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Re: Smart kids bypass my security

vtdave
Initiate

Smart kids bypass my security

My foster son (10 yr old) has just come up with a way to stay up all night, thwarting my efforts to impose bedtime shut-off of all devices.

Would appreciate knowing if my suspicions are correct.

Boy has a "found" phone which I cannot simply take from him. To do so would be "abuse", and he knows all the rules imposed by the state on the subject.

On the ORBI app, if he has turned off the phone, I can't see it and turn off wi-fi access. And even if I see his phone and shut wi-fi off to him, he has a work-around.

If he pops the battery out of the phone and does a factory reset, he returns as an online device, and unless I stay up all night, he is then free to game his sleep time away.

Does anyone know if this would be a workaround as described? The cheap phones would probably not be able to withstand repeated openings and resets as described, but I am not sure?

One thing that would be helpful to someone in my position would be for the ORBI app to have a list of all devices that have been on the network, with the option of disallowing them from online status if they just reappear to the network. Let's say his phone pops up at 3 am, and I have set that phone to be refused network access. That would solve my sneaky kid issue.

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 8
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Smart kids bypass my security

Well if the MAC address doesn't change the phone, the Orbi should be able to any access during the time frames. 

Does the phone connect to the main wifi network or guest network? 

You could have the phone connect to the guest network instead of the main wifi network. Change the PW on the main network and not give this to the child. The Guest Network could be used for the phone. Then at such time you can turn OFF the guest network when the child isn't supposed to be online. 

 

What is the mfr and model of this phone? Taking a phone away from a child isn't abuse, it's called disipline. 

Can you set up access control using the RBR web page? 

Does this phone have cell service as well? 

 

Message 2 of 8
plemans
Guru

Re: Smart kids bypass my security

@FURRYe38 advise is sound. Access control would be good. 

Another thing that'd work? Just shut off the router. If you're currently turning off the wifi, you could just instead shut if down and take the power cord. pretty tough to sneak around that without a replacement cord. 

Message 3 of 8
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Smart kids bypass my security


@vtdave wrote:

One thing that would be helpful to someone in my position would be for the ORBI app to have a list of all devices that have been on the network, with the option of disallowing them from online status if they just reappear to the network. Let's say his phone pops up at 3 am, and I have set that phone to be refused network access. That would solve my sneaky kid issue.


I like the Guest connectio idea, because it is relatively easy to turn Guest "on" and "off".  In regard to the specific question (underlined),

there are two ways that information would be available:

  • The Orbi does maintain a list of devices which have been "seen".  It is on the Advanced Tab->Security->Access Control.  Below the list of devices which are currently on the network is a section of devices which were allowed, but are not currently present.
  • The Orbi logs every time an IP address is assigned to a device.

The key to both of these resources is the WiFi MAC address of the phone.  Using Access Control, however, is more tedious than simply turning Guest on or off.

 

Alas, nothing about this is "automatic."

Message 4 of 8
ekhalil
Master

Re: Smart kids bypass my security


@vtdave wrote:

.......

On the ORBI app, if he has turned off the phone, I can't see it and turn off wi-fi access. And even if I see his phone and shut wi-fi off to him, he has a work-around.

.......


You don't need to manually turn off the wifi access for the kid, you can configure Orbi to block wifi access for this specific device on a specific time duration using access control. You just need the MAC address of the phone.

 

Message 5 of 8
vtdave
Initiate

Re: Smart kids bypass my security

Shutting off the router is not an option as "home phone" is a skype number and I need my iPad, at least, to be online for that.

Message 6 of 8
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Smart kids bypass my security

Let us know if using the access control freatures with the MAC address helps. 

Message 7 of 8
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Smart kids bypass my security


@vtdave wrote:

On the ORBI app, if he has turned off the phone, I can't see it and turn off wi-fi access. And even if I see his phone and shut wi-fi off to him, he has a work-around.

If he pops the battery out of the phone and does a factory reset, he returns as an online device, and unless I stay up all night, he is then free to game his sleep time away.

Does anyone know if this would be a workaround as described? The cheap phones would probably not be able to withstand repeated openings and resets as described, but I am not sure?


Looking back through the messages, I see we never answered the question (underlined above).  And, I had not taken into account that you use the Orbi "app" to manage it.

  • I believe if you "Pause" a device using the Orbi app, it remains "paused" until you "unpause" it, even if it is not connected.  So, turning the phone off and then back on again is not a workaround.  This is because the WiFi MAC address of the phone does not change when it is restarted.
  • How expensive the phone is has nothing to do with how many times it can be restarted.
  • There IS a workaround that was described in this forum several months ago, only it was being used by a teenager, not a 10 year old.  It is technically possible to make some devices report a different MAC address.  This enterprising teen would make the phone appear to be "completely different" every time.  If your 10 year old can already do that, it's time to enroll him in Computer Science classes.  However, turning on "Access Control" would stop even that workaround because the administrator (you) has to approve a new MAC address.  (To be honest, I seldom use the Orbi app, so my knowledge of Access Control on the app is limited.)
  • So, of your choices, it's either use the app to "pause" and "unpause" his phone twice a day or to change the primary WiFi password on every device you have (ugh) and tell him only the Guest password, which you turn on and off twice a day.
  • Of course, if one of your neighbors has an open WiF, then you can't control access to that.

Raising children these days entails challenges many of us are ill-equipped to deal with.

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