Summary
Top Rated Routers for Parental Control.. The most effective parental control routers make it simple to assist your children in maintaining their safety on any device that is linked to the Wi-Fi network in your house.
Top Rated Routers for Parental Control
An alternative to depending on the security settings of each and every device in your home is to make use of routers that come equipped with parental control software already installed. After that, you will be able to have control over everything that your family sees by applying rules to all of the devices that are connected to your home network.
The following is a list of the top parental control routers that we have discovered on the market.
Best Overall
Synology RT2600ac
An outstanding wireless range for households of ordinary size is provided by the feature-packed Synology RT2600ac, which also has a significant number of security measures. According to the findings of our product tester, “This router is worth a look if you want something that is easy to set up but hides a lot of hidden potential under the hood.” You don’t need to pay for a subscription to utilize the parental control tools that are available via an app since they are completely free to use.
Because the RT2600ac is a dual-band Wi-Fi router, it allows your family to connect to both wireless channels, which eliminates the possibility of experiencing connection issues even if you have a combination of older and more recent electronic devices in your house. Because of this technology, your devices are able to communicate their position to your network, which enables your router to deliver signals that are both quicker and more direct for activities like as gaming, video chatting, and watching 4K content on Netflix.
The RT2600ac, like the majority of routers, comes with a mobile application as well as a website that can be used to configure and manage the router. Managing parental controls is made simple with the online dashboard, which displays all of the available settings in tiles and is straightforward to use.
To begin, you need create unique accounts for each of your children. These profiles will allow you to plan online hours, establish time restrictions, and ban harmful information based on broad internet categories or particular websites. A separate set of filtering rules may be established for your guest Wi-Fi network in addition to the normal filtering rules that can be applied to your complete home network.
Standard/Speed: AC2600 | Bands: Dual-band | MU-MIMO: Yes | Beamforming: Yes | Wired Ports: 5 | Wireless Specifications: 802.11ac | Security: WPA2 | Guest Wi-Fi Secure Access | Standard/Speed: AC2600
Best Value
TP-Link Archer AX50 Wi-Fi 6 Router
If you have a house that is not very large and are interested in upgrading your router, the TP-Link Archer AX50 provides an amazing level of wireless performance. 802.11ax, often known as Wi-Fi 6, is the most recent wireless technology that is included in this product. If you are someone who enjoys keeping up with the most recent technological developments, this router provides you with reliable internet connectivity as well as advanced parental controls at a price that is more reasonable than that of its rivals.
With the purchase of the AX50, you will get a free lifetime membership to the HomeCare parental controls platform. You are able to establish profiles for various members of your family using HomeCare. You can also attach devices to each profile, as well as set filters and time limitations based on the users or devices.
For instance, you might prevent your children from using iPads to access the internet in the evenings, but you could allow them to use the computer in the family room to do their schoolwork. The websites that fall under each category are monitored by HomeCare, and you have the ability to restrict websites depending on their kind and age group.
Additionally, HomeCare provides antivirus protection to safeguard your home network from malicious software, in addition to parental controls available. In spite of the fact that you may configure this router by logging in to it using a web browser, you will be required to download the TP-Link Tether app in order to handle the different HomeCare functions.
Standard/Speed: AX3000 | Bands: Dual-band | MU-MIMO: Yes | Beamforming: Yes | Wired Ports: 5 | Wireless Specifications: 802.11ax | Security: HomeCare, WPA3, Guest Wi-Fi Secure Access | Standard/Speed: AX3000
Best Mesh
Netgear Orbi Home Wi-Fi System
You could be interested in a mesh Wi-Fi system if you require robust Wi-Fi coverage across a big household. This kind of system creates a network in your home by using numerous routers to form a network between them. A space that is 5,000 square feet in size may be covered by the Netgear Orbi.
In addition to providing broadband Wi-Fi across the whole home, the Orbi also offers a number of comprehensive parental control options. These settings can be managed using an application known as My Time, which enables you to create profiles for each kid, simply suspend and resume their connection, and establish guidelines for when they should go to bed.
There are a number of more complex controls available, such as the ability to establish timetables and time limitations for any online activity, as well as a history of use, but you should be aware that these controls cost a monthly membership.
The Netgear Orbi is also a tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system, which means that it transmits three distinct signals in order to ensure that all of your electronic devices remain connected to the internet without any interruptions. Earlier routers only employ a single band, which might result in congestion. Dual-band routers, on the other hand, offer an additional channel, which eliminates the possibility of a bottleneck.
Standard/Speed: AC2200 | Bands: Tri-band | MU-MIMO: Yes | Beamforming: Yes | Wired Ports: 4 | Wireless Specifications: 802.11ac | Security: NETGEAR Armor, WPA2, Guest Wi-Fi Secure Access | Standard/Speed: AC2200
Best for Smart Homes
Google Nest Wi-Fi
If you are searching for a Wi-Fi system that can cover your whole home and your family already utilizes Google gadgets that are equipped with Google Assistant for voice commands, then the Nest Wi-Fi from Google may be an excellent addition to your home given its capabilities.
The Google Nest Wi-Fi system is a mesh Wi-Fi system, which means that it comes with a single core router as well as smaller companion devices or access points that enable you to deploy them in various locations around your house. Through the use of these access points, your wireless network may be extended to cover even the most expansive residences. Not only does each access point provide an additional wifi coverage area of around 1,500 square feet, but it also has the capability to function as a Google Assistant smart speaker, enabling you to give voice instructions from any location inside your house.
When it is time for the children to go to bed or complete their schoolwork, you may say, “OK, Google, pause the kids’ Wi-Fi.” These voice commands are also compatible with parental controls, so you can use them to manage the children’s Wi-Fi. Setting up the parental controls in the Google Home app is likewise a simple process, particularly if you are already acquainted with the goods that Google offers.
The application guides you through the process of establishing a Wi-Fi network for your family, including the addition of devices belonging to your children, the restriction of material based on category, and the establishment of timetables for online activities.
The wireless specifications are as follows: 802.11ac; security is WPA3; standard/speed is AC2200; bands are dual-band; MU-MIMO is enabled; beamforming is enabled; and there are two wired ports.
How to Determine Which Parental Control Router Is Right for You?
Control of Content and Applications
In accordance with what the name suggests, content filtering is a function that gives your router the ability to prevent certain objects from getting through. As a result of the fact that everything that leaves your home network goes via your router, the router will intercept any attempt by a user on your network to go to a filtered address and will then prohibit access to that address.
Because it is not possible for you to identify each and every website that you want to ban, a decent parental control router will provide you the ability to restrict traffic based on categories. This is because new websites (and risks) are continuously appearing on the internet. Instead, the burden of responsibility is carried out by the maker of the router or by a third-party service provider, who is responsible for maintaining extensive lists of the websites that are classified into each category. You have the ability to check off boxes to enable access to sites and services that are suitable for children and educational purposes, or to limit access to sites and services that are more geared toward adults.
Using Dynamic Filtering
Some of the finest parental control routers also give the capability to dynamically block websites depending on what is really on them, despite the fact that practically all of them will allow you to restrict a website based on its address. Therefore, for instance, a website that has a great deal of visual information or language that is considered to be very explicit would be prohibited even if the domain URL is not included on the list.
In light of the fact that even the most effective parental control services are unable to keep up with the process of adding every new website to their lists as soon as it appears on the internet, dynamic filtering provides an additional layer of protection against websites that could have otherwise been overlooked.
Controls for the Screen Time
A decent parental control router should not only be concerned with the content that your children can access, but also with the time at which they can access it. Some of the more advanced parental control routers also include the capability to restrict the amount of time that your children are able to access a variety of websites and services, rather than only allowing you to establish a timetable.
There are a few key differences between putting parental control software on your children’s tablets or personal computers and using a parental control router.
The websites and services that your children are able to access from any device connected to your home network may be restricted by parental control routers. It is a simple method that allows you to prevent your children from accessing sensitive information without having to install parental control software on all of their electronic devices. Nevertheless, a parental control router will not enable you to monitor screen time on a device-by-device basis or choose which applications your children may download and use offline. Take into consideration the possibility of combining a parental control router with additional capabilities such as Digital Well-Being on Android devices or screen time for iPhones and iPads.
How do you prevent your children from evading the controls that you have taken over?
The parental controls that you configure on your router are only as secure as the password that you use to log in as the administrator. If you use cable internet, you may also need to lock your router. This is done to prevent a teenager from connecting directly to your cable modem and therefore circumventing any parental restrictions that you have put up. Last but not least, keep in mind that a parental control router will only protect your children’s activities that take place on your home Wi-Fi network. In order to exercise control over the content that your children may access via the cellular network, you will need to use additional means if they have smartphones.
How will my children develop as they become older?
In the event that you have children of varied ages or if you are interested in purchasing a solution that will grow with your children, you should consider something that not only gives a list of “kids” websites and applications but also provides age-appropriate filtering categories. Taking everything into consideration, there are several websites that could be completely OK for a teenager but that you would not want your four-year-old to visit.
