Filtering Application Network Traffic

Why Do I Need to Exclude Specific Applications from Filtering?

Out of the box, HomeGuard is configured to deeply filter all internet traffic across all web browsers and locally running applications, including online games. If HomeGuard detects any flagged keyword in the incoming data stream, it will instantly terminate the connection to prevent the display of inappropriate content.

Because of this aggressive system-level filtering, sometimes the network traffic from an otherwise harmless game or application (like Roblox) can inadvertently trip a keyword filter, causing the game to disconnect or fail to load properly.

Note: Excluding an application from Internet Content Filtering is entirely different from applying Application Time Restrictions. You can still limit the total hours a user can play a game, even if its network traffic is excluded from the deep content scanner.

Exclude Applications in HomeGuard Regular Edition

In the standard edition of HomeGuard, popular applications that frequently experience false positives (like Roblox) may already be added to the exclusion list by default.

To verify or add new applications manually, navigate to the Internet Settings page within the main configuration section. Simply add the application's executable name to the "Applications to Exclude From Filtering" list.

Interface showing how to add or remove applications from the HomeGuard exclusion list

Adding an application to the active exclusion list.

Exclude Applications in HomeGuard Professional

The Professional version of HomeGuard automatically enforces filtering on all network traffic. To exclude a specific program:

1. Open "Monitoring Settings".
2. Navigate to "Program Exclusions" located under the "Internet" tab.
3. Add the application's target name (e.g., "Roblox") to the list.

This broad exclusion rule tells HomeGuard to ignore any executable containing that specific word in its name or file path. For stricter environments, you can define the exact file path (e.g., specifying the exact folder in Program Files or pointing directly to a specific .exe file).

Excluding an application from web filtering using HomeGuard Professional settings

Setting up a precise exclusion rule in HomeGuard Pro.