Circle With Disney
© 2017 Circle Media Incorporated
This is a hardware device that works in concert with your phone or tablet and your router. It promises to "let you manage up to ten of your home’s connected devices." According to the online reviews, this is easier said than done. Before you spend the $100 for the Circle kit, make sure your existing router is compatible. And remember that Circle is not a router -- it works with one and the match must be perfect. There are other limitations -- you must make sure your children are not able to easily jump to a nearby Wi-Fi network (or data plan). Also, a guest to your home who wants to use your network must be registered as one of the ten devices, and the extra filtering could get in the way of their experience. Circle can't stop your child from viewing off-line content, such as books or movies that have been downloaded and stored. That includes off-line versions of Minecraft. Need to know. This device is good in theory, and it might help you manage your home network usage. But it is easy for reality to get in the way. It's never smart to get between a motivated child and something they are interested in. The bottom line -- there is no filter that can replace a smart, aware parent.
$99, iPad, Android
Teaches: a hardware deviced designed to manage your home Internet.