Blue - Youtube app block on phones, (and detection of devices)
Hey. Just got my new Blue. Loving it, but have a couple of questions:
I'm not seeing all devices - how do i get the Firewalla to rescan?
Main issue though is:
I've also got an issue with my sons Google 'Family link' phone. Firewalla can 'see' it, but turning on video blocking doesn't seem to work (in the youtube app).
So, i tried the same block on my Note 9 - again video blocking doesn't work (in the youtube app). Youtube in the browser is blocked though.
Turning the block on on the Macbook, or Windows devices does give an instant block.
So, this makes me think that YouTube Apps work in a different way to the browser version. How do i get the Youtube App blocked on his phone? I did setup a new rule blocking *.youtube.com, but that broke all google services including the search engine!
Help!
Thanks - Mark
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Missing Devices:
Most time we see this issue is related to how your network is segmented. Please check if these units that are missing are on the same network (have the same IP address subnet) as firewalla. This may sound stupid, but we do see some of our customers have a few wifi access points with different networks.
Next, there are some low power devices that don't wake up until it triggered. Which means, this may take some time for the system to see them. (example, battery-powered IP devices, such as the Apple Watch)
Devices not stopping internet:
https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000555074-Troubleshooting-When-Running-Firewalla-
Please see this article, there are a few things that may happen. And some may be related to ipv6 and the ipv6 feature is not enabled by default. (tap on + then ipv6 button)
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Thanks for the reply!
The network is pretty simple - there's a dual band wifi router (separate wifi SSIDs for 2.4G and 5G networks). Same Subnet. Everything seems to be able to see each other. Firewalla plugged straight into that router. There's also a Fingbox, which can see everything. I've been able to get some kit 'seen' by forgetting and re-adding to the wifi. I will monitor this for now and see what turns up!
The Youtube thing is weird though. IPv6 is enabled on firewalla. An example i'm seeing here is an iPhone 7. It's seen and monitored in Firewalla (there is a traffic graph). It has Video Block on (plus porn Block, and safe search) at the device level. However Youtube still works fine in the browser. Similarly my Android phone has the same blocks set, the Youtube App still works, and youtube via the web works most of the time (sometimes it does block it though). I just don't understand!
I've tried the DNS flush on the devices. I can block everything if I put a super rule in to block *.youtube.com. Feels a bit clumsy though! I'm wondering if somehow the Fingbox is taking over somehow?
Thanks for your help.
Mark
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An update to this.
I've disconnected the fingbox - youtube is still available via app and browser across any device, despite the Video Block being in place.
I then tried creating a bunch of rules blocking:
m.youtube.com
ytimg.com
ytimg.l.google.com
youtube.l.google.com
youtube.com
googlevideo.comThis seems to work, but unfortunately it also means i can't get to google.com in a browser. To enable google again I have to have m.youtube.com and youtube.com rules disabled, which obviously means youtube now works again!
I used to be able to do this with my pihole with no issues. I'm thinking i may have to revert to that and get rid of the firewalla. :(
One possible avenue to look at is that my main router has DNS servers set to cleanbrowsing.org servers. If I point that DNS at the firewalla would that make a difference?
Thanks
Mark
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Ok. A further update.
I've pointed the router DNS settings to use the Filewalla as both primary and secondary DNS. Even with this no blocking takes place on any of the mobile devices (via browser or youtube app). It does however block youtube via the browser on my macbook.
I'm at a loss now. I just can't see why the mobile devices just keep working. Damn you google!
Thanks
Mark
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I am having exactly the same issue with my new Firewalla Blue. YouTube is not blocked on mobile devices and some devices are seen but their activity is not reflected. Turning on the ipv6 feature seems to have worked to detect activity on an iPhone but YouTube still gets through and my desktop still shows no activity despite me watching streaming video. This is frustrating - as one of the main reasons that I bought Firewalla was the ability to shut down YouTube on command.
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Further update. The inability to monitor activity on certain devices and the YouTube thing appear to be related. The additional data points that lead me in this direction are:
> With the video block turned on for a desktop I was able to access YouTube. However, when I went to another video site (full30) the blocker worked.
> When I lifted the video block and went back to full30 firewall registered the activity.
Google is evil
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Thanks George, i'm glad i'm not imagining it!
For me the Video block does kill Google services such as logging into Google calendar on the macbook, and only intermittently blocks youtube.
I do see activity graphs for all devices, it just doesn't block youtube.
I'm interested that on the pihole does block exactly what I want with:
(^|\.)googlevideo\.com$
(^|\.)youtube\.com$But the blanket equivalents on the firewalla just kill all google stuff, except youtube!I'm guessing this is a different OSI layer thing - the pihole does this at the 'name' level, and the firewalla does it at an IP level.I'm also guessing that youtube has so many IPs that it's almost impossible to block... -
hi, new here... just purchased a blue +. im having similar issues but instead of mobile devices, it seems streaming sticks are still allowing youtube.
My Roku and FireTV stick still plays youtube with an all devices, youtube app block on. now the Video will start to buffer and if you wait long enough... it will start playing. any ideas?
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