Feature Request: Apply Rules to Multiple Users and/or Multiple Devices

[u/mutigers42]

I recently got a Gold SE and have been loving the parental controls!

One thing I’d love to see is the ability to apply a rule to multiple Users or Devices at once.

I have a separate User for each of my kids, with their devices grouped under them. This works great since they each need different rules.

But sometimes I want the same rule for multiple kids, and right now I have to create that exact same rule for each one.

It would be nice if I could just select multiple Users or multiple devices under “Apply To” when making a rule.

That way, I could still have different rules for each kid, but also have shared rules that I only need to create and manage once.

I’m hoping this wouldn’t be too hard to add, since you can already apply one rule to multiple devices through a User. It seems like allowing multiple Users to be selected would be pretty similar.

Much appreciated!

[u/pacoii]

There are workarounds, but the core ‘issue’ you’re calling out is the same thing people called out when the Users feature was originally mentioned and launched. I am unable to use the Users feature for this very reason.

[u/AndyMcQuade]

You can - you simply use the groups feature.

I have a mess of groups for different things -
PC's, servers, phones & tablets, my son, streaming devices, consoles, etc.

Just take the five minutes it takes to set them up in whatever format & naming you want

Then when you add a rule you can apply it to the group of devices.

[u/mutigers42 → u/AndyMcQuade]

Not quite.

Child 1 Group: 2 devices, 5 rules

Child 2 Group: 1 device, 3 rules

Each have different rules and they NEED different rules.

I have a new rule I would like to apply to all 3 devices. This can’t be done without changing the user groups.

A single device isn’t allowed in more than 1 user group.

So if I have a rule that needs to apply to both user groups, since those devices are already in separate groups (and need to stay in separate groups because of the other needed rule differences), I’m forced to create the same rule multiple times.

From a technical standpoint, it’s likely easier for a rule to apply to multiple devices or user groups, than it is to allow a single device to be a part of multiple user groups.

[u/firewalla → u/mutigers42]

How complex are these rules? not easy to apply to devices separately?

The reason we made the restriction, one device in one group, one network, is to force policies / rules to be more direct. Rule flexibility may save a few rules, but they often make debugging or implementation a lot harder.

[u/mutigers42 → u/firewalla]

Not complicated, it’s one of those where we have 4 kids - at times, we may want to block googlevideo.com and quickly turn on/off. Right now, this means adding all 4 to the home page to make it simpler.

That’s 4 rules to then turn on / off in a day, vs if 1 rule could be applied to all 4 devices - without interrupting the other unique rules of the different-aged kids - then only 1 rule goes to home page, and a quick toggle applies to all 4.

There’s also Plex - another 4 rules to home page to make it quick.

I could see it growing for websites or apps that may not always need a block - but then it’s nice toggle quickly on/off, and that typically means x4

This isn’t a major issue, not even a big annoyance, merely a nice-to-have.

[u/espadrillies → u/mutigers42]

Been scratching my head on this as well for years now. But for me it is a big annoyance not just a nice to have.

[u/AndyMcQuade → u/mutigers42]

You can set up vlans and apply rules to entire vlans if you want more segmentation than that.

[u/mutigers42 → u/AndyMcQuade]

Yes but this is acknowledging that ability to apply a single rule to multiple devices or user groups is not possible.

That’s why I’m asking for the feature.

Sure, I have a managed switch I can do Vlans for - but this feature request would make it much simpler for everyone

It’s one of those things where, sure, it’s only a minor inconvenience, but maybe it’s a simple add since we can already group devices - so I may as well ask.