Let’s talk about how to block a website on Linksys router. If you want to block suspicious websites at the router level, you’ve come to the right place!
Blocking a website on the router level means devices on your network won’t be able to access it.
It can greatly improve your network’s security or prevent your kids from seeing potentially malicious websites.
Let’s explore the steps on how to do this.
To block a website on your Linksys router, you want to access its admin dashboard or control panel. From there, you can go to Parental Controls and configure the settings. You can set it up in a way that will block a specific computer from accessing certain websites.
Before we proceed to the actual steps of blocking a website on a Linksys router, below are a few things you need to consider.
What to Consider for Linksys Block Specific Sites
There are several reasons why you want to block websites on your Linksys router.
The first one is if you have kids and want to stop them from opening harmful websites.
The other is if you have an office and want those on your network to limit their video streaming and social media use.
✔️ Model of Your Linksys Router
Newer Linksys models have a different process for blocking specific websites than older models. But both have the same default IP address.
✔️ Setup Parental Controls
If you have a new Linksys model, you need to set up and enable Parental Controls as part of the process. Poke around it a bit to find your list of blocked sites.
✔️ Access to Your Router Settings
To start the process, you must access the admin control panel or dedicated router settings page. This is typically done by entering the default IP address into the web browser.
✔️ Ease of Configuring Your Router
Linksys allows for a whole lot of settings adjustment. We listed a list of universal guidelines to suit the highest number of consumers.
You should know these important things when blocking a specific website on Linksys. Now, let’s move on to the actual steps of the process.
Complete Steps on How to Block Sites on Linksys Router
The process differs depending on the make and model of your Linksys router. Before we discuss how to block a website on Linksys router, here are a few insider tips you need to know.
First, you want to ensure that the devices are connected to your network. If they’re not on the same network, you won’t be able to limit their access.
The good news is that if you’re at home, there’s really no choice but to connect to the network.
However, if they choose to connect through their phone’s mobile data, there’s nothing that you will be able to do.
Let’s look at the actual steps you need to take to block certain websites on Linksys routers.
Step #1: Access Your Router’s Admin Dashboard
One of the initial steps you want to take so you can play around with your router’s settings is to access its admin dashboard.
From here, you can change its configuration to block specific websites on your network.
At the router admin dashboard level, you have several choices for setting up the website block.
For you to log in to your router, you do need to know a couple of crucial information. One is your router’s IP address, and the other is its login credentials.
Here are the complete steps on how to log in to your router:
Find the IP address:
- Right-click on the Start button on the bottom left.
- Click on Command Prompt (Admin) to open it.
- Type in ipconfig, then press Enter.
- Scroll through the results and find Default Gateway.
- Remember the IP address for the next part.
Logging into your router:
- Open a web browser like Chrome or Firefox.
- Type in the IP address of your router from the steps above.
- Enter the username and password of your Linksys router.
- Click on Login or Enter to access the router admin dashboard.
Pro Tip: For Linksys routers, the default username is “admin,” and the password is “admin” or “password.”
Step #2: Enable Parental Controls on Your Linksys Router
Once you have access to your Linksys router, the first configuration you want to check out is Parental Controls.
Your Linksys router will have this feature where you can specify limits on what activities can be done in your network.
You can block internet access to certain devices. Alternatively, a less harsh limit is to block access to websites.
You can use it so your children can’t open potentially malicious sites.
It’s also something you can set up for an office so employees won’t waste their time browsing social networking sites during work hours.
Here’s how to enable Linksys’ Parental Controls on your router:
- Go to the Security tab.
- Choose Parental Controls from the menu.
- Switch the Enable Parental Controls to On.
Note: Some models will require you to enter a parental controls password the first time you turn it on.
Step #3: Setup Parental Controls for Specific Computers
After turning on the parental control feature of your router, you do have a couple of options you can take.
We will set up the website blocks for specific computers for this step. This step can come in handy, especially if you have kids and want to limit the websites they can visit or not.
Here’s how you can block websites for specific computers on your network:
- Click Add on the Restrict Internet Access List.
- Find the computer that you want to limit access to.
- Choose Block Specific Sites.
- Create a list of websites you want to block.
- Click Save.
Note: There’s also an option limiting internet access to certain computers during specific times.
Step #4: Set up Access Restrictions to Block Website
If you have the odd Linksys router that does not have parental controls, don’t worry. There’s still a way for you to block websites from your network.
The configuration you’re looking for is Access Restriction. It’s similar to parental controls but has fewer settings that you can configure.
It will do the job you’re asking of it, so there’s nothing to worry about.
Here’s how you can set up Access Restrictions on your router:
- On your router’s admin dashboard, select Access Restrictions.
- Choose 1 as the policy number and give it a name.
- Click on Edit List of PCs.
- Specify which computers you want this rule to apply to.
- Under Website Blocking by URL, type the address you want to block.
Note: Each policy or rule can only block up to 4 websites. You can create a new one if you want to block more.
Step #5: Use the Linksys App to Setup Parental Controls
For newer Linksys routers, you can actually configure parental controls without logging in to your router’s dashboard.
There are models that come with an app that has all the router settings that you need.
One of the settings you’ll find on the app is parental controls. You’ll be able to set it up on your phone, which should affect your entire network when you click Save.
Here’s how to block websites using the Linksys app:
- Open the Linksys app and go to Parental Controls.
- Select Add a device, and choose one from the list.
- Tap on Block Specific Websites.
- Enter the website addresses, then hit Save.
Tip: You can block up to 10 websites for each device.
This is how you can use the parental controls feature of your Linksys router to block websites for computers on your network.
It’s handy to know if you have kids or want to limit the access of those connecting to your WiFi network.
Bottom Line
Now that you know how to block a website on Linksys router, you can surely put it to good use. You can’t go wrong as long as you follow these steps carefully.
Depending on your router model, you can either go the parental control or access restriction route.
No matter what router model you own, blocking websites and securing your network is going to be a task that won’t take more than 10 minutes of your time.
Read Next: Why is Linksys Router Speed Slower than Modem?
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.