I'd like to prohibit certain websites and apps from functioning or being accessed via my router. Parental Controls apparently is no longer a working feature. Hundreds of unanswered threads on this community forum lead me to believe that NetGear actually may have ceased to exist given their lack of support and response but I digress.
I've heard of "circle". Is this something that I can just plug into router or do I have to add apps to the devices too? I'd like a feature whereby I do NOT have to add apps to each device as in the past, this type of thing always seems to slow the device down or cause extra headaches.
Hundreds of unanswered threads on this community forum lead me to believe that NetGear actually may have ceased to exist given their lack of support and response but I digress.
I guess you have missed the answers that tell you how to implement the free parental controls.
The latest Nighthawk app no longer supports standard (free) Parental Controls, only the paid for Circle. That's best discussed here:
Thank you. and yes I did miss the answers because they were frankly difficult to find. Most of the threads in the link you posted were complaints about problems. I still stand by my admonition that NetGear doesn't seem to even be in business any more (and I have seen many threads in my search pointing toward Linksys as the better option now given NetGear's lack of presence and clarity)
Your statement that the latest Nighthawk app no longer supports standard (free) Parental Controls, only the paid for Circle is the first I've seen of that. Even my updated network admin login still has the link for turning on parental controls. But when you click on it, it goes to NG's website page for those controls, and shows a video telling you to download the Genie for Windows 10 (which hasn't existed or been supported for a long time). With enough poking around reading, I was FINALLY able fo find a vague reference that it wasn't supported and had been replaced by the Nighthawk app. Phew. So yes, "I missed that" but frankly I don't know how anyone could NOT miss it unless they were willing to take a day off work and go through thread after thread until they hit paydirt!
Netgear certainly needs to beef up its explanations of how it has changed free Parental Controls. But you asked about Circle, not how to get Parental Controls to work. .
Saying:
Parental Controls apparently is no longer a working feature.
is a great way of leading yourself up a blind alley.
Had you asked about how to get parental controls to work, the answers might have been different.
I still stand by my admonition that NetGear doesn't seem to even be in business any more
I wonder who pays for this site then.
You should know that this community is essentially a user-to-user venue with some input from a small band of Netgear techies.
Most of the answers come from fellow users who have no connection with Netgear. They just have a lot of collective experience and are familiar with the sort of problems that turn up here.
If you want "official" support then you should go through the right channels.
