Parental controls on Spark NZ
It’s easy with Safe Surfer to install effective parental controls on a Spark Wi-Fi modem/router. This guide will efficiently walk you through how to install protection.
This guide is applicable for the following modems:
Spark Smart Modem / Skinny Smart Modem (model VRV9517; VRV9517UWAC34-A-SP)
Spark 5G Smart Modem (model 124753)
Spark Smart Modem 2 / Skinny Flexi Modem (model 125415)
Spark Smart Modem 3 (model VRV9517ZWAX34-A-SP)
Do you have a different Spark modem model? Click this link to view our full list of guides.
If you’re not using a fibre connection, the settings we need to change won’t be available. No problem—that’s where our Wi-Fi Lifeguard router (featuring speedy Wi-Fi 6 technology) can help.
Enter the address 192.168.1.254 into the top search bar of a web browser (such as Google Chrome or Firefox).
Type admin into the password box, then click the Login button.
Click the Network menu found on the left-hand sidebar. Click the WAN tab, then click the Edit button found within the first row.
Scroll down to the WAN DNS Setting section. Click the No button found next to “Connect to DNS Server automatically”.
For DNS Server1, copy and paste the following address into the text box: 104.197.28.121
For DNS Server2, copy and paste the following address into the text box: 104.155.237.225
Click the “Save settings” button. Once the changes have been saved, click the Logout button found at the upper-right corner.
Verify the protection installation by visiting ExampleAdultSite.com inside a web browser. This is a safe website designated for testing if pornographic websites are being blocked. This site should be blocked.
If you have any Apple devices (that is, iPhones, iPads, or Macs), and you're not directly protecting them via the Safe Surfer dashboard, you will also need to enable the Limit Adult Websites setting on those devices to disable the Private Browsing Mode feature for Safari—this feature ignores the Safe Surfer filtering received from your home router:
For each iPhone and iPad device, navigate to the Settings app > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions (and enable this feature if it’s not already turned on) > Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content (on older devices, this menu is called Content Restrictions) > Web Content > set to Limit Adult Websites. Once you’re done, navigate back to the Screen Time main menu, which will save the changes.
For each Mac device, navigate to the System Settings app > Screen Time > Content & Privacy (and enable this feature if it’s not already turned on) > Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content (on older devices, this menu is called Content Restrictions) > under Web Content, set Access to Web Content to Limit Adult Websites, then click the Done button at the lower-right corner. Once you’re done, navigate back to the Screen Time main menu, which will save the changes. Open the Safari app > click the Safari text on the left-hand side of the menu bar (at the top of the screen) > click the Quit option. Repeat this process for every user account on the Mac.
Want to sync block settings on the Safe Surfer dashboard? Find out how to install the Safe Surfer app on your devices by clicking this link.
This guide is applicable for the following modems:
Spark Smart Modem / Skinny Smart Modem (model VRV9517; VRV9517UWAC34-A-SP)
Spark 5G Smart Modem (model 124753)
Spark Smart Modem 2 / Skinny Flexi Modem (model 125415)
Spark Smart Modem 3 (model VRV9517ZWAX34-A-SP)
Do you have a different Spark modem model? Click this link to view our full list of guides.
If you’re not using a fibre connection, the settings we need to change won’t be available. No problem—that’s where our Wi-Fi Lifeguard router (featuring speedy Wi-Fi 6 technology) can help.
Step 1: Install DNS
Enter the address 192.168.1.254 into the top search bar of a web browser (such as Google Chrome or Firefox).
Type admin into the password box, then click the Login button.
Click the Network menu found on the left-hand sidebar. Click the WAN tab, then click the Edit button found within the first row.
Scroll down to the WAN DNS Setting section. Click the No button found next to “Connect to DNS Server automatically”.
For DNS Server1, copy and paste the following address into the text box: 104.197.28.121
For DNS Server2, copy and paste the following address into the text box: 104.155.237.225
Click the “Save settings” button. Once the changes have been saved, click the Logout button found at the upper-right corner.
Verify the protection installation by visiting ExampleAdultSite.com inside a web browser. This is a safe website designated for testing if pornographic websites are being blocked. This site should be blocked.
If you have any Apple devices (that is, iPhones, iPads, or Macs), and you're not directly protecting them via the Safe Surfer dashboard, you will also need to enable the Limit Adult Websites setting on those devices to disable the Private Browsing Mode feature for Safari—this feature ignores the Safe Surfer filtering received from your home router:
For each iPhone and iPad device, navigate to the Settings app > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions (and enable this feature if it’s not already turned on) > Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content (on older devices, this menu is called Content Restrictions) > Web Content > set to Limit Adult Websites. Once you’re done, navigate back to the Screen Time main menu, which will save the changes.
For each Mac device, navigate to the System Settings app > Screen Time > Content & Privacy (and enable this feature if it’s not already turned on) > Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content (on older devices, this menu is called Content Restrictions) > under Web Content, set Access to Web Content to Limit Adult Websites, then click the Done button at the lower-right corner. Once you’re done, navigate back to the Screen Time main menu, which will save the changes. Open the Safari app > click the Safari text on the left-hand side of the menu bar (at the top of the screen) > click the Quit option. Repeat this process for every user account on the Mac.
Get more benefits and extra features
Want to sync block settings on the Safe Surfer dashboard? Find out how to install the Safe Surfer app on your devices by clicking this link.
Updated on: 19/11/2024
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