Time restriction on WiFi use

[Vollycat]

Sorry if this has been addressed, but I cannot find anything on the topic.

I am Looking for an App that we can place a time restriction on my daughters iTouch--an ideal situation would be to have the ability to control the time of day WiFi could be accessed. Such as, on weekdays, WiFi is disabled at 9PM, but she can still use it for her music, and then 10PM disable on the weekends.

Turning off Safari and such isn't working because there is still Facebook and other instant messaging tools being used. Also, turning off WiFi all together isn't going to work because we have other computers that need access to WiFi. I really don't want to have to go into the router each night and manually turn off a Mac address, etc, either.

It just seems there should be an App with a time schedule that we can individualize that is password protected to turn the WiFi function off on her iTouch at a certain time of day....???

Am I missing something?
Thanks!!

 

[Csobre]

Time restriction on wifi use

Hello,
I was faced exactly to your problems having 3 sons with 3 macs plus iphones plus iPads plus my wife and me and possible guests... All linked into the same home wifi network.
I analized the problem deeply because not all of us had the same need and rights to be connected during the day and along the week.
I concluded that there is no simple software which can do this, BUT the apple routers Airport Extreme and/or Airport Express implement the perfect solution, giving you the possibility to decide who and when to be connected over the network. Simple as that ! And no one but you can modify the rules.

Carlo.

 

[Small White Car]

There is not an app for that because no app has the authority to cut off OTHER apps from the internet. They just don't have that kind of power. It's possible there's a solution with jailbreaking, but I wouldn't know for sure.

My guess is that approaching this as a router problem is the way to go. Unfortunately, my knowledge there is limited.

But for starters, check out page 47 of the Airport manuel:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Apple_AirPort_Networks_Early2009.pdf


So I THINK that the stuff on page 47 is your next step, but I'm not positive. I can't check all this where I am now so I can't promise you this is right, but I think that's what you need to do.

If you don't have an Airport, perhaps your router can also do this. If it can't then it might be time to buy an Airport router. (Assuming I'm right about that page, I'd check with someone who knows better before buying anything!)

 

[Vollycat]

Thanks for the help all. We don't use Airport but I will dig within the router I have and see if there is software within that can isolate mac addresses and individualize schedules for each.

Appreciate the time and responses!!

 

[RGene]

Get a new router

If your current router doesn't support this, then I'd recommend getting a new one with the capability to control access and access time for individual devices. I got a D-Link N router which surprised me by including this and alot of other security features. I'm sure other modern routers have similar features.

Controlling it at the router allows you also to upgrade your daughter's device or give her access to more than one internet device without having to figure out how to configure the new device(s). You can also restrict viewable sites on a per device basis if you feel you need to do that too.

PS - Also, everybody, please bug Apple about giving parents better parental controls on their devices including allowing individual user accounts (say like they do on the Mac). I would love to let my 5-year-old play with my iPad without worrying that he'll delete an app, scramble up a document that I've been working on or hop on to YouTube to find a "Bob the Builder" video and instead find something decidedly adult in nature.

 

[SuperCachetes]

On the recent Linksys routers (I have a WRT160N) you can absolutely do this. You can set up time restrictions by MAC address or even application. It gets a little hairy because it is so flexible, but it's doable.

 

[Csobre]

Airport

Hello Vollycat,
One more consideration.
It is well known that Apple hardware is more expensive than others.
So if 20-30 € matters, surely stick to alternative hardware, otherwise consider a device perfectly engeneered, great firmware, works on first shot, no configuration and, last but not least, makes what you need.
You can define that the router accepts always all the connections EXCEPT: you define a list of the MAC addresses of all the devices in your house (smartphones included) setting time and day of the week for each.
Moreover, only who knows the airport password can access its configuration.
Have a nice day and happy new year (in Italy is 12/31 6:45 AM)
Carlo