Buy it on Amazon - (affiliate link) - Circle's Home Plus is the sequel to the Circle By Disney home internet monitoring device for families. It is quite effective at what it does although it's not difficult to circumvent it. You can also make use of its features for on phones and tablets without even needing to purchase the hardware. See more networking: and subscribe! VIDEO INDEX:
00:58 - Circle Home Plus vs. Circle By Disney
01:16 - Heavily Cloud Reliant
01:52 - Subscription Fee
02:35 - Set Up
02:50 - Stays on even when unplugged
03:29 - Notifies when unplugged
04:12 - Blocking Demonstration
05:12 - Managing Connectins with the App
05:55 - Arp Blocking
08:29 - Circumventing / Getting Around Circle Home Plus
10:54 - App Overview
11:01 - Profile Management
12:03 - Profile Usage
12:40 - Filter
14:38 - Timer
15:03 - Rewards
15:42 - Homescreen Controls
16:38 - Circle Mobile App is better than the hardware
17:17 - Does not work on guest networks
18:20 - Mobile app does not require hardware purchase
The scary thing is that it keeps working after it's been unplugged - a backup battery will keep it operating for about two hours or so. It'll even switch to Wi-Fi if the kid tries to disconnect its ethernet cable. Mom and Dad will get notified if someone tries to tamper with it too.
That said there are some issues here. The first is how it works - I'm a bit uneasy with the ARP attack it uses to do what it does. Second: Circle stores most of its data in the cloud - including your children's network activity. Circle says it's safe and secure, but everything is until it's compromised. Combine 1 and 2 and I'm really uneasy should their cloud ever get compromised.
I also found the device is easily circumvented. Managed devices are determined by their Wi-Fi or Ethernet MAC identification number. So if a Wi-Fi USB adapter is added to a laptop it too needs to be added to the managed device list or else it will not be under Circle's watch. And any savvy kid who spends a few minutes on YouTube will learn how to manually set the ARP settings in their computer to permanently hide themselves from Circle.
Circle is joining the consumer unfriendly "smart home hardware as a service" model, charging a $10 monthly fee after the first year of ownership. If you don't pay up a majority of the features you paid for initially are disabled. Not cool.
So while I'm not all that enthusiastic on the hardware here there is some promise with Circle's software solution. On iOS and Android Circle's app is very effective - in fact it works even outside the home and enforces the parental rules no matter where the device is used - including coffee shops and cellular networks. It uses a persistent VPN that always stays connected - any attempts to disconnect the VPN result with it immediately reconnecting. Parents will need to enable settings to prevent app deletion for the best results.
The kicker? The Android / iPhone monitoring does not require the Circle hardware at all. The app can be downloaded for free and comes with a 30 day trial. After that it's $10 month. Given that kids will find a way to work around the hardware quickly I think parents are best off using the mobile solution to keep an eye on the kid's phones and tablets.
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