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That said, if Firewalla Purple manages to serve as a complete toolset for forced users, it’s a bit short to achieve the average Janes and Joes for the trip. The fundamental features, such as ad blocking and parental controls, are quite easy to use, a significant number of features require a deeper point of knowledge of home networks, or at least the willingness to read about topics that can be difficult to understand.
Still, there is a lot to love here, even if you just stick to the simple things. The maximum value makes it difficult to present it as an occasional purchase, however, the lack of monthly fees compensates for this and makes Firewalla shun competition based on subscriptions that charge less initially. If you’re looking for an extra layer of security on your home network and can see a transparent use case for any of Firewalla’s features, then Purple is definitely worth a visit as there’s a smart chance to employ more. You expect this.
A middle kid in firewalla’s circle of product relatives, the Purple promises network speeds of up to a gigabit, and I didn’t notice any slowdown when I set it up on my own gigabit network here at home. This setup procedure was pretty straightforward: with just one USB-C power connector and two Ethernet ports on the back (a WAN and a LAN), you plug it in and plug it into your modem or router, then scan a QR code on the back of the device with your phone’s camera.
To set up Firewalla Purple, connect it to your modem or router as shown in the app, then scan the QR code on the back with your phone’s camera.
Express cabling will vary depending on whether you need to use the Purple as a mini router or use it in conjunction with an existing router, and there are other configuration approaches depending on whether you’re employing a regular router, modem/router device, or mesh router as well. Whatever your situation, you should pay close attention to Firewalla’s installation guide, which provides transparent commands for non-unusual maximum configurations.
Once up and running, the Firewalla app provides a detailed review of the devices on your network and the amount of knowledge flowing between them, as well as a long list of features and controls over how devices connect. By default, Purple will scan everything for vulnerabilities and irregularities, notify you of any suspicious traffic flows, and prevent it from continuing.
Some of this data doesn’t seem as actionable as I’d like; for example, reviewing Firewalla’s blocked knowledge flow history provides you with a long list of domain names without much context or categorization. If you’re looking for a network device that tells you what it sees in purely plain terms, you might not be satisfied.
You’ll also start to see a lot of notifications about what other devices on your network are doing, especially if a device accesses gambling or gambling websites, streams videos, or presents adult content. of those you’re not interested in, but the app does a smart job of allowing you to transfer between other notifications for other devices as you see fit.
The Firewalla app is packed with features, but I suspect a lot of users will start with parental controls. For starters, you can tap the Family button to allow for fundamental blanket protections against violent and pornographic content, as well as a search feature that automatically allows adult filters on high-traffic search engines like Google and YouTube. There’s also a nifty feature called Social Hour that prevents devices from accessing social media for an hour with a single click.
Beyond those core offerings, you can use any device on your network to craft traditional rules for how the web is allowed to be accessed. In addition to the ability to block gaming and social media internet sites at all levels, you can gain more accurate access by blocking. access to fast sites and services, adding Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Discord, etc. You can time those blocks for fast times of the day and fast days of the week, or even block traffic to any device in an express country.
That’s much higher than the local network controls presented through most routers today, even the premium subscription with a monthly subscription.
Firewalla allows you to create highly customizable regulations for all devices on your network.
Your firewall can also serve as a secure access point to your home network for legal connections from faraway places. This is useful if you’re traveling or using public Wi-Fi, as Firewalla necessarily allows you to encrypt your traffic and send it back over your home network. If you’re a small business owner or work remotely, setting up a momentary firewall in the workplace and linking it to the one you use at home will allow you to identify a two-way site-to-site VPN for secure remote access and log transfer.
That said, it’s worth noting that using Firewalla possibly won’t hide your traffic from your ISP like a genuine VPN would. For this, you still have to pay for a separate third-party VPN service. add NordVPN, ExpressVPN, SurfShark, IPVanish and others. Importing those VPN configurations into the Firewalla app requires some intermediate technical knowledge, but Firewalla does a wise job of providing transparent and detailed commands for each supported service. And, once it’s up and running, you’ll be able to extend VPN access to any device on your network without having to set up the VPN on the device itself. It’s a very useful and privacy-conscious convenience, especially for things like not running vpn software on your own to begin with.
Other Firewalla features to keep in mind include detailed tracking of data usage, which is convenient if your ISP imposes a monthly data limit, as well as a smart queue that promises to reduce buffer expansion on congested networks, which can help your Zoom calls. work. a little softer. Since it’s so small, I’m also intrigued by the concept of taking the Firewalla Purple on vacation or in a business for short-range secure Wi-Fi. If I have a chance to check it, I will make a return.
At $319, Firewalla Purple is far from a disposable purchase and is probably more than you want if you’re just looking for a home network security fundamental point or parental controls. Still, I think there are a lot of other people. (parents in particular) who would be surprised at the plethora of useful features presented here, some of which may not have even existed before. good to take a look at the purple. It’s expensive, but impressive.