This type exclusive-access blocking can be a headache, Gary. I can’t imagine how it can work without you being bothered constantly. But if it works for you then it works. Almost all routers can do that by the way.

“Younger kids who don’t know how to use a search engine yet won’t do anything crazy online anyway”

That’s a mighty assumption in a world where a mistyped keyword in a search engine or an over aggressive advert on some free game websites can get your kids exposed to the really wrong stuff.

There’s no one offer impervious to attacks/bypass but it’s better to have more layers than throw one’s hands in the air.

So far my 6-8yo haven’t found out about using a VPN or changing their DNS (not that they could given the restrictions on the local machine)

Additionally Safe access makes it very easy to disable/change the restrictions if a parent needs to use the device.
For us we have 1 laptop per kid with Router based restrictions and on device as well. Neither have screentime on any other device including our phones/tablets.

We have several restriction templates such as 1 for school term where they can go to specific education sites and not the gaming ones, one for weekends, one for vacation, etc and of course it’s all locally controlled and the management can be done via the web interface or the app.

You can’t, Ryan. More here.

how do you keep the device from overriding the router configured dns?

👍

Wi-Fi scheduling is generally not part of Parental Control in most routers — it’s in the Wi-Fi section — but it’s the same thing.

Dong, thanks for the reply. They all can do schedules, only some can do multiple schedules per profile (user) AND limit access on a particle schedule to specified websites. For example, “Bedtime” (all WiFi off), “Homework” (WiFi on, but whitelisted sites only), etc. I know Parental Controls aren’t your thing, but you have a great web site here. Keep up the great work!

Generally, that’s called “schedules”, and it’s available in many routers. I don’t review this feature, however. Don’t look for the wording, but how things work.