Filter also blocks proxy and VPN domains that are used to bypass the filters. Search engines are also set to safe mode and YouTube is also set to safe mode.
If you want to use Clean Browsing DNS, the Family Filter is better for protection against adult content if you have kids since it blocks mixed content sites too.
For further safety of kids and to teach your kids to be safe and secure online, Be Internet Awesome by Google is a good resource.
The nameservers of Clean Browsing "Family Filter" are:
IPv4:
185.228.168.168
185.228.169.168
IPv6:
2a0d:2a00:1::
2a0d:2a00:2::
DNS over TLS (DoT):
family-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
3. Yandex Family
Yandex Family DNS blocks not only adult content but also fraudulent sites and infected websites. Using their technologies along with Sophos, they analyze various sites and their behavior for fraudulent and harmful activity and add them to their blacklist from which their DNS services block the dangerous sites. Yandex Family DNS also provides protection from botnets. Botnets can infect your computer which can make your computer do various harmful activities without your knowledge. So overall, it's a pretty useful DNS service.
Yandex Family DNS servers:
IPv4:
77.88.8.7
77.88.8.3
IPv6:
2a02:6b8::feed:a11
2a02:6b8:0:1::feed:a11
4. Open DNS Family Shield
Open DNS is a reliable DNS service provider. They have good speeds and uptime. Open DNS claims to provide 100 percent uptime, which means you won't have to worry about unreachable websites and DNS outages from your ISP. Their Family Shield blocks adult content by default.
Open DNS Family Shield nameservers:
IPv4:
208.67.222.123
208.67.220.123
If you don't block on your router and want to block adult sites on your Android devices while using mobile data connection, you can use the Private DNS option like mentioned above. But this setting is only available for devices with Android 9 and above. If your device doesn't have the Private DNS option, you can use the Nebulo app to change your DNS if you're using DNS over TLS (DoT).
If you're using IPv4 and IPv6, you can use the dnspipe app.
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