Looking for Help: Mesh network upgrade - wired backhaul + parental controls

bananaman · 20 Dec 2022 at 16:50

Hi,

looking for some help on an upgrade to my current amplifi HD setup (two routers with ethernet backhaul + one extender). my setup is a bit annoying where I have one router at the front bottom of the house and one at the top back as the middle of the house seems to be made of lead...

my daughter is now getting her first phone so looking for a replacement with decent range and strong parental controls which the amplifi severely lacks. From my research I narrowed it down to a two pack of: ASUS XT9, ASUS XT12 or Synology 6600ax... but I just can't decide if it is worth going above and beyond the ASUS XT9, although the additional range of the XT12 seems valuable... or does anyone else have any experience of others with strong parental controls (ideally without subscription)

I have Virgin M500 internet...

Any help much appreciated!!

WJA96 · 21 Dec 2022 at 06:10

For this Untangle running on a Celeron appliance is pretty much as good as it gets but it’s £40 per year.

Im certain there will be something free you can run on a Raspberry Pi.

Armageus · 21 Dec 2022 at 07:06

What about dns level blocking?

Setup Guide | OpenDNS

Thanks for choosing OpenDNS! To get started, you’ll need to set up one or more of your devices to use OpenDNS’s DNS nameservers. For instructions on how to do this, choose your device type from one of the categories below.

www.opendns.com

Semple · 21 Dec 2022 at 07:14

Adguard has a number of parental control features.

You can also specifically block the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.

Remember this is only a block at home functionality. If she has a phone with data roaming and doesn't use the WiFi then it'll bypass Adguard.

bananaman · 21 Dec 2022 at 09:31

Thanks for the input. Seems like I need to do some more reading. Will have a look at the DNS approach. I need to keep it somewhat simple so my non-techy wife can also manage it to some extent…

The phone is already setup on the Apple family setup so a fair amount of control there and also with on device Adblock / site blocking too…