Turn off internet between 11pm - 630am?

[#1]

Hello

I really need to be able to turn off any internet access from my son's devices overnight. If this means turning off internet access for the whole family thats OK (not ideal, but ok.)

I have tried a timer plug to just turn power off to the router over night. But it seems to totally mess up the power to the router. I tried a 'fing' device but my son has, somehow, managed to get around it. 

How can I turn off the internet overnight? (short of physically unplugging it at 11pm and 630am every day)

Thank you. 

PS Please, no comments about how my son should learn to self regulate. He is unable to do this for many reasons.

[#2]

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@freda42 wrote:

I tried a 'fing' device but my son has, somehow, managed to get around it. 

How do you know he 'got around it',  if you don't know how he did it ?

I'm asking because before you spend time and money implementing any solution, you need to consider whether your efforts will be wasted if he has access to the internet by another means.

For example -

1)  Does he know the WiFi password of one of your neighbours - and uses theirs when yours is disabled ?

2)  Does he have a mobile phone that he can configure as a WiFi hotspot using his mobile data ?

3)  Do you or your neighbours use powerline ethernet adaptors, which he might be tapping into ?

4)  Have you done a WiFi survey to see if YOU can access any of the SSIDs that aren't your Plusnet router ?

5)  Does he have a secret 4G mobile USB dongle that only cost maybe £10 to top up for several GB of data ?

6)  Would a brother or sister secretly share their mobile phone WiFi hotspot with him ?

7)  Do you live near a shop, cafe, public building etc with freely available WiFi that he can access ?

What router are you using ?, so anyone else reading this can chime in with specific help on that model

What devices does your son have that you are trying to control access to ?

Is there anything specific that your son is doing that you are trying to apply time restraints to ?

What age is he ? - to get an idea of his likely ability to defeat technical solutions !

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[#3 · Accepted solution]

@freda42 

If you are using the Plusnet Hub 2, there is a facility to restrict internet access on a per device basis.

Log in to the router and select "Advanced Settings", then select "Access Control".

I have never used this feature myself, so can't help with setting it up, but it seems to be straightforward?

[#4]

@Anonymous 

"What age is he ? - to get an idea of his likely ability to defeat technical solutions !"

Around 25 years ago, when our son was about 6 years old, we tried to punish him for being naughty by hiding the remote control for the Sky TV box because he usually got up before us and liked to put cartoons on.

It failed - I went in to the lounge the next morning to find him happily watching.

"How did you manage to put that on?", I asked.

"Front panel buttons", he replied!

We hadn't had Sky long, and I hadn't even noticed the buttons.

Was I smarter than a 6 year old?  NO!  😟

[#5]

@freda42 

Personally I prefer the old fashioned solution. Tell him the allowed times and if he fails to follow them then confiscate his WiFi enabled toys.

Alternatively log in to the hub  Advanced settings/Advanced Wireless page and change the 'Disable all wireless' field to Yes and save.

Switching thepower to the hub off at night is undesirable and will likely result in you not receiving firmware updates.

[#6]

@Baldrick1 

The OP said that disabling all wireless every night, and therefore preventing the rest of the family is "not ideal". It is also a manual job that would have to be done every night.

Hence why I suggested the "Access Control" feature in the Hub2, (if that is what they have). A one off procedure, that will activate automatically after that.

Or am I misunderstanding this Hub feature, (or doesn't it work?).

[#7]

@Mr_Paul 

Yes it works and I am sure that it’s regularly circumvented by tech savvy kids.

[#8]

@Baldrick1 

So, change the Hub's Admin password at the same time, or is that easily hackable?

[#9]

@Mr_Paul 

Yes, you simply factory reset the hub. That resets both the password and the access control.

[#10]

@Mr_Paul 

Thank you! This is *exactly* what I needed. 

However, how do I know which device is which, just from their IP address?

Thank you

[#11]

@Anonymous he's not quite as cunning as that! I think he accidentally found some way of getting around the fing device, rather than actively went looking for it. 

[#12]

@freda42  have you watched the YouTube video - Parental Controls on your Hub Two - Plusnet Help 

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[#13]

There used to be free online web based firewalls.  I set up one up for one of my daughters and her kids over a decade ago.  Though I was used to setting up firewalls, including those for schools, this was by far the easiest for her.  She had her own login and others could either use another password, or get the generic permissions that were set up by her, or me in this case.  Though not used, it could also be set to only allow access only at certain times.  Being web based it allowed the administrator, my daughter, to restrict access immediately if required.  It worked by all accesses going to the external firewall first.

[#14]

@freda42 

"However, how do I know which device is which, just from their IP address?"

When I first set up my hub, I went in to "Advanced Settings" > "My Network" and renamed all of our devices so that I could identify them on our network.

Devices such as PC's, mobile phones, tablets, Smart TV's and Firesticks etc usually show their IP and device MAC addresses somewhere in thier network settings.

It might be a bit of a laborious task, but if you are able to re-name your other devices, you should be able to identify your son's device(s) by elimination.