pcWRT 802.11AC Gigabit Dual Band Secure WiFi Router

I've used this product for a little while and I'm mostly satisfied with it. I refuse to complain about much because at the price point, it's a good product even with limitations. I'm fortunate to have a career within IT and know how filtering works having experience with Barracuda, Cisco, WebSense, etc. In the realm of consumer products such as K9, NetNanny, etc., I would say that this product is a great compliment with software solutions because no one product works that well alone, especially since few if any software products can cope with mobile devices like iPhones and Android tablets. I'm only marking this product down from 4 stars to 3 stars because I can see a lot of potential improvements in ease of use and features. The downside to such development is the expectation of an increase in cost. For that reason, I would highly encourage this unit to be a standard edition, and development be put into a premium product with a reasonable increase in cost. I would happily upgrade if I had more flexibility to the configuration of the settings for the Wifi/Network and for refinement in the filters. The build quality is excellent, the unit has a good size, the antenna spread and strength is very good for a 2 story house. Devices get reasonable speed even with streaming (few routers handle this well unless you get high end features like found on gaming routers). Since few know how to deal with subnets and allowing networks to talk with each other, and this is meant to be an "easy" product (kudos for trying!), I would highly encourage built in scripts or tools to help non-IT people figure out how to address these problems. The web interface is very simple and easy to use, although the scheduling can be complicated and delicate until you can start to understand the mechanics of what you need to do. Perhaps some automated "help you through the setup" pointers with automation by asking the customer questions like "What do you prefer - open internet minus some sites, or closed internet allowing only some sites". The settings aren't as obvious in this area, even for IT people, so I can imagine people struggling on which direction to go.Overall, I've enjoyed the product. Yes, my teenage tyrants have to tell me some site isn't working and I have to drill through reports to see what dumb 3rd party site the website with problems chose to sub out to, but I can live with that and it keeps me informed with what they are doing. Hmm, emailed summary reports of activities, that would also be a nice feature to add but I've seen others ask for this and assume it has been considered.

Still too recent a purchase to give 5 stars (5 to me means lasts a long time as well as good value, good product and it hasn't been powered up long enough for that). A month in and I can tell you that the user interface is good and understandable. Do yourself a favor and go out to their website and use the demo to get an understanding if you are 'with it' enough to set up the parental controls.Here are the steps I took (YMMV as I'm a bit on the particular side of things ):-Set it up (it's the 21st century, you either know how to set up a router or you don't... this comes (at least mine did) with no instructions and in a bag (not even a factory box, it just rattled around in the too-big Amazon box with one air pillow that was put in there like a joke).-Hit factory reset on the back so you are starting 'clean'-Power off every internet (LAN and Wifi) device in the house-Power on each device and set up its wireless connection-As each device appears on the Connected devices screen name each device (like KID_1_Phone) into groupings by either functionality (Home_Automation, Living_Room) or by person (Family_, KID_1, KID_2) or by the internet level you are going to provide (G, PG_13, R, XXX) this stuff is up to you.-Do this for every device (and be amazed at how connected you really are) This will give you an idea of how you are going to break everything down.-Go into APPS=> Parental control and enable parental control, you'll have one 'Profile' called DEFAULT. This is where everything will go unless you create groups for all of your devices-Create your first 'Profile' group, in my example of the devices I picked the naming convention KID_1, keep it simple and call your group what you prefix your devices with.-Within the 'Profile' you will add all of the devices for each Grouping you picked earlier.-Also within the 'Profile you can Pick your DNS Server (which can also be wide open, if you pick google or 'locked down' if you pick one of the free monitoring services)-You can also set a calendar for when this profile can access the internet (in the version I have you select the 'On' times for the Profile)-My version of the device also has some features I am not using but may yet... you can 'Whitelist' or 'Blacklist' websites, that is permit or explicitly refuse connections to sites. There is also a youtube content filter and some prohibitions on VPN and TOR.-Create 'Profiles' for all the devices in the house (especially a Parent Profile that is wide open and has no calendar).-When you have all of these set up let it run for a couple of days and then click on the 'View Logs' selection on the main Parental control screen. Anything in the profile column that is listed as default should be researched. This could be a new device or one that hasn't fallen under your Iron Fist of control. It is interesting how some devices 'Phone home' at random times and also how you are still probably finding devices at this point.DISCLAIMER: Looking at the logs may show you sites that you will not be happy with... don't waste your life-force flipping out, just follow the steps and make it so those sites aren't reachable anymore or, wait until the shock has worn off and have a legitimate conversation with them about your moral outlook on the world or your views on the subject matter. You have the choice between using this as a parenting tool or a Third World Dictator.-Once you are comfortable that you have gotten everything in the house into a 'Profile' go into the 'Default' Profile and tighten it up... set the DNS server to a stringent filter like the Norton one that blocks everything, set a further blacklist, or any other oppressive thing you want to set to ratchet down the 'unauthorized' devices.You can also turn off/on the WIFI on schedule too.... no sense bathing in radiation while no one is on line, right?There are a ton of settings. If you're looking at this review you know what you are looking for... try the demo to get a feel for if this is the right device for you. It does all of that other router-y stuff you need it too as well, again, this doesn't come with a lot of instructions so do your research about what you are looking to accomplish.One other thing (If I may climb onto a soap-box again) if you are looking to run your internet with restrictions like a prison or an HR department, this device can do that. If you have young kids that you don't want to blunder onto hardcore porn or violence... darn-straight, lock it down. You can also use this device as a jumping off point for younger teens to 'loosen the reigns' in a controlled fashion... that parenting stuff is unique to your situation (and none of my business) so figure it out together; otherwise they are just going to go somewhere where the internet is wide open (or worse yet, take a brick to your new router out of spite and smash the control machine).There are forums for the support of this device, please use the search engine of your choice and find them. I'm as helpful as the next guy but I'm not going to answer technical questions on Amazon... it's not like I am getting a kickback or work for them or something.