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Weird problem with parental controls disappearing on T3200M
I'm trying to use the parental controls on the T3200M. Looking in the "Advanced Settings" screen, the menu item on the left for parental controls was not there at all. The admin home screen s...
Hi there,
I have an update. Working with a couple resources from TELUS support management and development they have confirmed that the TELUS My Wi-Fi app is the supported replacement for the parental controls in the T3200M modem. This change is effective with the last firmware upgrade to the modem, version 31.164L.22.
Reverting to firmware 31.164L.18 or lower, through a factory reset of the modem, will restore the original Blocking/Filtering section with parental controls in the T3200M modem, however the workaround would be temporary as the modem will continue to pickup the latest firmware from TELUS and perform an automatic update. The new firmware is more secure than .18 so this is likely not a recommended solution.
The parental controls in the TELUS My Wi-Fi app have some know limitations compared to the original T3200M-based controls:
- Scheduling: Some devices cannot be paused or included in the child profiles (Ex TELUS Optik STB). TELUS Optik PVRs work fine.
- Filtering/Blocking: There is no definable web or protocol filtering, other than the generic option to filter out Adult content based on age ratings.
To filter specific apps, such as YouTube, TikTok or Pokemon. If you own an Apple device with Family Sharing setup, there is a relatively new setting called Screen Time that has proven to be an absolute life savior for our family's balancing of digital time: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208982
There are similar options provided by Microsoft for Windows and Android (https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103340?hl=en), but I am less familiar with them and do not want to stray to far off thread here.
Hope this helps.
I have also lost the parental controls. I have actually lost all the Blocking/Filtering section seen here circled in yellow:
I am currently on the phone holding in the 1 hour support queue to see why this is happening and if it can be resolved.
Once thing I noticed under my Upgrade History was that my T3200M's firmware was upgraded in September from 31.164L.18 to 22. This could be the culprit:
| 09/23/2020 | 12:43 AM | ACS | Complete | 31.164L.22 |
I will keep you posted.
Any update on this issue? I have the same problem.
I am working with a TELUS support manager and higher tier support resources on the issue.
They have confirmed that this is an issue and that the Blocking/Filtering section with the Parental Control service should still be available.
The TELUS support agent also confirmed that the issue is not firmware related, or not directly related, as they are running the latest .22 and still have the Parental Controls available.
One thing I have noticed is that there is a newer Parental Control service available in the TELUS My Wi-Fi app which works if you have the TELUS Boost Wi-Fi boosters connected to your T3200M modem. It allows, scheduling and parental content control and has served as a partial work around. The only limitation to this control is that it cannot control devices hardwired with ethernet on your network.
TELUS has asked me to perform a factory reset to restore the Filtering/Blocking and Parental Controls service in the modem, If that fails they have offered to replace it outright.
I will keep you posted on my progress.
I installed the Telus My Wifi app yesterday, and the blocking/filtering controls disappeared. I wonder if these two events are related? Do others having this problem also have the My Wifi app installed?
Would love to get this stuff sorted out. With kids at home for school due to COVID, it's less the adult sites that need blocking, and more the distractions (youtube, games, Pokemon, etc.). Having some control over this would be great (whether it is with the Actiontec modem, or with the My Wifi app, don't care which, as long as it works).
