GryphonGuardian 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 Best way to do setup, as though there *are* videos on the web they are sometimes out of date: start with the Gryphon app.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.

So I've got teenagers. The teenagers drove me to this router. Prior to I had a Linksys with no complaints, followed by a Netgear Nighthawk, which was an outstanding peice of hardware, and the Netgear certainly had some parental controls, but it was a little clunky.As a level set I'm more than willing to fiddle with any electronic to get it to work. I have loads of patience and am the IT support for the house. In truth I like it that way and nerding out with the router is not a chore to me.So I buy the Gryphon and am pretty happy with the router. This also coincided with moving to a new home. Said new home is good sized and has 2 floors. The house is roughly 4300 Sq ft. My office ends up being right next to the router and I really did not have any performance complaints. My family though... Ugh. Complaints galore, and I had written some of it off as a new internet provider when we moved.As I said I continue to fiddle and change things hoping to get a better experience for all. What was frustrating is that the router seemed to put out the signal I needed at the edges of the house and while the speeds were not as fast as next to the router they were acceptable when not being heavily taxed.I finally came to the conclusion that I should add a mesh repeater as the system worked especially up where I did most of my work, but the complaints did not subside so my work was not done.I added one repeater which was quite easy. There wasnt a lot of fussing just scan a qr code on the bottom of the repeater in the app and you're off and running. After I added one it was a bit better....but Still getting complaints.So what's a guy gonna do? I decide to just go deeper down the rabbit hole.Adding a second and... Still complaints... Then eventually a third as I had grown tired of the complaining. I also came to the conclusion after speed checking every corner of the house and swapping around positions of the routers for several days in my spare time. Let me offer this peice of info also.... Sony PS4s have TERRIBLE WIFI ANTENNAS. I could not figure out why I couldn't get their machines to pull the speeds I could when testing on my phone.... Standing right next to the dang thing and I'm getting 200mbps more download speed. After some research I figured out that the PS4 unless sitting almost on top of the router is going to struggle to pull reasonable speeds. Do yourself a favor and just run an ethernet cable if you're in that position, or reserve yourself that you're going to have to add repeaters close to the PS4. That's free advice and it took me a long time to figure that one out.So besides all that I finally came to the conclusion is that this setup does not have great wifi signal out of the box, and you have supplement with the mesh system to unlock true performance.So after all my fussing what kind of speed am I getting? Cloat to the main unit I can pull 500mbps down and 450mbps up. Those aren't typos either. The hardware is legit after it's weak antennas are overcome. In the far corners of the house and yard I can pull roughly 100 mbps down and 125 mbps up. That compares to what it was before of 20ish mbps down and 30 mbps up. It's made a big difference. Lots of whining has gone away and now everyone can do anything they want and not worry about everyone else. Everyone can Zoom at the same time, while playing video games, streaming 4k videos, and uploading selfies to social media.So all that withstanding, what about the real reason I bought it? The parental controls are slick and simple! Want the kids to do their homework? Great just kill all the wifi to only their devices all at the push of a button.Want the wifi shutoff at midnight so they don't watch TV all night? Cool. Just set it up that way for that child.Kids going to "questionable" sites. No problem BLOCKED at the push of a button.When I was having complaints about the internet I had rounded up anything extra I could think of that would suck up bandwidth (Wyze Cams, Amazon Echoes, smart switches, light bulbs etc) nd assigned them all to a group in the app as a user. So when complaints started I could add bandwidth quickly with the push of a button by just suspending internet to those items.Assign static IPs with ease. We have a printer that loves to not marry up with the computers. Set that bad boy as static and never worry about it again. Assign whatever name you like to devices. In my house we have close to 100 wifi items to be assigned. Being able to identify by name (and it makes sense to me) is a God send. I was able to catch one of the kids in a lie because someone came over and hooked into our wifi and you can set it to ask permission to join. Mine is not set that way, but when all your devices are hooked up and suddenly a new one shows up... It's pretty obvious.Want 2.4ghz and 5ghz as a choice? Sure no problem. Want to not have to think about it and let the routers do the work. No problem you can do that too.The system really provides a lot of flexibility and performance once I finally got it all dialed in. It did end up being more expensive than what I could have done with a different setup, but I would not have had such a slick interface to deal with the kids. I am now very happy. The kids have been unhappy since it came in the front door....and I don't care! Lol. I hope you can make your teens unhappy soon too.