- Guardian Mesh WiFi Router and Parental Control System with Content Filters and Advanced Cyber Security

Purchased this and 3 Guardians to replace a Verizon Fies G3100 and Apple Airport-based wireless network. (Yes, I could have kept the Airport Express setup as non-mesh access points but was worried about compatibility problems, and was time to move on). Provider is Verizon Fios Gigabit. Look, I was of the "just teach your kids/let them teach themselves screen limits, it's part of being a parent". LOL. With COVID, kids home with no one and/or a sitter instead of a parent, and having a kid who considers 24 hours to be a reasonable upper limit of screen time perday" mindset, this was NOT working. Just need some basic structural rules in place besides haranguing, pleading, and threatening. Most of this review is going to be about the parental controls/app, but some basics on the setup: Some people report setup issues. I had no problem, but it took a long time by the clock (as each unit had to connect, update its firmware, etc). I saw no reason to rush this. Best way to do setup, as though there *are* videos on the web they are sometimes out of date: start with the Gryphon app. It will ask you to scan the QR code on the base unit, will then tell you what to plug in or power up and not, then proceed. Once that is up, in the app: network/add mesh repeater, and continue for each Guardian. They have switched to wired pairing--you use a cable--for the initial setup, which I think is wise, then you move the mesh repeater to its final position afterwards. Second step: identify the items (name them) and assign to a user. Sometimes you can tell the manufacturer, but often it's just a MAC address so you may spend some time staring at the labels on devices (MAC addresses almost always on a label or on an internal menu). to narrow it, you can tell how the item is connected to the network though (which repeater, or if hard-wired). Took a while to map out our 30 devices (computers, then thermostats, sprinkler, a scale (!)....) Overall network performance is quite good, nearly as good as Fios' native G3100. [Full disclaimer: my mesh repeaters are hardwired, aka "wired backhaul", which frees up some of the radio issues]. I get 250-500 MBps by Ookla speedtest when a device is connected by 5GHz, about 80-120 Mbps when connected on 2.5GHz, and 850/300 wired just now. Varies somewhat. Haven't load-tested very much, or tweaked, could probably be better. No connectivity issues *except* when I tinker with certain settings in the app--I suspect that the router interrupts service briefly when it saves settings--various cries from around the house when I do so. In terms of the app: I ditched the Verizon G3100 because of the unpleasant discovery that it only allowed one rule per device: that is, one on/off time per day. No afternoon + bedtime. Compared to that, Gryphon is absolutely wonderful. I have not seen most of the issues described by others, so I assume they have been fixed in firmware or app updates. I would praise the following: --Devices are assigned to a user, and you control user access as a group. So, if I suspend access, it ends access for all the devices at once. (More on devices that use cellular later). --Thermostats, printers, etc. have no user, so don't get accidentally suspended (though as some have noted you can give them a user group if you want extra control). --There are pre-assigned categories of filtering based on the age group that you assign to the user. For example, assigning toddler I think blocks everything, but you can approve individual websites (done by attempting them, finding them in the "blocked" list and saying "allow"). Assigning Middle School allows website monitoring but does not autoblock everything, but allows screen time restrictions (see below), app-use restrictions, and enforces google safesearch/youtube comment block, and does not allow VPNs. "Adult" lets you do everything and does not track websites. You have some control within each re. turning things on and off relative to those defaults. --Screen time: Very, very good. Not perfect, but by far the best. For each user, you can set 3 sections of time: BEDTIME (which is suspended internet), SUSPEND (which seems to be the same), and HOMEWORK which allows internet use but blocks certain categories/apps (we don't have Facebook, but could block it then; or Youtube; etc). You can set this for multiple days of the week at once, but also can vary it by day of week. So I can set BEDTIME for Sat/Sun in one step, and BEDTIME for Mon-Fri in a second step. Done. (No copy from user to user I think though). --Screen time 2: there is also a total screen time per day limit, also changeable/fixable by day. I don't know how this works, but there seems to be some sort of "rescue request" that can be sent and/or approved if the user runs out of screen time and wants to ask for more. --Simple internal safeguards: Devices are "known" by their MAC address. Savvy users will know how to spoof the MAC address and pretend to be a new device, but there is a setting to block internet access for new devices until you approve, preventing this. [You get pinged that someone has tried, so you can for example let the babysitter have access if you gave her the password but forgot to do this before you left]. Other safeguards: VPNs can get around the website filters, but there is a setting to block VPN use for a given user. --Using cellular: Another quick workaround is to use cellular to escape the router. However, there is a HomeBound app which institutes a VPN on the mobile device, which enforces the same restrictions as if you are the home network. I have tried this (iPhones only) and it works (though we will see if my kids can defeat it). Unlike what some wrote, it is *not* (at least on iOS) dependent on having the app running on the target phone, closing the app makes no difference. You need to block "deleting apps" in ScreenTime as deleting the app will reportedly defeat it. Important: texts and phone calls still work, even if the service is in the "suspended" state at home/through HomeBound. This is good--don't want to deactivate the phone. I don't know about Google Maps (maybe would function as if offline). Need to deactivate for a few days while your kid is visiting Grandma? You can turn this entire Homebound control on and off from the Gryphon app at the user level, no need to uninstall/reinstall. Nice additional options: --There is a "suspend" quick option for all users or individual users, and you can set it to suspend immediately or in 5 or 15 minutes. Dinner in 5 minute kids! I mean it! -You can turn off the screen time limits above for a given user for a day, then they will restart again normally the next day. I imagine this is: kid home sick, or it's a holiday, no need to dismantle your entire elaborate screen time program and rebuild it. No need to remember to turn it back on. --Works with OpenDNS. One thing I didn't see: Some report that users are able to ask for website such-and-such to be allowed, or to send a list of websites to be allowed, or getting some kind of splash screen saying how to ask for access. Got none of this yet--just the internet works, or it doesn't, for a given site. I'll look for this. Overall--love it. Not perfect. Much better than anything else I've tried.

Let me first state that we've had this router for about 8 months now, and it's certainly one of the better routers that I've had. Some of its best features are its range, its security features, its user profiles, and its parental controls. I keep it in the basement laundry room, which is about the center of our split-level house, both horizontally and vertically. I've had no problem getting connections anywhere inside the house, and I do pretty well with most of the yard outside of the house. I do very much appreciate that the developers of this router have made security a first-class citizen, and it frees me from being overly concerned about such things. Few of us really have the time or the knowledge (even those of us that do IT-type work) to tackle such chores, and who wants to put up with that drudgery anyway? ok! maybe some of us! But it does give me some sense of safety, especially when I know that not everyone using the internet is super-savvy about such things. It's very convenient to be able to control the router from the phone (or tablet), but the inability to do the same from a web interface can sometimes feel limiting; especially, when you're first setting things up, and you have to spend time with virtual keyboards. The app previously allowed only one person to administer the router. Logging into the app on another mobile device would cause the initial admin device to logout. Fortunately, this has been changed so that a secondary admin can be defined. This allows my wife to take care of stuff if I'm away or busy with other things. With the hardware seeming quite capable, there are some things with the software where I'd like to see improvements. I know some of these have been recognized by the company, and some changes have been promised. I'm still waiting for many of them. Here are my gripes: * Clearing many notifications in the mobile app can be a pain. Sometimes, it would be nice to be able to see the content of the notification without having to go into the app, drill into it, and click a button to clear it. Most of these are "Malware Detected" warnings. These almost always seem to be triggered by a fetch of a blacklisted URL when my kids are playing games and visiting game sites. Most are mysterious in the sense that we don't usually find them in the list of sites (in the app) visited by the user (children only). The notification also doesn't display the URL, so it's hard to analyze anything about them -- I suspect they are probably advertising/tracking links or images that are not necessarily from the sites being directly visited. It would be nice if the notifications were handled in a smarter way (machine learning FTW!) or maybe just better categorized as incidental and either ignored or grouped for easier dismissal. * As mentioned above, the app saves a list of the sites visited by child users. Only the hostname is saved with an image of the home web page and a timestamp. That's ok, but it would be nice to be able to review all and entire URLs visited. Maybe too much info? Dunno. Some sites have a lot more places to explore, and having the option of viewing it gives power to the user. * The option to save browsing history is present for child user profiles, but for some reason the same option is not permitted to adult or guest users. I can only guess that this was done for privacy reasons, but my personal opinion is that I should be allowed to see internet usage within my household. I guess you can control this by selecting the appropriate age-group profile to use. * I *wish* that parental controls had finer-grained day/time control, and maybe even the ability to create custom-named schedules and one-off changes to them. As it is, there are two schedules: one for bedtime and one for homework. Schedules can be turned off or on for each day have have only one start time and one end time to apply to all of them. The coarse handling of scheduling makes it inconvenient when you want to use different times for the weekend or if you want to permit multiple periods during the day. My older TP-Link router had its granularity at the hour-level, and it allowed me to freely schedule many usage periods throughout the week (it's weakness was that it couldn't create independent schedules for different users like the Gryphon can). The perfect scheduler would be similar to the one that I get in modern calendaring apps where I can click on a calendar grid cell, drag it around, lengthen or shorten it to adjust the permissible "online" period and even click on the online block to customize it further. * Being able to add to the "Apps Control" list for user profiles would be a bonus. I'm not sure what it would take. The current list is ok and affords some control within the bedtime and homework schedules. There are probably other nice-to-haves that I've thought of while owning the Gryphon router. Overall, I think I'd still pick this router over many of the others, but with its age and its price still in the premium range, I'd expect less expensive similar functionality from competitors growing more common.

I bought this router four months ago for better parental controls and have been very happy with it. One router is enough to cover my 1600-foot bungalow up to the end of my driveway and backyard, no problem. Parental controls are much easier to customize than on my old D-Link. Also, recently my internet slowed down after a power outage. After determining that the problem was with the Gryphon, I got on the chat with them on their website and they solved my problem with a firmware update within 15 minutes. Great customer service!

Purchased this router about a month ago. The router was easy to connect and easy to use. I added the same password as my old wi-fi and all devices just connected to it seamlessly. I only had to identify them and assign to users. The app works great. The filtering of google search and youtube search also works very well. This is exactly what I needed to manage internet connection for the kids. Highly recommend to everyone. The strength of the connection is overall better than my previous router and the wifi modem. Although I expected a slightly better connection, I guess my thick walls and non-central location of the router affect it. I guess it all depends on your setup. A central location would give better coverage, but it is impossible in my case. I may have to buy the second unit eventually, but for now, I connected my old D-link wi-fi extender to get the full coverage of the remote corners of the house (about 150sqm). Overall - I do recommend this unit to others. It is easy to use and it does what it supposed to do - protect your kids and your house online while allowing you to stay in charge of the family.

It is easy to use and does as advertised

Wrong power supply for Australia. Set up help is too simplified - doesn't explain clearly the best set up to piggy back on your existing Wifi router - I had to deduce that from some hints. Associated App could be improved But actually does the Parental Control well.

Excellent router for parenting control. However the, plug provided did not work in the UAE and had to be returned