Learn me: Mesh routers with parental controls with no subscription

Greetings hive.

I read the Wirecutter reviews and bought this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B3QNN9P?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 TP-link Deco S4

The one satellite had issues. Every device trying to connect to it was worse than trying to connect to the main unit downstairs. I returned it and bought the same model but with three total devices, just to be sure. This one seems to work properly, was priced well enough, and has good speeds, and easy to use parental controls (though there doesn't seem to be a "default" profile for everyone new if clever kids change their MAC address), but once or twice a day it will just drop everything for no reason and pick it back up again, and it's annoying everyone.

This one looks promising, but $$$ https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/WRX560

What am I missing? Maybe just a simple "please don't disconnect my home from the internet every few hours for fun" checkbox?

I don't know if AmpliFi has parental controls, you'll have to look into that on your own. 

But we've had zero problems with ours for 5+ years. Outside the occasionaly unplug everything and let it reset every 6-8 months. 

First thought was OpenWRT or DD-WRT.

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/firewall/fw3_configurations/fw3_parent_controls

z31maniac said:

I don't know if AmpliFi has parental controls, you'll have to look into that on your own. 

But we've had zero problems with ours for 5+ years. Outside the occasionaly unplug everything and let it reset every 6-8 months. 

That looks really attractive but it lacks the "block [] site" feature though it has blocking the device and bedtime features.

GameboyRMH said:

First thought was OpenWRT or DD-WRT.

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/firewall/fw3_configurations/fw3_parent_controls

You're pretty far over my head. If a non car person asked about oil consumption and you sent them a whitepaper on piston ring tension you'd be about where I am with that link.

DD-WRT is more noob-friendly and their guide is a bit more practical:

https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Parental_control

To get a DD-WRT router you'll have to buy a compatible model and reflash it with DD-WRT firmware.

That's still pretty far over my head.

Also the new setup still drops out from time to time.

Any new thoughts?

tuna55 said:

That's still pretty far over my head.

 

Also the new setup still drops out from time to time.

 

Any new thoughts?

 

 

One of the Raspberry Pi setups guys have talked about on here in addition to the mesh router? That might be more setup work than you're wanting though. 

Synology stuff is as close to good and robust as you are gonna find.  Thats my vote.  

I'm using this one. 

TP-Link Deco Mesh WiFi System(Deco M5)

I don't know about the controls but it has been stable for as long as I've owned it. (2.5 years)

I use the Netgear Orbi system for my home internet, works really well for general usage and the coverage is pretty nice. I have 2 main towers and a single repeater. I don't use the parental controls but looking at their site specs it has everything you need, and no subscription. 

I have the Netgear Orbi mesh setup with Circle (subscription).  Honestly, I'm cheap but I don't mind paying the money for the circle subscription.  Compared to Apple's ScreenTime, it is intuitive, easy-to-use, the reward concept works very well, and to me it's well worth the $5 or $6 I pay each month.  Not suggesting it's the right fit for you, but I'd say it's worth examining if ease of use is important.

Alright, stay tuned, I got another modem from spectrum and we will see if that cleans up the reliability before I jump at one of these. 

New question: How do I tell if the intermittent nature is from the modem or from the incoming cable or from the router?

Run a ping test to the router's IP address. If it drops, the problem is at the router, if it doesn't, it's the incoming cable or modem. If the router is at 192.168.1.1, to run a continuous ping test would be "ping -t 192.168.1.1" in the Windows command line.

Edit: Since the path is usually incoming data cable --> modem --> router --> PC, you should really ping your router (or whatever the closest device is) first to narrow it down.

Edit2: fixed instructions

In reply to GameboyRMH :

But if I am not pinging it when it is having an issue, I won't see it, right?

If you're not running the ping test while the issue is happening you won't be able to pin down where the fault is. You might want to leave continuous ping tests running to multiple devices between the PC and the Internet, like the router and the modem and even the first hop outside your network for example.

GameboyRMH said:

If you're not running the ping test while the issue is happening you won't be able to pin down where the fault is. You might want to leave continuous ping tests running to multiple devices between the PC and the Internet, like the router and the modem and even the first hop outside your network for example.

There's like zero chance of that happening. This would be during the day when I'm not even home, and unless I'm mistaken, the ping test to the router would also fail during these events even if it is the router, because everything in my home is connected wirelessly other than the TV. 

The best answer I have is to leave a screensaver type YouTube video on all day to see if it drops out when the rest of the internet dies. 

You can leave the ping tests running unattended, and then at the end of the day stop them with Ctrl-C and compare packet drop rates, that should give you some idea of where the issue is.

There is also uptime monitoring/NOC software that can save detailed logs of when packets dropped to different hosts - most are server-based though and would be massive overkill for this little test...the freeware version of Emco Ping Monitor looks pretty easy to use, runs as a simple Windows app and can do up to 5 hosts.

GameboyRMH said:

You can leave the ping tests running unattended, and then at the end of the day stop them with Ctrl-C and compare packet drop rates, that should give you some idea of where the issue is.

There is also uptime monitoring/NOC software that can save detailed logs of when packets dropped to different hosts - most are server-based though and would be massive overkill for this little test...the freeware version of Emco Ping Monitor looks pretty easy to use, runs as a simple Windows app and can do up to 5 hosts.

You missed the bit where I don't have anything connected to the modem directly other than the TV.

I'm not even sure I have a device in my home which has an ethernet port other than the lone TV.

Everything being on wireless via the router other than the TV would just mean you couldn't differentiate a wifi dropout from a wider problem on the router, running the ping tests would certainly still be worth a try and could tell you if the modem or your Internet connection is the issue. If the TV runs Android it should be possible to install a terminal app so that you can run a ping test from it.

I'll stick with my much less involved test.
 

Two episodes today. 

#1, two laptops were disconnected and were not seen on the app as connected to anything. The rest of the house unaffected.

#2, the entire wifi dropped out, a yellow light, then a red light, was flashing on the unit, and the TV was unaffected.

So I am again mesh shopping.

So a Zenwifi XD5 seems to have done the "stability" thing, but the parental controls are primitive.

How do I use Open DNS (explain like I am seven years old with steps)?

They have instructions here that are pretty straightforward, it involves logging into the router's admin page (accessed by typing the router's LAN address into the browser's address bar) and changing the router's DNS server settings. Do note that this is a very basic and easily defeatable form of blocking:

https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/228006487-FamilyShield-Router-Configuration-Instructions

GameboyRMH said:

They have instructions here that are pretty straightforward, it involves logging into the router's admin page (accessed by typing the router's LAN address into the browser's address bar) and changing the router's DNS server settings. Do note that this is a very basic and easily defeatable form of blocking:

https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/228006487-FamilyShield-Router-Configuration-Instructions

I understand I cannot create a system which is unbreakable. I am merely trying to put something in place in case of accidents of brief moments of temptations for my kids or myself. I want to be able to say "block this website for this kid" and "all new MAC addresses go into this bucket of control" and "log what everyone is clicking on and visiting", which were all (other than the default for new MAC addresses) with the TP link despite its instability, and with the Disney Circle, despite its glacial pace.