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You are here: Home / Tech / NetGenie Wireless Router with Family Protection Review

NetGenie Wireless Router with Family Protection Review

October 31, 2011 by Kris McDonald Leave a Comment

Internet security is a must. With the rash of hackers, viruses, and malware you can never be too careful. This goes double when your kids are involved. My kids have their own computer which is stationed in my girls room. I have it locked down pretty good with Windows Parental Controls, but you can never do too much. There are many different nanny software packages that can be installed, but some are thought to bog down your computer. But, of course you want to make sure that your kids are protected.

My kids know how to visit several of their favorite websites themselves. This includes sites like PBS Kids, Disney, and other kid friendly sites. My girls also like to browse YouTube for their favorite music videos.

A great alternative to installing nanny software on all of the computers that your kids touch is to use a router that has this protection built in. This way it covers the whole house, and you do not have to roam and configure software on every computer. This is very useful for me since I have 4 kids that often borrow my laptops for their own little LAN party.

That is where the NetGenie Wireless Router comes in. The NetGenie Router provides:

  • Multi-Device Wi-Fi Security
  • Parental Controls
  • Security
  • 3G ready
  • Threat-free Wi-Fi
  • Browsing Reports
  • Web-based GUI

The many options in the parental controls is reason enough to get this router. The options are some of the best I have seen. One of my favorite features is the ability to setup users and set an age for appropriate browsing. More on that below. Other features include:

Website Filtering & Application Filtering

  • Identity Based Internet Access
  • Block offensive and inappropriate websites and applications
  • Age-appropriate Internet Access
  • Website and Application Control – Block or provide scheduled access to websites and applications (like games, Facebook, Chat etc)
  • MAC address white list

As stated in my below video having just hooked up a new router of my own not too long ago I decided to setup the NetGenie wireless router on the top level of my home as a secondary router and ensure that the computers that my kids use connect through that connection. Setting up the Netgenie was fairly easy. After plugging in the power,  I then plugged in an active Ethernet cable into the WAN port on the router. I plugged a 2nd Ethernet cable in my laptop's Ethernet port. The web browser immediately opened to the NetGenie welcome page proclaiming “You're enjoying a secure Internet experience, safe from viruses & hackers, with NetGenie!” There was no reading on how to get to the admin screen, it did it for me which was a nice touch and makes it easy for wireless router newbies.

I clicked on the Administrator login link. Family Protection setup started which allowed me to setup a master user in my household. It could not have been easier. Once the basics are done and the router is setup on wireless you are free to explore the many options for *locking down* your household computers.

You can setup accounts for users in the household so that each browsing experience is customized for each user. For example, your teenage son can have a bit more leeway than your 8-year old daughter when it comes to web browsing. Once the login is setup, devices can be white-listed* so that the login is not required each time. This is very useful.

Pros

  • Easy to setup
  • Many options
  • Good Wi-Fi range
  • Ability to customize browsing experience per user
  • Ability to specify allow/block list for certain websites and applications

 

Cons

  • *In some setup scenarios, users are required to login to access the internet
  • After only a few days of running the router, it disconnected a few devices repeatedly. A router restart fixed the problem.
There are almost too many options and configurations to mention in this post. For much more info than I can provide check out the NetGenie website. NetGenie also offers a similar solution for small businesses.

View the video below for my unboxing and brief explanation of setting up the NetGenie wireless router:

Filed Under: Tech

Kris McDonald is Chicago mom to 2 sets of twins, wife, photography nut, gadget addict, travel addict, and tech blogger who has worked in IT for over 20 years. She figured out a while ago that she was destined to be really busy (hence the 2 sets of twins), and she has found peace with that. Read More…

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