DNS filtering is a great alternative to more traditional hardware and software-based solutions for filtering the internet in schools.
Our DNS filter works by redirecting traffic, based on the information associated with your schools router and the service supplier, permitting the Bark account super admin to filter student web browsing by parameters on their Bark dashboard.
Being at the network-level, the DNS filter is compatible with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. The DNS filter is not tied to your Organizational Units or Active Directory, so you can freely use your Bark for Schools DNS filter in place of a current solution.
Once in place, the Bark Super Admin can review reports on web browsing activity on the network.
Before you start, please also check out our FAQ: Web Filtering.
Installation
Log in to your dashboard from a Bark Super Admin account.
Click the drop-down menu > Web Filtering > Settings.
Select Create new Network filter.
Enter the name of the network you wish to apply web filtering policies on and click Next.
Add Public IP Addresses.
To find your public IP address(es), visit whatismyip.com on a client on your network.
There is no limit to the number of public IP addresses you can filter with the Bark for Schools DNS filter.
By separating staff and student networks, you can apply appropriate and separate policies to each, but every school and district varies in how their network is set up, so it may not always be possible.
Log in to your router management page.
To log in and configure your router, you navigate to your gateway's IP address in a web browser. If you don't know the IP address for your router, you can find it by looking at the connection settings on a device connected to the network.
Find the Custom DNS settings.
Look for "DNS" next to a field which allows two or three sets of numbers (these fields may be empty).Write down your current settings before entering the Bark DNS addresses, just in case.
Enter the DNS addresses displayed in your Bark DNS Filter page into the router settings.
When you are done, your router DNS configuration may look like this:
Exceptions
The Exceptions section allows for the input of any domain (ie. site) you would like to blacklist or whitelist. These sites will be on a report within the dashboard for ease of visibility. You can update these settings at any time.
Bark also supports the use of wildcards at the front (*.youtube.com), middle (sites.google.com/*game*), or end (*.youtube.com/playlist=1234*) of a domain to fit your use-case.
How to add an exception to your list:
Enter the domain/site into the exception box.
Adjust to allowed or blocked depending on your needs and click Add.
Note: The exceptions field does not support IP addresses. You'll need to enter the actual domain into the exception box instead.
Categories
The Categories section will allow the whitelisting / blacklisting of whole categories. This is pulled from our database that houses countless sites that are associated to these categories and is updated regularly.
Bark groups websites into the categories shown below. Toggle each category to the appropriate setting for your use-case.
How do I know it's working?
When the filter starts processing web browsing activity for your students, it will display the activity on the web filter reports on the super admin's dashboard:
How to remove the DNS Filter
Log in to your router configuration.
To log in and configure your router, you open it up in your web browser. If you don't know the IP address for your router, it is typically one of the following:
http://192.168.0.1
http://192.168.1.1
http://192.168.10.1
💡 If you have forgotten your router's username and/or password, the most common username is "admin" and the password is either blank, "admin," or "password."Look for Primary DNS and Secondary DNS in the router's DNS server settings. It might look like this:
Remove the DNS server addresses displayed in your Bark DNS Filter page from the router configuration.