By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
Wi-Fi mesh experts Vilo Living has teamed up with Bark to deliver sophisticated parental controls to Vilo Living ISP clients and their customers. The new solution integrates Bark’s services directly into Vilo’s already affordable mesh Wi-Fi routers at no additional cost, the company says. Bark is a pioneer in the use of AI for protection of children in the digital world – but this is the first time Bark has been integrated into a home mesh system.
“Our growing list of ISP clients has asked for a more comprehensive parental controls solution – and now we’re delivering,” says Vilo Living founder and CEO, Jessie Zhou. The Bark parental controls solution now forms an integral part of Vilo’s offering to ISPs at no additional cost. It’s a win for both ISPs, their clients, for Vilo – and for Bark, Jessie Zhou says.
As a stand-alone provider of parental control services, Bark has since 2015 pioneered the use of sophisticated AI technology for protecting kids online and says that 6.6 million kids are right now protected by Bark services. Bark has also detected millions of online self-harm or cyber-bullying incidents and has alerted parents to the dangers via its smartphone app, the company says.
In the case of Vilo Living’s mesh Wi-Fi solution for ISPs, Bark’s content filtering technology has – for the first time – been integrated into a third party product mesh router. Bark Home is otherwise normally sold for US$79 (one-time purchase) as a separate hardware device that plugs into your home gateway. But now you can get the identical service through Vilo Living’s mesh offering.
“On the Vilo app you simply tap the parental controls icon and you’ll be connected to the Bark website, where you can create an account. In addition to content filtering on all devices connected to Vilo mesh Wi-Fi, parents can choose to set screen time rules, custom Internet access schedules, or they can limit use of gaming or streaming websites,” says Jessie Zhou.
Seattle-based Vilo Living was founded in 2021 with the goal of creating high-quality and affordable mesh Wi-Fi systems for the home. During the past couple of years Vilo has excelled in delivering their solution to smaller ISPs and in particular WISPs within North America. Vilo’s latest product supports up to 100 Wi-Fi 6 devices and covers an area of up to 4,500 square feet (about 420 square meters). At the moment Bark parental services are only available on the Vilo Wi-Fi 5 mesh platform but are expected to be incorporated in the Vilo Wi-Fi 6 platform later this year.
Below: Watch Vilo’s three founders present and discuss achievements for 2022 and look ahead to 2023.
/Claus.
