First post, looking for advice and help - Gold SE - UK
Hi,
Not IT tech savvy, but know enough to get by. I have been following this sub and reading through some posts, plus huge amounts of searching the web and draining many AI platforms brains trying to decide the best route for my home internet system, but i'm really quite hesitant as we rely on the internet a lot.
For years i have had the Amplifi HD Gamers edition, which had been great. Clean interface, easy to set up and use, especially with the plug in mesh units. It offered remote access and grouping of devices, and parental controls.
However, the system is discontinued, no longer supported, and my eldest son has figured ways only known to him (as he for sure isnt telling me) of how to hack in and change so he can unban or change time schedules etc. Really, really annoying. I believe his phone is blocked at night, but hes changed it from his phone, and selected the door camera, or a ceiling light.
I like amplifi due to the apps layout and ease of use, however, i know now that i hadnt really been using it properly, with child VLANS, IoT and so on.
After many an argument, and hours of searching, i decided on the UDR 7 with a couple of AP's.
However, most AI questions about parental controls always came back saying Firewalla was much better at preventing kids circumventing / bypassing these limits i want in place.
So, i sent back my Unifi gear, ordered and received the Gold SE unit about a month or so ago.
its still sat in its UPS shipping bag unopened.
There are many reasons for this; my house layout, 2 storey, 1800sq.ft total floor space, location of master socket to house being 1 corner downstairs, my office in the opposite side, plus upstairs coverage, and the house not being built with any ethernet ports(UK houses arent built with them as standard, and running cables based on my house layout, would be very ugly.
I am considering running the firewalla from my modem, and from there to a switch (any recommendations appreciated, as i have a TP powered one at present), which will directly feed a couple of gaming consoles and a smart tv, all near the master socket.
Then, from the switch, or directly from the Gold SE, to a powerline adapter to my pc on the other side of my house.
I would also need to run another powerline adapter to feed upstairs AP, and using a PoE injector, get wifi set up there.
On top of that, Firewalla is new to me, and not common in the UK, so it is a little daunting.
I basically want to have similar functions as the amplifi unit, with the ability to stop my kids f'ing about with it, hacking in, or spoofing, VPN's etc, knowing my system is secure, and they are not going on sites they shouldn't, plus limiting time, bandwidth etc etc. (nothing worse during a Teams meeting and it lags out cos my youngest is downloading a 50GB fortnite update!)
This sounds more of a rant, but actually wondering if anyone been in similar situation, how did it work out, any advice, given the above, any tips, do's/don'ts, and any recommendations for setting up system from scratch.
AP's - I havent bought any yet (dont want to put amplifi in bridge mode, only for my son to turn it off) - any recommendations for AP's that have great coverage, wifi 6 or 7.
Been so use to the amplifi unit for years, the thought of changing it, and hassle of potentially no internet until its up and running, is also on my mind (phone coverage for internet not the best)
Help, please ;)
Thanks