I did that, but my router doesn't offer a documented API (or even a ssh access) that I can use to reprogram DNS blocks dynamically. I wanted to stop YouTube only during homework hours, so enabling/disabling it a few times per day quickly became tiresome.
Your router almost certainly lets you assign a DNS instead of using whatever your ISP sends down so you set it to an internal device running your DNS.
Your DNS mostly passes lookup requests but during homework time, when there's a request for the ip for "www.youtube.com" it returns the ip of your choice instead of the actual one. The domain's TTL is 5 minutes.
Or don't, technical solutions to social problems are of limited value.
I think dnsmasq plus a cron on a server of your choice will do this pretty easily. With an LLM you could set this up in less than 15 minutes if you already have a server somewhere (even one in the home).
In this case, I don't have a server I can conveniently use as DNS. Plus I wanted to also control the launching of some binaries, so that would considerably complicate the architecture.
Yes, my kid has ADHD. The browser add-on does the job at slowing down the impulse of going to YouTube (and a few online gaming sites) during homework hours.
I've deployed the same one for me, but setup for Reddit during work hours.
Both of us know how to get around the add-on. It's not particularly hard. But since Firefox is the primary browser for both of us, it does the trick.
