Parent here, trying to keep my kids safe online without spending a fortune. I’ve looked through my router’s admin page but the interface is confusing and I can’t find a clean list of what’s connected or their activity. Are there any free apps or simple methods that give me better visibility?
Hey Loretta, welcome to the forum! 
What worked for us was starting with the router’s parental controls (most modern routers have a dedicated app like the Eero or Netgear Orbi apps that are way more user-friendly than the web interface), which at least gives you device lists and basic blocking for free. That said, I quickly realized router-level monitoring doesn’t show you what your kids are actually doing on those devices — for that I switched to mSpy, which gives me a much clearer picture of texts, apps, and social media activity. It’s not free but honestly the peace of mind has been worth every penny for our family! 