How do I stop my child from using WiFi after a certain time

My Mom used to always say, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” As a teenager, I would roll my eyes to the back of my head, as teenagers do. Now that I’M the Mom, I can see the value in the statement. When you are out late at night, most stores and restaurants are closed for the evening, and there isn’t much to do that won’t get you into trouble. The same can be said for what goes on inside your house as well. When everyone else is asleep, bad things can happen, including cyberbullying, viewing pornography, and doing any number of things deemed inappropriate.

This is one reason many households put the internet to bed at a certain time every night. When the rest of the house is sleeping, no one needs to be browsing the internet, watching YouTube or using social media. When you are tired, the filter in your brain doesn’t work as well. You may just get talked into something you don’t want to participate in, or you could say something you seriously regret later.

The good news is there are a few easy ways to put the internet to sleep when the rest of the family is in bed. Parents might be able to get a few more hours of rest when they aren’t worrying about what is happening inside their home. When Parents get enough rest, it really just makes the entire house happier, so help your kids understand that putting the internet to bed will also help parents be a little nicer during the day.

Router Settings

Most wireless routers you can purchase now have settings that you can use to disable internet access during certain times of the day. They may be found under the parental controls for the router or within more advanced settings. To find the right solution for the router you use, just do a google search for the brand and model of your router and then “internet access timeframe” or “time schedule”. It should help point you in the right direction.

Mobile Data Settings

Once you have the wifi covered in your home, the smartphones in your home can always turn off wifi and still access the internet. Fortunately, the wireless carriers are also hip to the idea of giving the internet a bedtime. Many of the top carriers offer parental controls that allow you to manage time restrictions for devices on your account. Check with your own carrier to find how to set them.

Parental Control Apps

Using a parental control app like Boomerang is a really easy way to cover both the wifi and the mobile data networks. Through the app, you can disable the use of the phone completely during certain hours of the day, or just allow a select few apps to be used during the night like music apps to help fall asleep.

The great thing about using a parental control app is you can override the settings at any time. If you want to let your kids stay up a little longer one night, or you will be out and need them to have enough access to get a hold of you, you can easily change the time, or quickly allow access. Using the other methods it may be complicated to get it turned off for one night.

Turn In Devices

Finally, the low-tech way to give the internet a bedtime is to have a single charging station in your bedroom. You require all devices to be handed in before you go to sleep every night and they all charge as one big happy family. The main downside to this is if you are a heavy sleeper, you may not notice kids coming in to grab their devices in the middle of the night.

Wi-Fi isn't the only source for internet access. Unless you connect your device through mobile data, the cost for internet access varies based on the data package. Wi-Fi works 24/7 with the weekly, monthly, or annual packaged bill payment.

Since cutting off internet access through Wi-Fi doesn’t save the electrical bills, most people leave it on all day and night. But, it’s necessary to turn off internet access at night time.

You need to give bedtime for your internet for your physical and mental well-being. You may invest several hours at night browsing things on the internet, using social media, and videos on YouTube that are not useful and informative.

Using social media during the night, you might communicate with strangers with whom personal sharing of information is not beneficial. All in all, internet access at night for most people is tiring and a waste of time.

How do I stop my child from using WiFi after a certain time

Why Turn off Internet Access at Night?

The potential benefit of turning off internet access at night is saving oneself from exposure to electromagnetic radiation. Even if you turn off the internet connection from your device but keep your router on, you constantly get radio waves harmful to your health. EMF frequency radiation damages human body cells and DNA, so you need to turn off the router at night.

With a smartphone in hand and an internet connection, you tend to use it late at night. If you turn off internet access at night, you get proper sleep at night. If you start to browse, watch videos on YoutTube or use social media, you get no idea how fast time goes. As a result, due to mobile distraction, you will be exhausted and won’t get proper rest.

Further, internet usage for prolonged hours introduces problems with physical and mental health. In the first place, you lack proper sleep, and you maintain no fixed schedule to a meal with hours of internet surfing. You develop anxiety and depression, therefore, cut off internet availability at night. Engagement in physical activity also gradually decreases. These are a few of the reasons you start to develop physical and mental issues.

Additional Reasons to Turn off Internet Access at Night

Prolonged hours of screen time with internet access to electronic devices is harmful to human bodies. I have listed a few health issues one is likely to get if they use electronics and the internet day and night with less time for rest and eat.

  • Exposed to Wi-Fi EMF radiation.
  • Mental issues with anxiety, depression, and irritation.
  • Joint and backbone pain.
  • Develops cardiac problems and arthritis.
  • Poor vision and hearing power.
  • Loss of appetite and dehydration.
  • Lack of physical activities makes people physically weak.
  • Endocrine health issues along with muscle spasms.

There are many methods to turn off internet access. I have enlisted 7 ways to turn off internet access at night, have a look, and use the feasible method for you.

1. Turn off Wi-Fi on Electronics

The simplest way to get disconnected from internet access during bedtime is turning off Wi-Fi from your electronic devices. You can disable the Wi-Fi connection by going to ‘Settings’ of mobile phone, tablet, PC, etc.

Plug your computers, mobile, iPad to the internet when needed except for night. You get proper rest at night and be less exposed to EMF frequency radiation transmitted as radio waves through electronic devices through the very measure.

2. Unplug Wi-Fi Modem

The most effective and easier way to discard Wi-Fi at night is to unplug the router. If you unplug the Wi-Fi modem, none of the electronic devices can connect to the internet. Simply unplug the router before you go to bed and plug it in when you wake up.

However, one drawback of this method is that your family members can use the internet through their mobile data.

3. Use Router Settings

You need to turn on or off the power button of most of the routers to either access or restrict internet access. But, now routers come with the advanced setting through which you can disable internet connection at any time you don’t want a connection. The advanced setting is added as parental control to monitor kids’ usage of the internet.

To disable internet access through a router, you can go through the manual instructions you are provided with during router set-up. Or else you can get guidelines for router settings on the internet. Google the type and model of the router you have in your home, and see the instructions to disable internet access and follow the procedures.

4. Schedule Wi-Fi

OpenWrt-based Wi-Fi router is specially designed as a parental control tool. You can use pcWRT as a home network to schedule Wi-Fi.

The on/off times of the router are managed through wireless settings where you get a weekly calendar. You can note the time when you want to turn on/off the router in the calendar. Follow these steps to schedule a weekly based router on/off setting on pcWRT router.

Step 1: Open the app you downloaded for router management.

Step 2: Access the page ‘Wireless Settings.’

Step 3: You see an option ‘Edit Wi-Fi Calendar.’ Click on it.

Step 4: Select the time for turning on/off the router in the Wi-Fi schedule layout. The schedule can be done multiple times for a single day.

Step 5: After you schedule router enable/disable schedule, click ‘OK’ at the bottom right corner of the page.

Step 6: Finally, click ‘Save’ to save changes on Wireless Settings.

5. Use Phone to Turn off Internet Access

You can turn off the router with your smartphone. Most of the companies, Fing, Asus, and Linksys, provide router and built-in router management mobile applications. After router set-up, download the app on your smartphone, and manage internet access on/off period. You can turn on/off the Wi-Fi modem anytime you want through your phone.

You can use a web browser as an alternative to the router that cannot be managed through apps. You can visit the web address of the Wi-Fi router. On the page, you will see the option for turning on/off the router. In this way, you can easily use your phone to manage internet access at night.

6. Use Timer for Wi-Fi

Another mechanical solution that discards transmission of EMF radiation from your router is using a timer. You can set the router to the timer through which you can turn off internet access at night and in the daytime. The timer is safe, easy, and cost-effective to use.

For instance, you can use the BN-LINK Wi-Fi plug outlet as a timer to schedule router on/off time. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistance control the timer, and with voice commands, the user can control the home network.

You can control the router even if you are distanced from the router. Smart scheduling, monitoring consumption of electricity through the connected device are other features of the BN-LINK router.

7. Install Parental Control Apps

If your kids are sharing several hours of screen time using social media, playing games, and surfing videos on Youtube, here is an ultimate solution. Download and install parental control apps to block internet connection at night. You can use the parental control app such as OurPact as an internet blocker to turn off the router at night.

OurPact is available on both Android and iPhone. The app is featured with internet blocking processed through the internet allowance schedule. At any time, you can reduce the internet usage time of your kid. The app blocks internet access by restricting connection to web browsers and mobile applications. Through the parental control app, you can block internet access and manage your kid's screen time.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, internet connection at night time is dangerous for human physical and mental health. No matter if you use electronics and the internet in the daytime, but at night, you need to give rest to your body. If you or your kids are distracted through devices and internet connections and find it difficult to sleep, you probably should disable the router at night for EMF protection.

I have rounded up seven ways to block internet access at night. Go through the information and try a reliable method to cut off internet access. Was the information helpful? Let us know through the comments if you have any queries.

Can you block WiFi at a certain time?

With Wi-Fi pause, you can pause the internet for a group of devices or for specific devices. You can also set a schedule ahead of time for regular routines like when you get ready for bed or distraction-free homework time. In order to use Wi-Fi pause, you will first need to set up a Family Wi-Fi group.

Is there a way to turn off WiFi at night?

If there's resistance to removing the WiFi from your home entirely, you may want to take a smaller step. You can turn off your WiFi at night. It's quite simple. All you need to do is put a timer on your router.