ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager vs HINT Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager
Easily set up and manage your home Wi-Fi network with this app. It provides a step-by-step guide for initial setup and allows you to monitor connected devices, test speeds, and control network settings remotely. Features include guest network creation and parental controls for managing screen time.
- Step-by-step system setup guide
- Perform system speed tests
- View and manage connected devices
- Remote network management
- Create guest networks
- Parental controls for screen time
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We are excited to announce that we have just released a new application – SURFboard Central – with an upgraded user experience and enhanced functionality. For our new users, we recommend that you start the install experience by downloading the new SURFboard Central app. Tap here https://apps.apple.com/us/app/surfboard-central/id1478418148 to download and launch our new SURFboard Central app. For our current SURFboard mAX Manager users, please follow these steps to easily migrate to the new SURFboard Central app. You will maintain your current Home Network, Parental Control, and all other settings and configuration. 1. Ensure you are using the latest SURFboard mAX Manager app (this app) version. 2. Launch the latest version of the app and follow the instructions on the screen to easily migrate to our new SURFboard Central application. ABOUT the SURFboard Central app Get your Home Network up and running and easily manage your network needs with SURFboard Central - designed to work with your SURFboard mAX Pro/Plus Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System. ARRIS SURFboard® products are your gateway to entertainment. They let you enjoy the latest entertainment seamlessly, providing the fastest speeds, and the coolest new services throughout your home, and beyond. And they're available at major retail locations. For more information, visit www.surfboard.com. The new SURFboard Central app is designed to work with the SURFboard mAX Pro/Plus system, combining an easy-to-use interface and the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology to achieve whole-home coverage. The SURFboard mAX Pro/Plus systems feature an advanced tri-band Wi-Fi 6 mesh design. It’s third band, with 4x4 Wi-Fi 6, provides a dedicated backhaul to ensure the fastest service speeds across the entire home. The SURFboard Central app easily guides you through your system setup to get your home network up and running quickly and securely. After the initial setup, SURFboard Central will be your network’s control room, where you can securely and easily manage your advanced system settings. App features: • Follow the step-by-step guide to get your system up and running in minutes • Perform system speed tests to check Internet speeds and overall system health • View connected devices on your network, check connection strengths and even data rates • Securely and conveniently manage your network from anywhere using our secured remote management service • Enable a secure and separate Guest Network with easy-to-share credentials for your guests • Create profiles for your kids to manage their screen time with scheduled or manual Internet pause capabilities • Enjoy automatic updates delivered to your system that ensure your system always has the latest security updates, bug fixes, and performance improvements • And more! For more information about the SURFboard Central Application, please visit us at www.surfboard.com
HINT Control
Manage your T-Mobile Home Internet gateway with advanced features. Control WiFi settings, view statistics, and more. This app is not affiliated with T-Mobile.
- Advanced statistics
- WiFi radio control
- SSID management
- Band steering
- Gateway access
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HINT Control is a cross-platform app for accessing and managing your T-Mobile Home Internet gateway, with some extra features compared to the official app. Features include advanced statistics, WiFi radio control, SSID management, and band steering, with more to come as more is discovered about the gateways. HINT Control currently supports the Arcadyan KVD21, the Arcadyan TMOG4AR, the Sagemcom Fast 5688W, the Sercomm TMOG4SE, and the Noka 5G21. The Askey LTE gateway is not supported at this time. This app is NOT affiliated with T-Mobile. HINT Control is open source and also available for other platforms. Check out the downloads and source code at https://github.com/zacharee/ArcadyanKVD21Control/.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HINT Control at 4.3 against ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager's 2.4. HINT Control also leads on review sentiment (66% vs 29%). ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HINT Control holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 44 and 113 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager's written reviews are positive against 66% of HINT Control's.
ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager ships an update fortnightly, HINT Control every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager | HINT Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (44 ratings) | 4.3 (113 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 29.2% of reviews | 66.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 44 | 113 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 99 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ARRIS Group, Inc. | Zachary Wander |
Customer experience
ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager
HINT Control
Bugs and requests
ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
HINT Control
Reported bugs
18 issues- UI bug hides settings on SSID management page
- Cannot disable 5ghz wifi after warning
- Disabling 5ghz radio breaks gateway functionality
- Latest update crashes repeatedly
- Not compatible with newly released G5AR T-Mobile gateway
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- Invalid JSON error when trying to log in
- Latest update crashes over and over
- G4AR not showing LTE stats
- Cannot paste password or use password manager to login
- Keyboard will not reduce on login screen (iPhone 11 Pro)
- App doesn't work with VoiceOver
- Unauthorized Error at Login
- Doesn’t work - Unauthorized error
- Doesn’t work - unauthorized access error
- Changed channel, now cannot connect on other devices, requires factory reset
- Latest update breaks Sagemcom gateway, won't pass login screen
- Cannot pick channel 36 for 5ghz, always goes to channel 40
- No G4AR support
Requested features
14 requests- Add automatic reboot schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Trigger reboot on connection loss
- Add Beacon Interval control
- Add more Transmit Power control (e.g., 8mW on 5GHz, 21mW on 2.4GHz)
- Advanced control with number input for transmit power
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Restore transmit power slider
- Add temperature of gateway
- Allow users to name unknown devices
- Clarify named devices further
- Add port forwarding controls
- Add DMZ controls
- Support for G4AR gateway
- Adjust APN settings
- Web app version
In-app purchases
ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager
No in-app purchases
HINT Control
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager free?
Is HINT Control free?
Which has better reviews, ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager or HINT Control?
Do ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager or HINT Control have ads?
Which is updated more often, ARRIS SURFboard mAX™ Manager or HINT Control?
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