Easier way to un-pause internet for a group
So far, I am very impressed with our new Firewalla Purple. We switched from eero which had a nice but limited UI. One feature which I do miss from the eero is the simple way to un-pause internet access for a group of devices. Pausing is simple with the firewalla (permanent or 1 hour), but when internet is blocked using a time interval rule, I need to dig into that rule to pause the rule. Using emergency access is not a great option, because that also opens up everything (games, porn, etc.).
What I have found so far is this:
If a group has internet access (or gaming, video, etc) blocked with a rule set to "Always", that group's page has an icon showing it is blocked. In this case, the un-pause is simple. I can click the appropriate icon to turn the block off (but I need to remember to turn it back on).
If that group has the access blocked with a rule set to specific time intervals (ex. 8PM to 6AM), the icon does not indicate it is currently blocked. You need to go into rules and find the specific rule that is blocking access, and then pause that rule for a set amount of time. It's a nice feature but requires some digging and is difficult for my wife to figure out.
If internet is blocked with a time interval rule, it would be great to see that it is currently blocked and from that group's page and allow it to be easily paused/resumed. Perhaps having the ability to pin a specific commonly used rule to the home page, or expanding the functionality of the group's block icons?
Maybe this already exists, and I am missing something? Hopefully the community or Firewalla team can point me in the right direction.
Thank you
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+1 on this request to simplify unpausing from the block icons. Our parenting strategy is to have the kids' devices always blocked and then unblock them when they need to do homework or play games for a period of time. We're very happy with our Firewalla Purple and the easy to use mobile app. Unfortunately, my wife and I are the weak links and we often forget to re-engage the block after the kids finish their screen time. We'll stop them in the moment but then find them sneaking off hours later with their unlocked school devices still able to connect to the network. Our life is too chaotic to have scheduled "screen time" hours of the day programmed as rules.
I would love to see a timed unblock in the UI directly from the home screen icons. This could be an "unblock for 1 hour" option in the mode cycle similar to the "block for 1 hour" mode for the internet, gaming, video icons, etc. Alternatively, a long press on the icon could bring up the "Pause Rule" context menu with the added ability to specify an arbitrary pause duration. I didn't even know that timed pausing was possible until reading @Tony's post.
As a side benefit, very happy that our Firewalla picked up on some very sketchy network requests from software on my NAS.
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