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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Routers

Blog Feature - Router Testing 2023

The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Routers

I’m So Confused by my Router!

Most parents freeze up when you ask them about their router. “Is that the same as a modem? Haven’t touched it since my internet provider gave us one last year. It’s behind the couch somewhere.”

And yet, at PYE, we believe your router is the MOST important digital device in any home because so many devices are connected to it!

In this post, we want to demystify the router, increase your confidence, and point toward a few solutions. Are you ready?!

What’s the Difference between a Modem and a Router?

Your modem and your router are two different pieces of hardware that perform two different jobs.

Modem basics:

  • This is your home’s connection to the internet.
  • It receives signals from your internet service provider (ISP – AT&T, Spectrum) and translates them for your devices to use.
  • You were probably given a modem by your ISP.
  • It’s connected to your wall with a coax cable and plugged in for power.
  • You can have a modem without a router. You would just need to be wired (plugged) into the modem to connect to the internet.

Router basics:

  • Your router is the middleman between your modem and your internet-connected devices, like Chromebooks, smart TVs, and iPads.
  • You might have been given a router by your ISP (AT&T does this).
  • Your modem and router might be ONE device, but they are often separate.
  • Creates a local area network (LAN) around your house which allows multiple devices to connect to your Wi-Fi connection in an organized way. It’s “routing” internet traffic.
  • Routers have different speeds, security, features, and parental controls, which we explain below.

So, in summary:

  • A modem and a router are two different pieces of hardware that do two very different jobs.
  • You were probably given a modem by your internet company. You might have been given a router by your ISP or you might have purchased one.
  • You might have a modem and router that are combined into ONE piece of hardware but are often separate.
  • Some routers have parental controls built in and some don’t.

What’s a Mesh Network?

Some routers use the label “mesh network” when describing what they do (e.g., Google, Eero, Gryphon). Don’t let this confuse you. We already explained what a LAN is above. A mesh network uses multiple routers to make your LAN bigger. Giving you better coverage. These additional routers are called nodes and they only work if “linked” to a main router. Don’t worry! The set-up guide for any mesh system will walk you through the connection process.

4 Important Technical Features You Should Know About Routers

During our review of routers, we look at the following features (there are many more, but these are important for families):

  • Frequency channels: most routers are dual-band. One band will operate on the lower frequency band (2.4GHz) and the second will operate on the higher band (5GHz). The lower frequency band can get crowded: household appliances — such as a microwave, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices — also operate on this frequency. The 5GHz band can transmit more data at higher speeds, but has a hard time penetrating walls and furniture and can’t travel as far.
  • Speed: this one is a bit misleading because almost all routers support a top internet speed that likely exceeds whatever speed you’ve been given by your ISP. You are paying for a certain megabit per second (Mbps) from your ISP and this is often slower than what your router can handle, so you’re good.
  • Security: look for WPA2 – anything less isn’t acceptable (like WEP or WPA). WPA3 exists but isn’t supported by most routers yet.
  • Wireless standard (rules): the latest standard is 801.11ax, which is the most recent. You’ll sometimes hear the term WiFi 6, which is the same thing (also called high-efficiency WiFi). Think of this as the set of rules that your WiFi network will obey.

Most of the best routers out there have all four of these items above. The one exception might be a lower wireless standard like WiFi 5, which is just slightly less efficient than WiFi 6. We explain them here just to make sure you’re familiar with the terminology and continue on your path to router expertise. Keep going!

4 Additional Router Features Important to Families

Beyond just the technical capabilities, most families are also interested in at least a few other attributes. At PYE, we also assess routers for:

  • Parental controls – any home with young people really needs a router with parental controls. But, can they be trusted? Are they easy to use?
  • Price – how expensive is the router for small, medium, or large homes?
  • Ease of set-up and customer support – busy parents don’t need to spend 4 hours setting up their router. And it should be easy to get questions answered.
  • Mission and culture of the founders – is it an organization that truly understands the needs of families?

What is Circle or Bark Home? Are these Routers?

No, they aren’t! They connect to routers to enhance a parent’s control over WiFi, but they don’t replace your router. Circle dominated the WiFi parental control market for years as the first and only option for a while. This has changed as other stellar devices, like Bark Home have emerged. But again, these devices are NOT routers. They plug into a router and give parents better control over screen time, content, and more when a router lacks these parental control features.

Why might you use Circle or Bark Home?

  • Maybe you were given a router by your ISP that you’re stuck with and it doesn’t have any parental controls, or it has controls and they stink.
  • Maybe you have a router of your own that you don’t want to replace, but you want better control over it.

Which is better? Circle or Bark Home?

  • Both have similar features (filtering, screen time controls, app usage, etc.).
  • Circle is slightly stronger on screen time controls, but Bark Home is much stronger on blocking the bad stuff (explicit content). I’ve received a number of comments from parents who have struggled to understand the search history that Circle gives them and Circle simply allows too much circumvention.
  • Bark Home is less expensive ($79 vs. $129).
  • Bark has patented social media, email, and text monitoring that can be added to smart devices for a cost ($14/month or $99/year). Circle does not monitor social media.

Overall, we believe Bark Home does a better job protecting kids!

 

Bark Home Image

PYE Router Testing Findings

PYE tested the following four routers:

  • Eero Pro6
  • Gryphon AX
  • Google WiFi
  • Asus ZenWiFi AX

As we said above, when it comes to the technical features – speed, security, etc. – these routers were comparable. So, we focused on parental controls, price, ease of set-up with strength of customer support, and mission.

You’ll notice in the spreadsheets below that we also included something called CleanBrowsing, which is a DNS solution. We’ve already come a long way in understanding routers, which can be tricky! DNS is another one of those tricky subjects. You don’t realize it, but every time you use the internet, you’re using the domain name system (DNS) to find answers.

Think of DNS as the phonebook of the Internet, connecting web browsers (e.g., Google, Bing) with websites (e.g., Amazon, Home Depot). You search for something in Google and DNS does its best to show you the best answer to your question.

There is a way to change the DNS of your router so that it only goes and looks for things in “clean” phone books. That’s what CleanBrowsing is. So, if you’re feeling techie, then using CleanBrowsing is an awesome FREE option for keeping porn off your WiFi. You can compare their content filtering to the routers we tested in our spreadsheets below.

Quick summary from our router parental control testing:

  • Eero Pro6 is easy to get around. Just about any teen with any motivation could get around the controls on this router.
  • Gryphon has the most complete parental controls.
  • Both Google and ASUS prevent access to actual porn websites, but both allow way too much mature content to be viewed in search results (websites listed, descriptions, image and video searches).
  • Eero doesn’t prioritize parental controls – it’s difficult to find much information about controls on their website, which is a big red flag for us in terms of priority. Same for ASUS. On the other hand, Gryphon’s website has “Parental Controls” right in the main navigation.
  • A spreadsheet showing the results from our router parental control testing is shown at the very bottom of this post. We love a good spreadsheet!

NOTE: even if you’re using Bark Home or Gryphon, we always recommend that an iPhone’s “Limit Adult Websites” be enabled (shown here in steps 32-34). It’s a powerful double layer of protection. Unfortunately, the Family Link equivalent on Android devices isn’t nearly as effective.

Quick summary of router pricing:

  • Google WiFi is the bargain from the group ($138 for a 3,000-square-foot home).
  • Gryphon is the most expensive ($279).
  • A summary of pricing, technical features, and coverages is shown in the following spreadsheet:

Router Price Comparison Chart - PYE Router Guide

Quick summary of ease of router set-up and technical support:

  • ASUS is the laggard here with what appears to be mostly email support.
  • Eero is owned by Amazon and Google is Google, so they’re really big companies, which makes support feel a bit more like a maze.
  • All four were pretty good on set-up, with ASUS again lagging just behind the other three.

Quick summary of corporate mission:

  • Gryphon was started by a couple of dads who wanted better solutions for their family. We love this. Routers are what they do.
  • The other three are just really big companies, with many other business lines.

Our router of choice is the Gryphon AX.

In fact, we even have a couple of special, PYE-only coupons that you can use:

  • To get $15 off the Guardian or AX, use coupon pyefriends15.
  • To get $40 off the Tower, use coupon pye-gt.

We love what they stand for and have been very impressed with their customer support anytime that we have a question. Their parental controls are also very effective, as shown in the spreadsheet below. In fact, during our testing, there were a few obscure explicit websites that weren’t blocked by their filters. We sent the list to Gryphon and they were immediately added to their block list.

In full disclosure, we are affiliates of their product. I (Chris) use a Gryphon AX to run PYE from my home and protect my four kiddos from online harm. I won’t recommend what I haven’t already tried on my kids!

Gryphon Price Image for PYE Router Post

Results of our parental control testing for the spreadsheet lovers out there. You can see why our testing points toward Gryphon and Bark Home as our solutions of choice:

Router Feature Comparison Chart - PYE Router Guide


*There might be affiliate links throughout this post because we test everything but only trust a small list of parental control solutions. Our work saves you time! If you decide that you agree with us, then we may earn a small commission, which does nothing to your price. Enjoy! 

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97 thoughts on “The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Routers”

  1. Thanks for sharing this informative article. You did share some interesting facts about and Routers that were not familiar to me. Now I can make an educated decision based on your article. Please keep up the good work.

  2. Hi there, I have been using Circle for a number of years, but the main complaint I get from everyone in the house is that the wifi is too slow. When I disable Circle this seems to fix that problem. I would like to give Bark Home a try. Will it slow down our internet?

    1. Hello! There are a lot of factors that could impact speed. Bark could, but you honestly won’t know unless you try it. And if it does, they’re pretty good about making you whole if you decide to return it. Any of the Bark Home links in that article can take you to their purchase page.

      Best, Chris

      1. Thanks so much! One more question. I have a Pace 5268 router from AT&T. I tried calling customer service and I think I understood that I could purchase another router and connect it to the one we have. If I were to purchase a Gryphon, do you know if this is possible?

    1. Hello! Well, you can see our testing results from the Google mesh. It works, but it can be circumvented. Depending on the sneakiness of your kids, you might have just monitor more/less. I believe Gryphon is stronger, but you can definitely make what you have work.

      Chris

  3. Reagan Gielincki

    Can you offer any guidance on adding a Bark Home or Circle to Starlink? I have not been able to find any guidance on this. I did reach out to Starlink and they couldn’t advise me in how to add parental controls. We are so thankful to finally have internet but we need controls!

    1. You should have a basic router with Starlink. And therefore, you should be able to use Bark Home, Circle, or even be able to “daisy chain” a Gryphon router to the Starlink router and use that as the access point for children.

      1. We plan to switch to Starlink soon. I was looking into the Gryphon Router since that’s your number 1 recommendation, however now I’m wondering if Bark Home would be better if it’s easier to connect to Starlink. Or is “daisy chain-ing” simple enough to do?
        I also like the feature with Gryphon that protects kids even away from home on their phones. Do you think that APP/ feature functions well and doesn’t slow down connection time too much..?

        1. Hello! You can use Bark Home with your Starlink router. Yes, you might want to do that. Or, if you wanted the Gryphon Homebound, you could plug the Gryphon into the back of the Starlink router and I believe the speed will be just fine for you.

          1. I’m glad to hear that I can use bark home with Starlink. We tried Gryphon and it “worked” but we don’t have cell service for our home and with Gryphon connected, our wifi calling didn’t work very well and we’ve had to unplug it. Do you foresee a similar issue with bark home, or do you think that would be a better solution?

  4. Hi.
    Just a comment : safe search is not enforced by CleanBrowsing on ecosia as indicated in your table because ecosia do not implement safesearch at DNS level. It is very unfortunate because this search engine is very popular among young people. I try to reach them few month ago and they answered they are considering it. Maybe if PYE would do the same we could get some results there ?
    Laurent

        1. Hi! Then, I’m pretty confident that they installed either a modem and router (separate hardware) or a modem/router combo. Find the device, and then you’ll know if there’s 1 or 2 pieces of hardware. But the post should apply to you, too, since you do have a router. Hope that helps a little!

          1. I have Xfinity/Comcast, too. They only gave me 1 device, which I’m assuming is a modem. I’ve been wanting to get a Gryphon router but I’m not sure it is compatible. When I go to Xfinity’s website and search for compatible routers, Gryphon is not listed.

          2. Hi! If you have just a modem, then Concast is expecting you to get a router and Gryphon will work. I would call someone in customer service to confirm that you have just a modem. Then, purchase accordingly!

        2. We have Xfinity/Comcast too. If you didn’t purchase your own hardware, they only offer their gateway, which is a modem and router combined. They claim they have excellent parent controls in their app. Their bedtime settings work great but they don’t clean up the incoming content much at all. It’s really bad and should not be relied on! Also, I’m finding that no matter how many times I work through setting up the Cleanbrowsing dns, the Xfinity gateway doesn’t seem to accept the dns. It continues to route to Comcast dns. So after all I’ve experienced, it’s down to either buying Bark or Gryphon.

          1. You could plug a Gryphon Guardian into the back of their router and use that as the access point for the kids, taking advantage of Gryphon’s controls while also not messing with the Xfinity router.

          2. I did find a help page on CleanBrowsing’s website where they said Xfiinity won’t allow a shift to another DNS so you’re right, Chris. CleanBrowsing suggests adding a third-party router onto the Xfinity gateway. If anyone else needs help with Xfinity, they had other suggests for various difficulties as well. Just type Xfinity into the CleanBrowsing search field and it pops right up.

  5. If we already have the eero mesh system, will our current Circle device not work with this? If not, can you layer Bark Home with eero? Thanks for all the info in this article… very helpful.

    1. Hi! You could probably use Bark or Circle with Eero, but just don’t try to use any of Eero’s parental controls. That could create incompatibility (I haven’t tried it).

      Chris

  6. I have a orbi router – and frustratingly the ONLY PARENTAL CONTROLS are via Circle First Generation and a subscription. Anyone else know if this is correct? Circle Home and Bark seem my other options (or buy a new router). Trying to come up with a good solution for my house & my ex’s house as we handle technology coparenting

    1. If the build in Circle (1st Gen) doesn’t give you what you need, you can disable them and add a Circle or Bark Home. Circle requires a subscription. Bark does not. We’re trialing both but if I can get away from the $99/yr Circle subscription, I’ll be very happy. That said, the Circle works well. We get the Bark tomorrow.

  7. We’re building a new house, so essentially starting from scratch. I want to use the Gryphon router. Would it be redundant to also have Bark Home? Thanks for your help!

  8. Thank you for your research in this area and for sharing this great information! Question: I just ordered the Gryphon AX. Would it still be wise to purchase Bark Home as well? Or is the Gryphon AX router enough to block unwanted material?

  9. Did you compare the Gryphon AX with the tower? Gryphon customer support has recommended the Tower with the Guardian but I am wondering if it will be enough.

    1. Hi! I haven’t tried the AX + Tower. Is this due to the size of your home? Their customer support is typically pretty good! If they recommend the Tower + Guardian, then I’d give it a try and if it’s not enough, I’m confident they’ll make it right.

      Chris

  10. Hey Chris,
    I just listened to your interview on the Don’t Mom Alone podcast. Thanks for doing that! We have the Xfi Gateway from Xfinity (modem & router). It has the ability to assign every device to a profile with parental controls. Do you know how good those controls are? I’m wondering if those are sufficient, or if I need to consider a different router/modem option.

    1. Hi, Clay! I haven’t specifically tested the Xfi Gateway, but you might create a teen profile, and bounce some of the searches in my spreadsheet on the blog post against it to see if it’s strong.

    2. Hi-I have the same question. Just went through adding the parental controls on the Xfinity Xfi, but not sure if it is as sufficient as they Gryphon I also ordered. Definitely don’t want to double up if the Xfinity is decent…Did you ever get anywhere/come to a conclusion on this? I’ve been googling but am not very tech savvy so need a little help/direction on this. Thanks!

      1. I have their Xfi gateway. It is not enough. Not even close. Their filtering is dismal, offering a false sense of security. Even if you have it layered with other things like Apple restrictions it still isn’t sufficient. Apple restrictions at least flagged content Xfi lets through but Apple restrictions are easy to break through with repeated challenges. So no, don’t trust your family’s safety to Xfi.

  11. We have a live in Grandpa. I need a way to let him access the internet while I turn it off to all the devices in the rest of the house. Will Bark at home allow that, or is there a better way?

  12. Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely look into it. It really is frustrating if the signal is slow. . I’ll be willing to carry extra weight if it would boost connection,

  13. I realize all of these are for protection while in the home. What about when they are not at home on the home wifi? And what if they turn off wifi on their devices and use 5G…is that a possible circumvent?

  14. Jonathan Bowden

    Chris, all of your content is super helpful, thank you!

    Curious, my wife and I have 3 kids, age 12 / 10 / 8, and we have been VERY reluctant to get them any personal devices. That being said, we have had some older family wide devices (iphones, ipads) that have caused us trouble when the kids accessed m.youtube.com on them.

    I am now trying to figure out what the best option to protect my kids is.

    I bought an Orbit 4200 mesh system in April, but just now turned on the parental controls.

    But I am looking for the best way to block harmful content from the home entrypoint, and I think I should have bought the gryphon. I just ordered a Bark Home, to add this to my Orbi, to see if this is all I need, as none of my kids have their own devices or social media accounts. If they had their own devices or accounts, I would be much more inclined to used Bark and Bark home, but that seems to be far past my needs at the moment.

    Do you have any recommendations on the best setup for my house?

    Also, I have a friend who uses Norton Family, but I’m leaning against this, as I want something that protects from the home entry point, and not just on the iOS devices.

    Any suggestions you have for me would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

    1. Hi! Bark Home is solid. You should have decent control over what they see. I would see if the combination of the Orbit + Bark gives you the control you desire over that WiFi layer. Also don’t forget about the device layer, using whatever native controls can be used on Chromebooks, MacBooks (Screen Time), and PCs. For what you described on the iPhones and iPads, there is a way to block all YouTube by inserting a few “never allow” URLs into the Screen Time controls if that was something you’re interested in.

      Best to you!
      Chris

  15. Thanks for all of this very helpful info. We have a router from Verizon. If I buy the Gryphon router, will this interfere with everything I already have? Will it be a big job to set everything up differently? I’m not very tech-saavy. Thanks again!

    1. Hi! I hope you can read the post and find your scenario. I don’t know if your router has parental controls or not, but you’ll want to determine that first. If it doesn’t, but it’s a router you have to use from Verizon, then you’ll want to go the Bark Home router instead. Hope that helps!

  16. Hi Chris,
    Thanks for your valuable information.
    Have you ever taken a look at Synology RT2600ac and how it stacks up against the Gryphon in the areas shown on your spreadsheet above?
    I’ve seen many online reviews and it gets high marks in the parental control area. Technical features are great as well, but my primary area of importance is the filtering capability. Do you have info on how effective it is and how it compares to Gryphon?

    Thanks

  17. We have the gryphon router. However, I’m wanting a filter on the computer to help with the apps, email and texting (it’s all on the computer just like the phone). What would you recommend? I would also love to know what you think about canopy, quostodio or bark? Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

    1. Hi! Nothing filters inside of apps. You either allow them or you don’t, which can be achieved with Gryphon to let you know what’s been downloaded, but it best controlled by Apple’s Screen Time or Google’s Family Link. Bark doesn’t monitor the computer and there aren’t many solutions for monitoring the words in emails. Same with texting on the computer. Canopy. Qustodio and Bark will have the same limitations on the computer. Keep the device in a public space, keep Gryphon active to prevent porn exposures, and keep the relationship strong!

  18. Michelle Pletcher

    Have you ever heard of Clean Router? How does it compare to the Eero? We recently changed internet providers and the Eero came with our service. Can I just use that and not have to use the Clean Router? I do believe the Eero has made some upgrades since this article was published. I noticed on the spreadsheet that some of the things indicated as being unavailable or not blocked are now.

    1. i! I have heard of Clean Router, but I haven’t had many families come to me about it. I do see that they now have an allow/block list, which is good. I would check Yandex for the ability to search for anything and whether you can toggle off Safe Search on DuckDuckGo. Please let me know! I don’t have my Eero anymore – after I finished testing it, I sold it on Marketplace 🙂

  19. 2 questions, please!
    Will gryphon or bark block ads on allowed websites?
    We have an arris modem/router combo with AT&T. Will the gryphon work with this?
    p.s. I met you years ago when you gave a presentation at Faustina. Learned so much! Thank you for putting all this info out there for us very not-savvy tech people.

    1. Ah, Faustina! I really enjoyed that talk, although I never heard from the school again, even after multiple attempts! You can “daisy-chain” the Gryphon to your existing router if you’re not satisfied with how your existing router controls content and access. You would probably be better served with a specific ad blocker instead of Bark or Gryphon. Hope that helps!

  20. Thanks for your valuable information. Your review’s help us. After reading your article, I will be able to make a more informed decision. After reading your article, I will be able to make a more informed decision.

  21. Thank you for helping us navigate this digital world. I’ve found so much helpful information on your site. I used your article to set up all of our Apple devices with screen time settings. Now I’m trying to figure out the best router/software protection. I think it comes down to Bark and Gryphon for us. Do I need both or will using only one be sufficient? If so, what is the best choice? I see on the spreadsheet above that Gryphon does not monitor social media content. Would Bark be an overall better option then? Thank you for your help!

    1. Hi! You can use Gryphon if you need a strong router. If you have a good router and want to layer something additional, then use Bark Home. You can also use Gryphon for your home network and then just use Bark’s monitoring software (not Bark Home hardware) for social media and layer that way. Hope that helps!

  22. If I am starting from scratch, what do you recommend. I am torn on getting the Gryphon AX vs bark home…Al thought I saw some things that talk about Circle being better…but it might be possible they did not run test like you did…seems sometimes things can filter through Bark, and some people say things can filter through Circle as well

    I can’t seem to tell, does the Gryphon AX have a fee to use all the features you are talking about?

    IT seems you say run multiple things (Layers) so put the Free DNS on the router, then run either the Gryphon AX or Bark Home, then if one can keep affording things put something like Bark monitoring on the devices if they have a device, right?

    1. If you have a router you like, then get Bark Home to enhance its controls. If you’re not particularly fond of your router, then get the AX. That’s all for now! Start there.

  23. Hi Chris,

    Thanks for this article. I’ve been using Gryphon for a few years and I’m deciding between buying a new Gryphon router or using the one provided by FIOS and buying Bark Home. Which would you recommend? Which would give the better wireless performance and filter management?

    Thanks!

    1. Hello! I haven’t used the FIOS, but a general rule is that multiple handoffs could mean a slightly slower experience. Meaning, the combo of FIOS + Bark = more handoffs and maybe less performance.

      1. I am just now learning my TP link router has parental controls we have not been utilizing. It seems I would have to input sites individually not select a range of categories. How do I block pornographic site this way?
        We recently added a Gryphon Tower to our network. I’m still trying to determine its benefits as we use all parental controls options on our devices (Microsoft Surface, smart tv/roku/streaming services). Aside from setting time limits how is it improving the safety of my home? It seems quite overwhelming to input every single website we want to avoid. My overall desire is to protect from porn/inappropriate images.
        If I block a site, Amazon for example, due to these reasons it cannot be utilized at all. Is something like Canopy going to be better for this as it will blur out images as opposed to completing blocking a generally safe site?
        It can be so overwhelming so any input/guidance is appreciated!

        1. Hello! I’m not as familiar with the TP Link Router’s controls, but for Gryphon, in each profile, there’s an option called “Access Control,” where you can manage by URL (what you’re describing, which is tedious), manage by category (which is much easier), and manage by app. See if that helps!

  24. Hello,
    I’m starting from scratch here. We have 5 kids (Girl 18, Girl 17, Boy 13, Girl 10, Boy 8). I’m not very techy and get frustrated when I starting researching what to do and give up. I want to protect my kids on computer and cell phones that use our ATT home wifi but also over TMobile 5G mobile coverage. Can you help me get started? I don’t mind spending a little money if I know it will help. I tried Circle and Qstudio but they slowed things down so much that we gave up.

    Thank you so much

  25. Which is better? Gryphon AX or Bark home? I have a Netgear router. I don’t know if I should add the bark home to it or just go with the new gryphon AX router. I don’t know if my router has any parental controls at all or how good they are.

    1. Hi~ You’ll first want to answer the question, “does my Netgear have parental controls” by doing a bit of research with your model number (maybe from the bottom of the router). If it does, get them configured, and if it’s not enough and you want to keep the Netgear, then you go with Bark. Or if you don’t like what Netgear offers, then that’s your cue to go with The AX, using our PYE promo code, of course!

  26. Your spreadsheet lists Google as having an “easy ‘pause the internet’ feature”, can you elaborate on that? We have Google wifi and have yet to figure this out! Google seems to want to make us create groups of devices that we can then pause…we have done this, but it gets complicated when we want to be able to control guest devices that aren’t in the groups! Do you have any tips?

  27. Hi Chris! Thanks so much for this info. I’m still learning, but I’m confused on Smart Home Manager (AT&T) vs. Bark. Can they work together? Also, when I go to Bark.com, it seems to call for simply an app. Is the app in place of or in addition to the home router?
    Do I then get Bark AND CleanBrowsing or is it Bark and Smart Home Manager or just Bark? Yikes!!

    1. AT&T Smart Home Manager isn’t a parental control solution. What kind of router do you have? I’m assuming you have an AT&T router, which means you’re stuck with it and would probably benefit from purchasing an inexpensive Gryphon Guardian, plugging it into the back of the AT&T router, and using the Gryphon as the access point for your kids and devices they might use. Adults can use the AT&T router for WiFi. Ignore Bark and CleanBrowsing in your situation with AT&T.

      Hope that helps! If you go with Gryphon’s chat support on their website, they can help with this. Just be sure to purchase the Gryphon through us 🙂

      Thanks! Chris

  28. I have a Netear Modem and a Linksys Router.. i have spent countless hours trying to set up Parental Controls on both with no success!! I am now thinking maybe buying the Bark Home app will be a solution. My main issue is a way to shut down the wifi at a certain time every night. Will Bark Home do that

    1. Hello! Bark Home can do that. But I would also ask if maybe you should just replace the Linksys router and get a Gryphon instead? A Gryphon Tower is pretty powerful as a starting point, as mentioned in the article.

    1. Hello! Country-specific nuances start to show up in the WiFi layer, where not all routers are sold in every country. But the principle stays the same – control the WiFi layer with filtering, monitoring, and time controls of some kind.

      1. Shantel Nedelea

        Hi, sorry if this is a silly question, but do I need to contact my Internet provider that I am getting a new router? We have one from century link our ISP. Or can we just hook up a new one(gryphon) and it will automatically work?

        Thanks!

        1. Hello! Nothing silly at all 🙂 You might want to contact them simply for the reason that you might be required to return the hardware to them. I’m not sure who owns it – maybe it’s yours or maybe it’s theirs. Just call customer service and ask! Then, plug in that new Gryphon router and I hope it works great for you.

  29. According to your spreadsheet, Bark Home is the only one that covers social media. You say the AX is enough, but there is that gap. If I want all of it covered, would I need both?

  30. We use Qustodio to protect devices.
    Would bark home be enough? Would I still need to keep my qustodio?
    Why would you choose to get the gryphon instead of the bark home?

    1. Hello! Qustodio is a great device-level service. For your home network, I don’t know your set-up, so you would have to follow our guide and make a choice! Both Bark Home and Gryphon do a fine job.

  31. I have 2 of the original Gryphon towers. I tried Homebound on my kid’s phones a couple of years ago without much success. It didn’t seem to be doing any filtering of limiting. Has the Homebound app been fixed?

  32. I’m quite interested in Gryphon Tower but I can’t figure out if is a modem/router combo or if I’ll need to additionally purchase a modem and if so, which one would you say works best with the Gryphon Tower? (I currently have an Arris SBG6700-AC)

  33. Hello,

    We will be having new wifi service started with ATT on Saturday Oct 14. If I were to purchase a Gryphon before then, could they use it for setting us up or would I need to switch out the router after their setup?

    1. Hi! AT&T will probably “force” you to use their 2-Wire router. You’ll have to plug a Gryphon into the back via ethenet if you want the kids to have WiFi access through that router instead of the 2Wire. We explain that a bit in our post, which you might have seen! But I doubt your ISP (AT&T) installer would touch the Gryphon either way. Hope that helps!

  34. Hi there. About a year ago we purchased a Gryphon AX per your recommendation. We switched to Starlink in the spring and I hooked the gryphon to it as the main internet access point.

    I don’t know that I’m using the gryphon correctly. I’ve been browsing your site this morning reading tips and tricks to protecting/monitoring our devices at home. Just to test my Gryphon, I searched pornhub on my phone ( a managed device on the gryphon) and it to my surprise it popped right up. Disgusting images and all.

    Not sure why it didn’t block it, but I’m obviously concerned. Do you have tips for managing and setting up the gryphon? Any idea why it wouldn’t automatically block (all explicit content is supposed to be always blocked using it). I tried a couple of different search engines-yahoo, DuckDuckGo, safari. It didn’t work on any of them.

    1. Hello! Sorry for the slow response. At the unfiltered setting, anything can get through. There are age-settings like elementary, middle, high school, and 18+ that wouldn’t allow the to get through. Based on Yahoo still working that tells that that the web settings are at something other than the kid levels, since Yahoo is blocked.

  35. We’ve been using the Verizon 5G router for six months and have been happy with the flexibility and speed. We also have a Gryphon (based on PYE’s reviews) available that we bought prior to the 5Gs.
    Do you know if we can combine the 5G with the Gryphon and use Gryphon filters/settings?
    We actually have 2 5Gs because I thought using a designated 5G for kid devices would make it simple to control access time by simply unplugging the kid designated router. As it turns out, it’s not so simple as that, as I’m learning!
    TIA,

  36. Chris, this is great. Thank you! I want to maintain high internet speeds and provide the best filtering and monitoring for our family. Cost is not our primary concern. Would you go with the Bark home set-up or Gryphon towers?

    1. Hello! I would prefer Gryphon and here’s why. Technically, Bark Home, although a great product, is hardware that’s wrestling with the router to analyze the traffic. Instead of it being one, fully integrated device like the Gryphon. I run about 300 mbps at home with double-digit devices running on our Gryphon AX. Hope that helps!

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