Controlling the devices on your home WiFi network has never been easier. Settings on your WiFi router, commonly known as ‘parental controls’, make this possible.
But first, why should you use parental controls? People have different reasons for wanting to control the devices on their network. Let’s look at the main reasons.
Why use parental controls?
- Limit screen time for kids – too much screen time for kids can lead to weight gain, behavioural issues and interrupted sleeping patterns. Avoid this by setting time limits for kids devices.
- Avoid overnight downloads – gaming consoles and smart TVs can run automatic software updates overnight. This can eat into data usage for that day. Parental controls could be set-up to only allow such devices to have internet access between set hours of the day to avoid these updates.
- Limit guest devices – letting your guests on your home network is fine, though you may not want them using all the data. You could assign them a set number of hours of access each day.
- Deny access to potentially harmful websites (i.e. ‘blacklisting’). It’s useful to prevent kids from accessing unsuitable content. Equally, many people use this to block websites commonly known as being unsafe.
- Allow access to ‘safe’ websites (i.e. ‘whitelisting’). Again, this is a great option for only allowing access to a list of websites on certain devices. For example, if your child should only access educational websites for research purposes, you could whitelist these websites.
Control Devices using a Fritz!Box 4040 router
Aptus supplies customers with a Fritz!Box 4040 router as standard issue. This router allows Aptus customers to control devices on their home WiFi network.
You can set the number of hours per day allowed on a device or a group of devices. This means that a child’s mobile phone, tablet and gaming console can have a combined set time limit per day.
Screen limitations can also be set by the time of day, meaning internet use doesn’t happen outside of certain hours. Screens off at 10 PM on schools nights takes on a whole new, literal meaning with this setting.
See our full instructions on setting up parental controls using a Fritz!Box 4040 router.