With the issues nowadays with Kids addicted to the internet and toxic websites/social medias….can you guys suggest a long range Wifi router (and mesh system as well) for best parental control setup but not super expensive that many families can afford to buy? I need something that I can setup to turn on/off (or cut the internet connection) at a certain times of day, block certain Websites/Apps and is advanced enough to stop users going through VPN (or fake IPs, third party site…) as well, and assign all those rules to specific device/s, and many other things possible. Many families I believe are playing cat and mouse with their children in terms of internet restrictions, including me. For example I block Snapchat on my router but somehow it won't block Snapchat App and kid can still go through third party site or VPN / fake MAC address….and back to Snapchat. I want to do much more than this but this is a simple example that I need an advanced router for this purpose. All suggestions welcome. Thank you.
Suggestion for Best Wi-Fi Router (Long Range Stand Alone and Mesh System) for Parental Control and Customisation
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even if the provider can block websites/Apps but that means all devices in the house will be blocked and that's not what I want because parent's devices can still need to have access to those websites.
I meant for VPN restrictions etc.
FWIW, not Pihole, for targeted and time blocking.
TP-link (TP Link Tether) can block websites by the web address/device.
For example I block Snapchat on my router but somehow it won't block Snapchat App and kid can still go through third party site or VPN / fake MAC address
How old is your kid? There is a balance between blocking and education, you can't block it for ever, kids find their way.
My kid is 15 and spends too much time on the screen. The only way to make him stop is to lock his iPad or take him outside.
I switched over to Google Nest WIFI to manage parental controls and it works really well for us - you can group devices and set daily schedules for WIFI access to each group. You can manually pause or unpause connections to each group of devices with a tap of a button.
If you have android devices this then layers really well with Google Family Link, where if you take the time to set up your kids google account as a child in your family unit you can then manage access for individual apps on their devices - either on or off or limit to a set amount of time per day. You can also view individual app usage by day.
Between Nest Wifi and Family link I am pretty sure you can whitelist or blacklist web sites or use pre-created filters, and if needed you can set it up so you have to approve any app installs.
Our kid is quite young so not tech savvy enough to find loop holes, but I'm sure YMMV depending on how tech savvy your kid is.
I heard good things about Google Family link but we use Apple devices in our family and we also use Apple Screentime which works OK but not advanced enough to control the kid's devices. I would like to block websites/APps from the root (which is the internet connection) so I need advanced routers to do this. Thanks
If your son is using a VPN to tunnel out of your network I don't think any firewall configuration on your router is going to be able to block specific websites or apps.A quick google seems to indicate DNS tinkering would work - seems particularly effective if you use custom firmware like ASUSWRT-MERLIN.Another option might be using a third party DNS like OpenDNS FamilyShield, which will block vpn as well.
So what's going to stop them switching over to 4 or 5G on their phone?
Feed them plenty of sugar and turn them into diabetics, so they go blind and less motivated to look at that kind of garbage.
It might take a while, but they'll thank you in the end.No they don’t have phones with 4G/5G. Only Ipad Wifi
You are better off setting parental controls on the devices themselves. Home network controls can be bypassed and are not very effective in general.
My Asus mesh system has very good controls and great range and performance
Best wi-fi router is very subjective and depends on allot of things.
There's no device that will magically prevent workarounds out of the box. Look in to pihole and/or contact your ISP and/or work with your kids til they trust your guidance.
At the very least all the knowledge they gain in this arms race can turn in to an IT career!