Customer Ratings & Reviews

Circle Whats in the box ————————— * Circle Home Plus Circle * Ethernet cable * Power adapter * Quick start guide * USB cable Pros —— 1. Control online time for kids 2. Setup Bedtime for kids 3. Monitor websites visited 4. Shortcut to control facebook, instagram etc 5. Pause internet to get attention 6. Schedule offline times Cons —— 1. Most good features require premium subscription 2. Premium subscription is free only for a year Review ——— SETUP The setup is very straight forward, download the app, connect the circle home plus to the router and use the app to setup the circle home plus. Once the setup is complete, it will let you identify the devices connected to the internet snd you can assign groups to the devices. Once you assign the groups, you can control different attributes like online time, scheduling etc for the group FILTERING you can use the companion app to control which apps can be online and which ones cannot be. You can for example say that facebook is not allowed for kids and they won’t be able to use it on their device. You can also setup time limit broadly or per app to control the online times. The app installed on their devices also will notify if they are running low on time. PAUSE & OFFLINE (PREMIUM FEATURE) the app allows you to setup bed time so that kids cannot go online after a certain time or you can pause the internet so that when it is say dinner time , you pause the internet so that they come over to the dining table. Because they never listen when you ask them to!. The app will also let you setup offline times so that you can watch a movie together etc… FILTERTING (PREMIUM FEATURE) The app lets you filter either by platform or by websites, apps or platforms per group. It will also tell you the history on which platform was used how long and which websites have been visited. Other feature I did not mention is the rewarding feature which I never used As I have noted above, important features are still premium. I would rather have the higher upfront cost than have to pay membership.

My kids hate this, so you know it’s effective. Has little hiccups and slowdowns but not as bad as some people describe. It’s just what I needed to get back some control.

so this does slow network down significantly. also added the adult filter on couple devices testing. and it brought those devices to a crawl . After I set to none they began running normal again so far I’m not 100% sure how I feel yet . but it appears to things down. kids are smart enough to turn off wifi and get it around it though. One battle at a time though.

Did an awesome job of locking down the internet just enough to keep the bad stuff out. Easy set up. Thus far, worth every penny.

Good: - Intuitive control from one central location, with a number of ways to monitor and control device usage. Provides some peace of mind as to not only how much devices are being used, but exactly what they have access to. - Controls seem to work as intended - time limits, pausing on individual devices - Notifications for new devices entering the home network - Device browsing habits easily monitored - Internal battery, in case AC gets connected Bad: - Most, if not all, of the features of this device can be replicated manually without the expense. What you're really paying for here is the ease of use and the convenience of having everything in one place. Misc: - Basic features are, well, rather basic - web filtering, usage stats, and history. If you want the more substantial features like setting time limits, pausing, bedtime, GSP, etc., you'll have to subscribe for $9.99/month. - Each device must have the client side app installed (free) Overall: This device is sort of a "one stop shop" for relatively straight forward household network controls. In my experience so far it seems to work fairly well. My only real issue with it is the subscription service. $10/month seems a bit pricey (after of course purchasing the unit itself), so I took off one star.

After using the device fo a few months it started degrading my connection and disabling devices. I have reset it to factory settings and re set it up multiple times with the same result. It currently sits unattached to my network.

Great item for the price! Easy to use and install.

we purchased this as a tool to limit online usage afterhours etc. for our kids. its unfortunate that we need a tool nowadays to control smart phones etc. but really this offers the best solution on the market. the bed time feature is the best. one item of note..the device will not control activity at the cellular service level. you will still need to control texting etc. through your carriers tools.

very cool device, easy to configure and use I love it

After using this for a while, it’s a meh. For the games my son plays, doesn’t track the time when he’s on Xbox fortnite for 4 hours and the time usage says 5 minutes. I have to block the site direct.

It works decently. Though it's limited regarding what it can do on Apple products due to Apple's security.

Circle Home Plus is a well-conceived take on the question of how to control and filter internet usage across multiple devices and family members of different ages and with different needs. Rather than relying on software installed on each device, Circle provides a centralized approach by monitoring and, if needed, interdicting traffic to various devices on your home network. This allows you to set filters and time limits on a per user basis without the option for tech savvy kids to disable software on their own devices. Pros: 1. Easy to set up on either wired or wireless connections 2. Centrally managed from a smartphone app that works at home or remotely 3. Intercepts and interrupts internet traffic in conjunction with your home network router, making it more tamper resistant and easier to update and configure than software based solutions 4. Allows you set up multiple user profiles with deeply customizable filters for each user. 5. Allows devices to remain unmanaged by the system (so you can exclude things like smart light switches, etc.) 6. Easy to set limits on usage time, allowed services (YouTube, Instagram, etc.) across multiple devices 7. Can be added to mobile devices to allow you to apply the same filters and limits even when those devices are out of the home. 8. Device is physically small, innocuous, and can be powered from USB. Cons / limitations: 1. The system doesn’t monitor screen time, just network usage time. 2. The system cannot filter or report text messages 3. I ran into some bugs. For example, in one case pausing the internet for one user caused Circle to become unresponsive to the app. In another case, a device that should have had internet access temporarily lost access. In general, it works fine. 4. Access to the more advanced features is free for one year but then requires a $9.95 / month subscription 5. The Circle web pages displaying messages about why certain pages were blocked were sometimes blocked by the browser due to missing security certificates 6. Privacy is a question mark Circle generally works by monitoring traffic on your network and intercepting traffic in cases of violations of the controls you’ve established. This can mean filtering out requests to certain web addresses which the system determines are either a) not allowed because you’ve blocked a particular app like Instagram, or b) serving material which you’ve blocked using category filters such as dating, sex, health, etc. It can also mean blocking any traffic other than system level updates to devices once a user has used all allowable connection time. For mobile devices, Circle installs a virtual private network (VPN) on the device to be monitored along with the Circle app. This allows monitoring of all network traffic to the phone even when not on your local Wi-Fi network. It’s a clever solution to monitoring of devices outside the home. While the phone user could disable or uninstall the VPN, this action will be noted in your Circle control panel, so it’s still possible for parents to enforce accountability. The app works well. It’s easy to establish new user profiles, edit limits and even grant one-time exceptions. The scheduling is flexible, allowing different time limits on weekends vs. weekdays, and allowing you to enforce bedtimes and “down times” which are independent of the time limits themselves. In my use so far, I’ve found the content filtering and service blocking to be much better than nothing, but not perfect. For example, blocking Facebook blocked facebook.com but still allowed certain direct FB links and/or messages to work. Turning on safe search still allowed some explicit results to be displayed, although they were greatly reduced and actually trying to access the pages in question usually resulted in the action being blocked. The biggest negative is that by its very nature the service does not allow monitoring of text messages (or other messaging services for that matter). This is unfortunate as this style of messaging is one of the ways kids are targeted, be it by acquaintances and bullies or others. That said, I think the fundamental design of the service is solid and the approach of using a VPN on mobile devices is an excellent solution to out of home monitoring. Monitored mobile devices can also have their locations monitored. The other thing worth thinking about with any service like this is privacy. You’re essentially letting a packet sniffer onto your local network and transferring all the usage data to the cloud. While the service ostensibly does not transmit data for unmonitored devices, it’s still worth noting that a large volume of data around the usage in your home and on monitored phones is being sent to a third party. For concerned parents, the loss of potential privacy could be a small price to pay for an easily manageable way to help protect their kids on line and allow them more freedom as they grow.

Works fine. Can be difficult to customize to your specific needs.

Good with multiple options in limiting/controlling the time or screen limits

Very functional to limit kids' screen time and what they can access

With three kids in my house having control over internet usage (both time and content) is a struggle, so the Circle sounded like the perfect device to help me keep an eye on our myriad of devices from one central location. The cube itself is fairly unobtrusive, though you will need a free LAN port on your modem (which are at a premium anymore from all the devices needing one...). That is probably the biggest drawback to it. I actually have a few home networks, so I decided the circle into my 'family' network that the kids use--a modem I have coming in from a wired outlet connected to my main modem. Our family PC, as well as a wireless modem the kids connect to for gaming are all coming through that modem, so it made the most sense to connect it there. Set up was very easy, once I got the Circle app downloaded (make sure you have the correct app--there is a Disney app that is very close in name to the circle app). It walked me through step-by-step. While connecting and set up took a few minutes, it found the Circle device, and EVERY piece of equipment on the network no problem. From there you can get as simple or complex as you want--you can shut the internet down from the modem it's attached to, or shut access off to any specific device. You can set time limits, block certain apps, and even block specific websites from any internet browser in use on any device connected to the modem. You can set up profiles for each person in your family, as well as profiles for each device that's connected. It's as complicated as you want it to be, but still easy enough for a beginner to understand. Your need for a device like this will basically come down to a couple of things: how much control do you want over your devices, and how tech savvy are you? If you want even a little control (like time limits) but aren't tech-savvy, then you definitely want this. If you want a lot of control but don't want the headache of doing all this yourself---which is possible without the device, but not real easy to do--then you want this. For someone with a large family like mine, that has a lot of devices, this app is great--it tells you when a new device joins the network, and you can see what is going on with any device on the network at any time. It's perfect for my wife, who likes to set time limits, while making sure my kids are actually reading on their kindle rather than playing a game. It also lets her block ratings, websites, etc, which she loves. After a year you pay for the use of the app, so basically with the cost of the device you're getting a year's use thrown in. Once the year is up you should have a great idea if this is for you or not--which is one of the better trial prices you'll find for something as advanced as this. For me the biggest caveat was needing to tie up a LAN port, but if you have plenty free on your modem (or use a secondary 'family' modem) hopefully you'll have the room.

The Circle Home Plus is basically an added hardware feature to the companies already operational software (app) which is available for iOS and android phones. This wasn't immediately clear, but do a little web search and you'll see. The Circle Home Plus comes in a remarkably small package and connects to your home network via Ethernet or wifi. The setup can be a little tricky, but once connected it's pretty straight forward from there. Once connected, you'll use the Circle app to see all of the connections to your home network and can establish rules (bedtime, usage limits, rewards, locations, content filters, etc). With the exception of content filters browsing/usage history/stats, these are all premium features which are included for the first 12 months without the need to provide a payment method (nice for a change)! Now, most modern routers/modems have many of the controls that the Circle Home Plus provides. You can set available times, restrict content access, and limit total usage. However, having tried many of these features on various routers/modems, they aren't nearly as user friendly as the Circle Home Plus. Additionally, in today's modern age, there are constantly new devices coming and going in your home network. The Circle Home app notifies you when a new device connects so that you can apply the appropriate restrictions. It also allows you to pause access or suspend access across all devices without having to dig into the admin settings of your router which most users won't know how to do from their phone. The real key to extending the reach of the Circle Home system (if that is your goal) is to install the Circle app onto the phones of anyone you plan on monitoring. It sets up a VPN that runs in the background and allows you to monitor and control access to the internet even when not connected to the home wifi. To me, this is where the Circle Home shines even though it isn't really part of the Circle Home Plus kit, it is available right now by simply downloading the app and subscribing. The benefit of having the Circle Home Plus kit is that you are essentially buying a year up front AND getting the added functionality of the Home Plus kit for free. In conclusion, I'd highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for an easy and responsive way to monitor internet usage, limit/monitor content, and provide just a little more oversight and control to anyone in the household Pros: *Ease of control *Internet usage/history (very big brotherish so use responsibly) *Ability to provide rewards, pause, and do network wide timeouts Cons: *Setup could've been easier *Would've been nice to know about the standalone app service before acquiring this even though I think it is a bargain and worth buying

Very happy with the controls it’s giving me so that I can manage screen time from afar. A great tool to assist in pro-active parenting.

Works recommended by a friend and works as expected.

This is way better than the circle included with netgear routers! The unit is the price of a whole year of circle plus (which is included). Setup is not too complicated but well worth it in the end. Definitely highly recommend this!