Keeping kids safe from the internet is of profound concern to most parents. Today’s kids have grown up during the internet age.

Therefore, it is common to find them on their android phone or iPhone playing games, watching videos, chatting with their friends, and learning, among other things.

However, the internet is full of murky and dark corners, so parental controls are essential now more than ever. Wireless routers with parental controls and time restrictions help you protect your kids from inappropriate online content and control their screen time.

Here is a summary of the top picks:

TP-Link AC1750 Router (Archer A7)– Best Value

NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK50)– Most Popular

ASUS AC1900 Router (RT-AC68U)– Best Budget

Best Wireless Routers With Parental Controls Analysis- Top Picks

NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK50)

It is one of the most potent routers in the market, even without the mesh extension. Its dedicated channel for extending data traffic helps the system maximize throughput to cater to your home’s needs and wants.

It relays WiFi data on three radio-frequency bands. The 5GHz and primary 2.4GHz give a 1.2Gbps theoretical peak throughput data flow to home devices.

NETGEAR Orbi comes with another 5GHz, 1.7Gbps radio exclusively for data transmission from the router to the satellite and back. Due to this, the main links between the devices and Orbi units remain fast and robust. This configuration is supported by six high-performance amplified antennas in every Orbi device.

It has four Ethernet ports (gigabit), an on/off button, and power input. The yellow port connects to the broadband modem, and the other LAN ports connect to stationary PCs, printers, and storage drives.

It is equipped with antimalware, data theft protection, and antivirus. The Smart Parental Controls manage internet access times and filter and monitor online activity.

Pros

• It offers guest capability.
• Tri-band technology.
• It provides coverage to up to 5000 sq. ft.
• Smart Parental Controls.

Cons

•  The devices are relatively large.

ASUS AX6000 Dual Band Router (RT-AX88U)

It has an angular and flat body, with a large grill and indicator LEDs that march across the front. The front contains two large buttons, one for switching the LED lights on/off and one for manually turning the WiFi on/off. The ASUS AX6000 also has USB 3.1 ports, 8 LAN ports, and a modem port.

This router has four antennas, two located on the sides and the rest on the sides. The basic setup allows you to customize the password and SSID and decide whether to combine the 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks under one SSID or not. Beyond the basic setup, you have the option to activate game boost and enable the built-in firewall and settings such as Denial of Service (DoS) protection.

It simultaneously broadcasts 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi networks. The 5GHz can relay data at 4804Mbps, while the 2.4GHz can transmit 1148Mbps. Since ASUS AX6000 is compatible with MU-MIMO, it can instantly receive and deliver several data streams from numerous devices. It provides free Parental Controls and up to 6000Mbps WiFi speeds.

Pros

• It offers fast WiFI speed.
• Decent 802.11ac performance.
• It has many network ports.
• Excellent 802.11ax speeds.

Cons

•  Only dual-band.

ASUS AC1900 Router (RT-AC68U)

It provides combined dual-band WiFi speeds of up to 1900Mbps, three times quicker than 802.11n routers. The dual-core processor eliminates the performance drops that are typically seen in routers when the network is busy. Therefore, you get smooth HD video streaming, uninterrupted file downloads, seamless VoIP calls, and online gaming from ASUS AC1900.

ExclusiveASUS AiCloud makes your home networking a personal cloud, offering easy sharing and streaming to PCs, tablets, and smartphones. You can sync the files on USB-connected storage with ASUS-compatible routers through router-to-router synchronization, making it easy to share large files with your friends and family.

The Advanced Parental Controls of this router protect your data and kids from accessing inappropriate content. With AiProtection Pro, you get commercial-grade network security and easy, comprehensive online experience control for every device connected to the network through the mobile app.

Scheduling block time lets you reserve specific periods of the day to help your kids with various activities and spend time with family. It also allows you to filter certain websites and mobile apps.

Pros

• Ultrawide coverage.
• Superb WiFi technology.
• AiMesh Supported.
• Flexible connectivity choices.

Cons

• Not wall-mountable.
• It has a single 3.0 USB port.

TP-Link AC1750 Router (Archer A7)

It is a dual-band 802.11ac router with high speed, an incredible range, and a 750MHz processor. The 2.4GHz can generate a maximum of 450Mbps WiFi speeds, while the 5GHz produces 1300Mbps. The installation and management are done using TP-Link’s Tether mobile app or a user-friendly web console.

It has one WAN and four LANs Gigabit wired Ethernet ports and a 2.0 USB port for file transfers or as a media server. TP-Link AC1750 is equipped with 16MB flash storage and 128MB RAM.

The basic settings include internet, password, WiFi SSID, USB settings, Parental Controls, and Guest Network. Through parental controls, you can manage access times for some devices in your home, such as those used by your kids. It also offers advanced settings like power transmission, channel width, and security type (Enterprise and WPA2/WPA Personal).

QoS settings allow you to establish limits and use drag and drop to assign clients Low, High, and Middle priority. The security settings include PoS protection and Access Controls with NAT Forwarding, IPv6, and Blacklists and Whitelists.

Pros

• Great close-range performance.
• Easy to install.
• It is reasonably priced.

Cons

• It doesn’t support MU-MIMO.
• The USB is 2.0.

Related: Ideas for a home server

FAQs

How Do I Keep My Children From Bypassing Parental Controls On My Router?

First, you need to set a strong admin password that your kids will not quickly figure out. If you subscribe to cable internet, you must secure the router physically to prevent kids from plugging in directly to the cable modem.

Can I Schedule Downtime for My Children?

While the parental controls vary from one router to the other, most of them offer time-based filtering of some sort. More advanced features may require a subscription.

Which Content Does Parental Control Block?

It blocks inappropriate content like profanity, child abuse, malware, sexual content, violence, software piracy, spyware, copyright theft, and depictions of weapons, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drug use.

Any of the above routers can make an excellent investment for parents with young kids. They offer robust and effective controls to keep your children from harmful websites and apps.