Gryphon Guardian Mesh WiFi Router and Parental Control System with Content Filters and Advanced Cyber Security

I've had my Gryphon Router for over a year and wanted to update everyone on my experience. If you want more details look below but I want to keep this short and sweet.Customer service - A+I've placed several tickets into service and every time I have received a follow up email within 24 hours (most of the time within a couple) They always followed up until the issue was resolvedSignal Strength/Expandable- A -The signal is as good as any Asus router I've had but I do have some weak spots upstairs. The purchase an entirely new router to expand coverage seems like overkill. It would be nice if they release a cheaper extender but still works wellParental controls: A-I still have not seen another router on the market that is as good with parental controls. My only complaint is that it's not as transparent when selecting Age Group as when setting App Control. I've been able to work with support anytime I run into an issue though and they have helped.Screen time: B+Managing devices is SUPER easy and there is a lot of flexibility when setting up user groups. The addition of Screen Time Management was great however it has been very buggy when making any changes to an existing schedule. Also the Repeat Weekday option does not work for most since they include Friday which is NOT a school night for kids. I generally let my kids stay up later on Friday night which makes the Weekday option void. All that being said it does work and once setup it works wellIntrusion/Malware: AAfter one year using this router i've had 43 bugs blocked. Might not seem like a lot but that's almost once a week my network has been saved from Malware or a virus.Admin features: B+There is a solid set of admin features on this router. I've run into a few instances where I have wanted a little bit more detail (See all the devices IP's on a single screen) but for the most part everything you need is there it's just missing the advanced features.Firmware/App updates: AThere has been a consistent flow of updates over the year. My favorite part is that the updates are PUSHED to the router. Most people don't go out and see if their router has the latest firmware so this is a huge plus in my book. Also the process to update the router is automatic with no interaction needed. You get the status alerts on your phone when it starts and when it completes.Homebound: N/AThis is a new feature I have yet to try however with a kid in middle school with a cell phone so I am planning on giving it a shot.TLDR: This is an AMAZING router that has the best parental controls and features. I've been happy with their support and the product keeps improving with every update.Update 7/16/19 - Big UpdateFinally an improvement to Parental controls! You can finally set bedtime/homework time/suspend on a daily/weekly/everyday basis per user profile!They also made viewing users history easy to see and easy to manage. You don't need to dig into the users profile to see the history, it's located right on the user details page. If there is a blocked site you want to allow you can easily change it and also if you see a site you want to block its only 2 quick selections.The are some UI updates. They added icon/categories when selecting a device type, there is a bug in the upper left that shows you how many malicious sites it has blocked and what devices it blocked them on, it also has a shield in the upper right that shows your current protection plan and when it expires.Overall this was a great update that checks most of the boxes anyone would ever want from a home router. My only other asks would be an IP device list so you can easily pinpoint a device by IP and a device limit time per user so I could set a total internet time limit regardless of device (Update: Found this feature. When your on the screen time management click on the day...mon..tues and it will allow you to change the screen time allowance) This was on the feature list at one time but not sure if it is still being worked on. Those two small things are not a deal breaker and I am more than happy to bump this from 3 stars to 5 stars.Update 4/1/19Not much has changed. My wish list for parental controls has not seen any improvements. You are still limited to a single Bedtime/Wake time so you can't have different bedtimes for weekdays & weekends. I have found you can use the homework time setting to set another rule for internet access on the weekends. While it doesn't block everything it's good enough to shut down youtube and the xbox so it works for me.The security warning notifications are kinda pointless. I have some wyze cams which transmit encrypted data however they use port 80. Sometimes they show up as "Secure" other times it says "Alerts Present".It's a decent router however I am still waiting to see improvements to parental controls.-----------------------------------------------------------------I bought this mostly for the parental controls, if you are not worried about these features then here is the TLDR.I would say this router is a 4 1/2 stars and better then my Asus in terms of coverage and speed. Very user friendly interface but lacking some advanced features like (Edit: port forwarding is available)port forwarding, DMZ, setup from web browser and advanced network setups. If you want the details on parental controls please keep reading.I am writing this based on the firmware as of 11/13/18PARENTAL CONTROLSPros:Adding devices per user is great for managing a kid who loses electronics but the rest of the family did notSafe search for youtube and google works well and you don't need to activate it per deviceChoosing age group for filtering is simple (This is also a con)App control per user works great for blocking unwanted apps (limited)Homework time is a great idea however I currently do not use itCons:Bedtime feature only allows for a single wake and bed time which you can apply to days you choose.-This does not work well as I would like my weekend bedtime to be different then my weekday bedtime.Age groups are predetermined filtering and you are left guessing what they turned on and off-When setting my sons profile to middle school he was unable to play Clash of Clans or use the xbox app on his phone. When contacting support they advised me to browse to clashofclans.com and unblock this website. While this fixed clash of clans doing the same thing did not work for the xbox app. I was then advise to allow Skype since that is how the xbox app works. I kept running into issues with my sons phone not allowing apps to launch and I found moving him to the High school profile fixed most of my issues. The problem is that he now has more access then I would like. Since there are thousands of apps in the app store it would be easier if I was just prompted when an app was blocked regardless of what it is and allow or deny it.There is no time limits per app or per profile like I have seen advertised in their youtube videos-The only time constant available is bedtime which is very limitedWeb history only shows the top level URL and registers Ads when kids are in apps-If your kids are searching youtube videos all you see is youtube in the history. There is no way to see what videos they are watching or any other details. This is true for all sites. Also if there are ads while your kids are playing apps they also show up in the history as if they were trying to browse to them....so not very helpful.Gryphons website is very basic and has very little details on customer service. I am sure I am not the only person who has asked why the xbox app doesn't work on a device set to the middle school profile. There should be a central searchable repository of apps and how to enable/disable them. While the current control has a couple dozen apps prebuilt there is not an easy way to customize the parental controls. Also there does not appear to be a road map to of when features will be rolled out or communication on what the dev team is working on. This is a new product and I would expect that the company would be looking to it's customers to determine what is important.I have been told there will be updates that will come out to address some of these issues and I will update my review when new feature are added.

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.