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Simplifying my IT - Moving away from UniFi?

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Hey,As a full time solo dad of an 11yo and 14yo tech savvy social media addicted girls I spend quite a bit of time managing my home IT.

Currently I have a full stack of UniFi toys, (switch, two APs and the gateway) however the USG-Pro is offline and using a EdgeRouter-Lite at the moment (more on that shortly), I also have a fully cabled house.

In recent years all the desktops have departed and have been replaced with laptops, all 5G capable, so the use of the cabled infrastructure has been reduced considerably (in fact most outlets not used at all now).

I had implemented time based internet access rules on the USG-Pro, however getting those running and managing them is pain and suffering as it cannot be done via the GUI and the JSON file I was using eventually just stopped working and I could never get the rules to work again so I took the USG-Pro offline and replaced it with an EdgeRouter-Lite which does do time based rules. The hope here is the USG will eventually come up to speed (soon it says on the UniFi forum). I did look at using separate SSIDs for the kids but at the time they still had cabled desktops.

Now I finding I need more control, time based rules don't cut it, I need to control certain services at specific times (social media, streaming video etc). The EdgeRouter will let you do this but it will be a considerable job setting that all up.

And finally we are looking at moving later in the year and odds are there won't cabling in the house.

So I find myself looking for a better solution.

Enter the new generation of "Mesh" (quotes as they are often not really meshed).

The Netgear Orbi looks very appealing as it supports the Disney Circle parental controls that look like (on paper) they will do what I want. I have also noticed there are a new family of devices coming out that you just drop into your network to provide parental controls (Trend just released one), but these are not supported by my current router.

Has anyone else here been on this journey? I have been reading mixed reviews about the Orbi, some great some not so. I know Google, Ubiquiti, Linksys etc also have plays in this space too.

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