Over the last few decades, WiFi has gone from a commodity to a necessity. So too, has the need to have control over the content coming into your home via the internet. With that in mind, here are a few ways that your Alta Labs network can help you control your home internet.
One of the most frustrating parts of WiFi is finding ways to control the content that comes into your home on specific devices, while letting others have open access to the internet. For example, you want adults in the home to be able to have open access to the web at all hours of the day, while simultaneously setting parameters for devices used by children or guests. Alta Labs has created an amazing feature called AltaPass™ - our patented multi-password technology that allows users to assign multiple passwords to a single wireless network SSID. Users are provided with different network and internet access levels based on the password they use to connect to the network. AltaPass uses a single SSID, so your RF environment stays clean, and users interact with the SSID the same way just using different passwords and receiving different access levels. Inside of AltaPass are more specific controllers that allow you to control content, permissions, scheduling, bandwidth control, and more! These features will give you complete control of your home WiFi.
We understand how important and valuable it is for you to be able to filter the content accessed through your wireless network. This is why we have built a powerful deep packet inspection engine (DPI engine), into each of our access points. Our access points allow you to restrict access to unauthorized or sensitive sites, applications, or application types using Content Filtering.
Because we've built this directly into our access points, you do not need to use Alta Labs switches or routers in order to leverage this tool - this can be done with only Alta Labs Access Points through our management platform. The "Block Applications" drop-down inside of our platform is the first place where you can make filtering protocols. Here, you can select as many different applications by name or application groups as you want. You can also start typing the name of the application or application group, and it will appear. Once you have selected the applications and application groups you want for this site, you can close the drop-down. The second menu option allows you to enter specific website names. For example, if you wanted to block the TikTok and Facebook websites/apps, you could enter tiktok.com and facebook.com. Once you have entered all the domains you would like blocked, your Alta Labs access point will begin to block the applications, application groups, and websites you have entered here.
But wait! Perhaps you have certain users that can't or don't need to have their content filtered? We also give you the ability to bypass the site filter policy using AltaPass. Those content filtering policies will only be enabled for the specific password you set up in the management platform. Devices utilizing a different password will not be affected. For example, you can let the “parent password” bypass the filter policy by selecting the "Bypass Filter" option.
One of the other added features of AltaPass is rate limiting. This allows you to control the upload and download speed a device is allowed to use so that a single device cannot bog down your network. This in turn, allows you to prioritize bandwidth to certain devices over others. For example, you can prioritize a work laptop or smart phone over a smart TV or game console.
Another feature inside of AltaPass is the ability to schedule when certain devices are allowed to access the internet based on their password. This gives you the ability to “stop traffic” to the internet via WiFi for children’s devices after 10pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends, for example.
Wireless scheduling with Alta Labs is vastly improved from other access point vendors. Rather than shutting down all the SSIDs during a time when you would like the internet to be turned off, we continue to broadcast SSIDs but restrict internet traffic. Users can request additional time to access the internet if the option is enabled. This is great for when kids are working on homework late one night, and need to request additional time connected to the internet to finish their assignment.
This scheduling is highly customizable - allowing specific times and days you’d like the internet to be available, or not. Simply select the time and days you want to have your internet on and available for the users of this particular SSID.
If you want to give users the ability to request additional time outside of the turn-on window, set the "user can request access during downtime" button to on within the management platform. If you select the "turn off" option, a schedule will also appear. Simply select the time and days you want to have the internet disabled.
Alta Labs is dedicated to helping end users control the content entering their home via the internet. We have built an extensive management platform that is simple to use, yet secure and powerful. We will continue to find ways to keep your home safe, and look forward to you utilizing Alta Labs to Elevate Your Network!