New to Firewalla - creating time limits and related for kids
Hello all, I am new to Firewalla, I just finished getting it installed and setting up the basics. Coming from pfSense.
One of the primary reasons for getting it is to have more sophisticated controls for my kids. Up until now I have been using only Microsoft Family Safety, it works OK, but it's sort of an all-or-nothing solution. I give them 2 hours per day for gaming/etc. on their computer plus some specific extra time for school work and online classes. I have to make exceptions and add time almost daily because it is a crude solution. On the plus side, the reporting is good, so I do get a nice weekly e-mail with detailed information on how much time they spent doing what, so that we can sit and discuss it. Unfortunately, it only works on their computer, it can monitor their android phones somewhat, but it has very little control.
I am reading through the Firewalla capabilities, and I am not exactly sure how to achieve what I want yet, so I am looking for some help. Hopefully this is the right place for that.
Here is what I would like to do:
- Allow 2 hours/day (or 14 hours/week) for the gaming category across multiple devices
So far it looks like you can only regulate specific apps/games rather than set a limit on "gaming" in general. I don't want to give them 2 hours for Roblox, and then they could just play another game after using up their time in that.
Is there any way for them to know how much time they have left or when they have run out?
- Always allow productivity sites like homework, 3D printing, etc.
So, once their 2 hours of gaming is up, they can still use their computer/phone, just not for games.
- Shut off Internet entirely for smartphones or other specific devices during certain hours
As much as we try to stop them, they sometimes sneak their smartphones or tablets into bed with them and spend hours on Youtube or other sites. I already have all the "Family" controls set to block undesirable content. I may just not allow Youtube at all on the smartphones or only for a certain amount of time per day, like video games.
So, if I could allow Internet at all between say 3:00pm when they get home and 9:00pm (more on weekends) that would be perfect. They could then still use their phones as alarm clocks or whatever.
One thing I am wondering is if this will cause an error on their phones to make them think that the Wifi is down and cause them to automatically connect to 4G/5G. I would be able to see a sudden spike in data usage but I still need to manage this.
I am planning on setting up VPN on all the phone so that I can benefit from Firewalla (even for myself and my wife, such as blocking ads). Not sure if that is the only solution to this potential issue.
Well, I will start with this for now and then build on it.
Thanks
-JCL
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
0 comments