One missing feature that many other parental control services offer for the child app is a panic button, which could alert a parent or other trusted contacts to a child's location if they are ever in danger. But, we think larger households with several children will get great value for money as its extensive features will put their parents' minds at rest.
Connect your Circle Home Plus to your home Wi-Fi using the provided cable and plug it in to power it on. Once set up and running, it only takes a matter of days for you to clearly see how long each family member is spending at different online activities no matter which devices they are using. Live chat and email support is only available in English at this time. Account settings are limited to toggling notifications and setting up a passcode for accessing the app (helpful if you sometimes hand off your device to your child).
The second generation model of its own device comes with one-year of Circle Premium for free. Set an internet Bedtime for each family member’s devices (yes, yours too!). The power button, charging port, and Ethernet jack on the back of the device are protected by a gray rubber ring. A built-in backup battery keeps Circle Home Plus running even if it’s unplugged. If your child has a phone or tablet that they use outside of your home network, you need to install the companion child app on that device. It also is subject to the usual workarounds (mainly VPNs and the Tor Browser) but even more so, due to the accessibility of the physical Circle Home device to those monitored. The app's home screen shows every profile (including a broad one for those connected to the Circle Home Plus) arranged in a circular fashion (hence the name).
Occasionally “open box” electronics may need to be factory reset. item 7 Circle Home Plus, 2nd Gen, Parental Controls for Internet, Mobile Devices, WIFI 6 - Circle Home Plus, 2nd Gen, Parental Controls for Internet, Mobile Devices, WIFI. Circle on NETGEAR comes with basic features that are free to use. The Bedtime section offers good flexibility for managing bedtimes on both weeknights and weekend. One part of the policy reads, "If you are on the Circle Network, whether you are a registered user or unregistered user, we collect certain information about you and your device associated and connected to the Network," including "without limitation, Navigational Information, network preferences, Personal Data, and sensitive data collected by Circle from users." With Time Limits parents decide how much (or how little) family members should spend on certain websites, games or apps. Plug it in, download the app, and it’s ready to go. However, one word of warning: it is only compatible with older Circle software, so cheaper doesn't necessarily mean better. As with any device that can monitor or capture your network data activity, you should be concerned about what data said device keeps and who has access to it. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Neowin.net, and Tom’s Guide on everything from hardware to business acquisitions across the tech industry. Circle Home Plus is built for fast networks with a 1GB Ethernet port. You can also purchase a separate physical box from Circle directly, or other online retailers, which provides access to the platform for those who already have an internet router and do not want to switch provider.
The Kid profile, for example, lists supported platforms, such as Amazon, Cartoon Network, Club Penguin Island (though the game is no longer available to play online), Disney, Hulu, Nickelodeon, PBS, Tik Tok, and YouTube, with the option to allow those platforms, block them, or set them as unmanaged. $9.99/month after first year. How to help your child safely watch videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids, 10 best Lego sets 2020: Our favourite Star Wars, Technic, City, Frozen II sets and more. Circle doesn't show all the platforms it recognizes by default; if the monitored device visits one of those other platforms, it will probably pop up in the list to be managed. For $9.99 per month, you get Premium membership that adds the ability to adjust different settings for each member of the family individually, plus safe searching functionality, time limits, bedtime, offtime, rewards (extra internet use for completing homework, etc), and overall usage reports.
Ben holds a degree in New Media and Digital Design from Fordham University at Lincoln Center, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Observer, the student-run newspaper. Parents can also keep tabs on their child's location and reward them with extra web time. Circle is unlike any other internet control service we’ve used. This is problematic since a third-party VPN rendered Circle's controls useless in my tests. SKU: 6397663. Circle's joint hardware and software solution is simple to set up and a good solution for parents who want control over all of their children's internet activity at home. Alternatively, a child can just disable location services, unless you lock that setting down. app we’re happy to announce our new yearly subscription for the Circle on NETGEAR Premium. If you'd like to unlock the full potential of Circle on NETGEAR, you'll need to subscribe to use our premium features, which include setting time limits for specific categories and platforms, as well as a total time limit; creating BedTimes and other OffTimes during the day when the internet is paused; and viewing more detailed usage statistics for a profile. If you decide not to renew your subscription, your account will revert to the basic level, in which you only have access to the filters, usage, and history functionality. © 2020 Circle Media Labs, Inc. All rights reserved, Free 2-day shipping & 30-day satisfaction promise This is the price (excluding shipping and handling fees) this seller has provided at which the seller has sold the same item, or one that is virtually identical to it, in the recent past. Norton Family Premier costs $49.99 per year and does not impose any limitations on monitored devices. Along with time limits on apps and websites, Circle can also specify bedtimes and off-times for each user. You can also add a profile picture for each child to personalize the experience a bit. For example, a parent might feel better knowing that their child arrived at school on time, stayed there for the duration of the day, and went straight home afterward. When you first sign up for Circle, you get one-month of Premium for free. The first thing you need to do is tap the Add Circle Home Plus to scan the QR code on the bottom of the device and register it to your account. However, there are advantages to Circle's router-level implementation in that it works across more browsers (I consider Tor a special case) than other parental control services. Your purchase of Circle Home Plus includes a 1-year subscription with access to all premium features.
Most of its sides are bare, with the exception of the Circle logo on the front. After the initial trial, a premium plan costs $9.99 per month thereafter. While it is possible to achieve similar functionality if you know how to dig into your router settings or customise complex user profiles, Circle offers all this in a simple and well thought out interface that anyone can set up. There's also a shortcut to view and manage all connected devices in the upper left. You can set a daily time limit or ones for specific platforms or categories (the same ones found in the filters section). It is customised specifically for Sky Broadband customers but is powered by Circle. Learn more about our new product, Circle Home Plus.
You have to confirm your account too, by entering an emailed verification code, before continuing. After the subscription period has ended open up the Circle app and then Menu >> Premium. To configure the Circle Home Plus, you first need to download the Circle App on either an Android (5.0 and later) or iOS (10.0 and later) device. You can use the following Circle features for free on a supported NETGEAR router: You'll be able to unlock the following Circle features with Circle Premium: See our help page here for instructions on unlocking all of Circle's Premium features. However, since your child is not locked out of using the device, they can continue to use their phone with any offline content they may have such as e-books, music, or movies. You also have the option to set different time limits for weekdays and weekends. The Circle Home Plus device connects with your Wi-Fi router to manage every device on your home network. For instance, it can't record individual search queries on Google or YouTube, nor can it dynamically filter content within an app or platform. You're set to receive news curated for Circle families. You can read Circle's full privacy policy on its website. Circle Home Plus can monitor devices at the router level on your home network or via an app on your child's mobile devices. Detects and implements restrictions for devices on the network quickly. The Circle App and Circle Home Plus device offer a unique parental control solution with capabilities mostly matching competitors. Qustodio costs $54.95 per year to manage up to five devices. The …
The Circle Home Plus won't work with the Circle with Disney. Download Circle Smart Parental Controls and not Circle with Disney. Worried about kids spending too much time with one game or app? You can block specific sites and the app store, but if your child is smart enough to either sideload the Tor browser APK on mobile or download an installer on an unmonitored computer to install the Tor browser, Circle can't prevent that. Qustodio and Family Time Premium both include this feature. . As for mobile parental control apps, Locategy only costs about $20 per year for three device licenses and Boomerang charges $30.99 per year to monitor 10 mobile devices.