How do you block websites with a router? I blocked the short video app but still scrolled; the level of blocking the five routes is completely different

At the end of last month,

checked my phone's screen time—an average of two hours and forty-seven minutes per day, with the majority spent on short videos. I've tried deleting apps three times, and the app store can download it in thirty seconds. This time, I decided to cut off the router—after all, all the devices in the home had to run through it.

ended up losing the first battle. After adding the official Douyin domain to the blacklist, the web version on the computer was indeed white, but the app on the phone didn't budge at all, and the videos kept coming one after another. After a week of trying all five options, I finally understood: blocking websites is blocked at different 'levels,' and the effect is far from . This article explains all these roads and pitfalls in one go.

first distinguish: website, domain name, and app are not the same thing

many people think the same way I initially think: blocking a website = blocking the URL. Actually, the app on your phone doesn't even browsing the "website." When the browser enters a website address or clicks a link, this is called webpage behavior. If you block it, the webpage won't open. Apps like Douyin and Honor of Kings connect directly to servers, running a bunch of interfaces, domain names, and content distribution nodes, and browser filters can't even reach them.

So first think carefully about which type you want to block: if your child is playing web games in a browser, just block the URL; Kids clinging to apps and refusing to let go are blocking domain databases; If you want to cut both the app and the webpage, you have to force a time slot cut. The level was wrong, and the rules were all for free—I'm a typical example, feeling quite proud when I blocked the website the first night.

first option: the router's built-in website filtering is far from the backend of the five providers

all routers have this feature in the backend, but the names and hidden locations vary widely. I compiled the paths I saved from home and neighbors into a table:

My main router is Xiaomi AX3000T, and I follow the same path children's internet control in the Mijia app: in the website type block, I ticked 'Video,' and a large number of short video domains got blocked. Each has different interface details but the same logic: either you manually name the domain, or it uses a category database to block entire categories for you. Manual data is highly accurate but can't be tracked endlessly; the classification database is worry-free but can cause slips or accidental damage—more on that later.

Mercury's 'behavior management' and Tengda's website restrictions, I've previously written about the complete settings for Mercury and Tenda's grouping gameplay separately. I won't repeat them here—feel free to check them out if you're interested.

Why does the app still scan after blocking the domain

this is the section I most want to write. After losing the first battle, I searched for "Douyin server domain name," and the list I found was shocking: besides the main domain, there was a string of interface domains and content distribution nodes, and the short video content didn't even follow the official website's domain. I blacklisted every domain name on the list, and the app was finally ruined—it could be opened, but not a single video would play, and the cover was all black.

was happy for three days, and on the fourth day, my dad came to see me: 'I can't open Toutiao, can't read the news.' I only realized after looking it up that Toutiao and Short Video are products from the same company, with the same interface and domain name, and the generic domains on the list have implicated Toutiao. Let's give Toutiao a separate release. With so many domains allowed through, short videos come back to life—a two-way blockage.

this is the fatal flaw of manually blocking domain names: you're blocking a string of a company's domain name, not the "short video" issue. After every app update, you have to re-update the node and start over. So manual blacklists are suitable for blocking independent small websites (a certain web game site, a certain forum). To type them, you have to rely on the following paths.

Second Option: DNS filtering and switching to a data management device across the entire network

router has a subtle setting called DNS, which handles the process of translating website addresses into server addresses. public DNS have some of you heard of it, like Alibaba's 223.5.5.5, but it only translates and doesn't filter. There is a special type of "Home Protection DNS" that translates and simultaneously disconnects adult websites and some gambling and phishing sites—if it can't be parsed, the webpage naturally won't open.

the great thing is that you change it on the router once, and all family devices take effect together—TV, tablet, and guest phones—all counted, without needing to set up each device individually. How to change the path I wrote about Xiaomi router DNS ; other brands are pretty much the same, all in the internet settings section.

should be said upfront. I tried switching DNS to AdGuard Home (94.140.14.15). Adult content was indeed blocked cleanly, but its servers were overseas, and domestic direct connection latency was high. Opening a new website for the first time felt like a beat slow, and packet loss even occurred in some regions. My approach is to keep it to block adult content, which is a necessity, and it doesn't care about domestic apps like short videos—the app has long set the DNS in its own mind and doesn't even ask about the router. If you really want to do fine filtering at the DNS layer, you need to flash OpenWrt and install AdGuard Home on the router. That's a huge undertaking, and the entry point is on the of the flashing route. Beginners shouldn't touch it lightly.

can't block them and just time them out: Content, time slots, and terminals all three layers are launched together

after trying it out, I admitted: content filtering is never 100%, and apps always find a way out. What really controlled me was the combination punch, each of the three layers controlling a segment:

the first layer is content. The category database can block 70-80%, and the rest that slips through can be slowly supplemented by whitelists and blacklists. The second layer is time slots—if you turn off WiFi at the right moment, no matter how lively the content is, you can't enjoy it. My router is set to automatically cut off at 11:30 PM. I copied the WiFi timer switch article for my night-long nights. Staying up late is harder than any filter. There's a hidden trap in the time period rules: when the router loses power, the system time resets to zero, and the rules get messed up. I wrote about this in my on time synchronization. After setting the time period, always check if the router's current time is correct.

third layer is at the terminal. The phone's built-in screen usage time and app limits seem easy to bypass (just change accounts and they're gone), but when combined with the router, they become tight: the home network cuts off the app's way to survive, and the phone's limit controls the data usage. There's also an external helper for managing the kids. For telecom broadband, the Xiaoyi Butler app has website ratings for safe internet access, and the cloud-based Lighting Cat executes it. I wrote about the full setup process in the of the Light Cat Parent Control section.

to be fair: if your child uses mobile data and the router can't do anything, that's a negotiation issue, not something technology can solve. What I can do is raise the bar for this road at home and make the cost of watching more expensive—for me, my average daily short video time dropped from 2 hours and 47 minutes to about 40 minutes this month, relying on the 11:30 offline disconnection plus app limits, so content filtering is just an auxiliary feature.

Taking the Role: Discipline the kids, discipline yourself, manage the tenant—which one to copy

Here's the

order: first decide whether to block web pages or apps, then get to work—block web pages, just call out the router's blacklist; Block apps, first run the category database for a week to check for accidental damage, then decide whether to use DNS and time slots; If the rule doesn't work, check the router's system time first, then check the master switch. Don't be like me—on the very first night, I filled the blacklist, and in the end, my dad's news was blocked all at once.