How to restrict devices' access to wifi??

Shiksha

Hello all,

I am a mother to a teenage son who spends all day on his phone. He refuses to go to sleep, he puts minimal effort into school and this is because he is surfing the net all day and night.

We make agreements that he will give me the phone at 10pm, at 11pm but they are never kept. I could go on....

So, my question is, could someone please tell me is there an internet provider that allows you to restrict access to wifi for certain devices? It is not practical for me to have to change the password daily as I have a work laptop connected, tv, my own phone and a number of other people's devices. I am with Virgin and from what I can see they only offer parental controls which would restrict the kind of websites that can be viewed and would affect everyone, which is not what I am after.

I apologise if this is not the right area to put it in. Any help or suggestions are needed and gratefully received....

GarIT

On most routers you can block specific devices from accessing the network by blocking their MAC address. Some more advanced routers can block devices from accessing the network based on a schedule rather than manually.

My old Vodafone router used to let me block based on a schedule, I don't think the VM ones do.

SilverSideUp

You can easily block wifi on your router settings. Look at the back of your router for your routers IP address, login username and password. Then go that address from your laptop and type in the username and password. Blocking wifi won't solve the problem though if he has a data connection on his phone.

Spocker

Is it an Android phone? Maybe setup Google Family Link, it will allow for blocked hours

Block WiFi and he'll just use mobile internet

Shiksha

SilverSideUp wrote: »

You can easily block wifi on your router settings. Look at the back of your router for your routers IP address, login username and password. Then go that address from your laptop and type in the username and password. Blocking wifi won't solve the problem though if he has a data connection on his phone.

He has his own data allowance which is limited. If he had to rely on that, he wouldn't be able to be using anything like the amount he is using or for the length of time he is using it.

I have been searching for this online and I cannot find any easy solution that allows him a limited length of time per day on the net and doesn't involve changing passwords daily or manually adjusting settings on a daily basis. Surely other ppl are in the same boat?

Shiksha

Spocker wrote: »

Is it an Android phone? Maybe setup , it will allow for blocked hours

I tried that some time ago and he just deleted that off his phone - problem solved from his point of view.

Shiksha

Deleted User wrote: »

Block WiFi and he'll just use mobile internet

I don't want to block all of his access to the internet (though it might come to that, in the way that an alcoholic has to stay off drink forever) just to limit it, so he gets enough sleep and there isn't a huge drama every night trying to get him to give me his phone.

ED E

Shiksha wrote: »

I tried that some time ago and he just deleted that off his phone - problem solved from his point of view.

https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1075738?hl=en

You'll probably end up wiping his phone to do it. Set it back up with your account as parent and his as a childs account. Then he won't be able to delete your controls (unless he factory resets it).


Practically once you reach about 15yrs he'll likely always outsmart a relatively luddite parent.

techie

Shiksha wrote: »

I don't want to block all of his access to the internet (though it might come to that, in the way that an alcoholic has to stay off drink forever) just to limit it, so he gets enough sleep and there isn't a huge drama every night trying to get him to give me his phone.

You could buy a new router, which has Dual Band Wi-Fi, then schedule the lower band 2.4 to go off at set times, and use the 5ghz band for all the other devices you need?

Shiksha

techie wrote: »

You could buy a new router, which has Dual Band Wi-Fi, then schedule the lower band 2.4 to go off at set times, and use the 5ghz band for all the other devices you need?

I am as we speak looking up new routers! thanks

GerardKeating

techie wrote: »

You could buy a new router, which has Dual Band Wi-Fi, then schedule the lower band 2.4 to go off at set times, and use the 5ghz band for all the other devices you need?

You do not need dual band for this, many modern routers will allow one to regulate invididual devices, to allow them only for certain hours/days and also bandwidth.

Shiksha wrote: »

I am as we speak looking up new routers! thanks

You will also need to prevent your son getting access to the router.