Vis-a-vis home wireless router and being able to manage all the various devices that are using it to access the jolly Internet.

What I would like is the ability to either allow or deny access to the Internet for each device according to the time of day, ie after say 11pm, the router will not allow the kindle, WiiU, PS3, a Nokia phone and anything else that the 12 going on 16 year old boy uses to access the inter web.

So, is there an app or an ISP that would fulfil my heady and totalitarian requirements?

Currently with PlusNet, who are proving to be very reliable and given that we are in a rural location, some 4miles from the exchange, speeds are acceptable, so I would prefer to stay with them. Especially as the other two options for service are BT and Sky, both of whom I would prefer not to give any money to, as they seem to like giving it to footballers.

If an aftermarket bolt on type app isn’t in existence, how much of a project might it be for someone who knows about 1’s and zero’s to make it?

Thanks in advance 😀

My solution is to run 2 routers
BT infinty home hub
Then a buffalo dd-wrt router

All devices connect to the dd-wrt router and you can setup timed access via MAC address which meets your requirements

Buy a router with an SNMP interface and knock up a simple script to change the config at certain times. I do this sort of stuff as a day job…..

No answer but oh the ironing

Especially as the other two options for service are BT and Sky, both of whom I would prefer not to give any money to, as they seem to like giving it to footballers.

Plusnet plc is a British internet service provider (ISP). The company was founded in 1997 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and became a public limited company in July 2004 when it was floated on the Alternative Investment Market. On 30 January 2007 Plusnet was acquired by BT Group, but it continues to operate as a separate business. By December 2013, it had over 750,000 customers across the UK.[1]

Actually, if you’re a real masochist you could just telnet it and reconfigure it at scheduled intervals using Expect, but that’s not the most user friendly language….

Thank you all for your replies and yes Mike, the irony, but hey ho.

Give me bits of wood or metal and I’ll make anything, unfortunately, writing ‘simple’ scripts, configuring routers and it all goes blah blah blah to me. There I was hoping for a nice easy downloadable app, possibly with pictures and buttons for me to click on…

Footflaps – can I pm you please? Thanks.

Why not just switch the router off when you dont want to allow any more access?

What router is it?

The easiest way is if you have Plusnet protect,this guide shows you how to set up access schedules for your son’s devices Plusnet guide.Otherwise you may have to do this using the router’s control system.

Some routers let you set up multiple access points (my netgear does). Basically like having two routers.

So you set up a “Kids” and a “Parent” network then you can use the router settings to schedule when the Kids one is active (and also filter content!).

Fairly involved set up though.

Don’t plusnet Routers have access control that allow you to do precisely this. Access the settings by typing something like 192.168.1.254 into an internet browser.

No need for an app, the built in router configuration manager should allow this. Netgear certainly did when I set up exactly this when my daughter was younger and just checked my current BT hub has it under Access Control/Time Schedule.

Or set up remote access to the router and just login through a web browser wherever you may be. You might need a static IP Address or a way of identifying your current IP if not static.
If you use dropbox you can see what the IP address was at home last time it synched there.

Or set up remote access to the router and just login through a web browser wherever you may be.

Given the rise of malware designed to infect routers it is probably a bad idea to allow internet access to your admin page (even if you have a reasonable password).

If there is a way to access the routers, it will be the gateway IP, so a 192.168.x.1 rather than 254, but yes, most modern routers have a way of doing stuff like this.

A mate of mine used to swear by disabling WiFi on the router and using a Raspberry Pi with a plug-in WiFi dongle as the access point. Mind you, he liked doing that sort of thing.

Which reminds me, I need to see if there is a new firmware update for mine.

I found the simplest solution to be the flashpaul one,ie just run a separate wireless access point for the kids and put it on a timer. I did think about the script type stuff but I needed the rest of the family to be able to change the time when I wasn’t there. Sometimes simple is best

willard – .1 doesn’t always have to be the default (or gateway) address, I’ve seen plenty where the default address ends in .254. It’s normally labelled on the unit anyway.

OP – my Plusnet router had a scheduling option in it where you could do precisely what you want to do. I have a setup like flashpaul though using 2 routers though, but I just turn the wifi router off when I don’t want anyone to use it! Turning off the wifi ap as opposed to the “modem” keeps the service providers line management software happy.

having been battling with my router all morning I can confirm that plusnet routers are on 192.168.1.254

the username is admin – the password is printed on your router

Couple of questions for the OP:

You said you wanted to set it up so that at certain times “the router will not allow the kindle, WiiU, PS3, a Nokia phone and anything else that the 12 going on 16 year old boy uses to access the inter web.”

Have you thought about what other methods he may have for accessing the net?

e.g. does his phone have any data on it? Are any of your neighbour’s networks accessible? Is he tech-savvy enough to set up a proxy or hack around your restrictions?

Just asking because a 12 year old me would have taken pride in being able circumvent any restriction put in place by a boring grown-up 😀

Tomato firmware based router, and some technical ability and you are away.

Separate VLAN for the kids, means decent interweb filtering with something like OpenDNS.

Scheduled times for specific devices.

Lots more options.

Update:

Brilliant! Thank you all for your responses. Very much appreciated. Ive only now been able to read through and test it all out.

Big shouts out to: gwaelod and nbt 8) , you both win the internet with the suggestion of using its address of 192.168.1.254 Simple is best and this was my first approach

Using admin and my routers password I was transported to the Technicolor Gateway Home page.

From there, Home Network and then add the individual devices I wish to edit. Once added to the list of devices to be scheduled, the Edit button allowed me to select hours of the day for weekdays and weekends. Did this for all three devices and hey presto!

No doubt, tomorrow mornings’ dawn chorus will be to the sound of “why the internet isn’t working?”

And yes, GrahamS, thanks for your thoughts, ultimately, if he finds a way to circumnavigate this then Ill be delighted to know that he has the where-with-all to work it out and find a fix, so win win in my book, following another frank discussion, the rules of engagement will be re-established. 😀

Cheers all.