How important is it to secure your home WiFi network? One thing I notice is a lot of people I know do not have a secure home network. Whenever I ask why this is the case, most of the time people are just confused and don’t think they’re “techy” enough to do these kinds of things. It’s so easy though! If you can read and follow basic instructions, you got this! There are so many ways to secure your network, but I wanted to walk you through five of what I think are the easiest and simplest ways to secure your home Wi-Fi network. You want to make sure your home is a safe place to get online, right? This is also an important approach to adding one more layer of protecting your devices and your personal data as well. This is so easy you can literally do this in about 5-10 minutes, even if you aren’t the “tech type” and don’t speak geek. Your network security in your home is vital. And it’s one of those often overlooked safety measures. Privacy on things like your mobile devices, tablets, computers, laptops, and smart devices could be compromised by even the most novice hackers.
It’s pretty crazy how many people just use the basic setup for their home network and forget about it. They take the password and the SSID that they were given by their Internet provider (probably written on a box for the world to see), and that’s what they use. If this is you (we’re not judging by the way), you’re definitely going to want to take notes immediately after reading this. Make these adjustments! Promise? Okay. Are there more advanced steps to making your network and home WiFi more secure? Sure, but I just want to share with you a handful of basic tips you can do right now. First things first, you’re going to want to be by your router. We’re going to begin this process there. We will be making some of these security steps in the network settings. Most of them will be in the same place. Your router is going to look something like this….
Protecting Your Home WiFi Tip #1
You might want to go where your router is located to help get a visual of what we’re talking about in this tip if you want to. It’s not necessary, but it might help. You want to be looking at your router in order to find the information to log in to the administration panel. With most routers, the login info generally is going to be on the bottom, on the back, or the side where you can find a six or seven-digit code along with a password that’s printed on it. The info will also be in a manual (and you can typically Google your router model number and find it online). Usually, it’ll say something like “Router Login” or something to that effect. I’m not exaggerating when I say my login settings have the username as “admin” and the password as…yes…“password”.
What you’re looking for, or the first thing that you want to change is the SSID. This is the ID that comes up when you’re searching for Wi-Fi. What you may not realize is that a lot of these IDs can be tied back to the manufacturer of that particular router. Scary? Yeah, no doubt. Some routers may have known vulnerabilities. Hackers know this and if they see that particular ID will know exactly how to hack it. In addition to this, the default SSID may also be an identifier to know which Wi-Fi is related to a specific house that might be really expensive (or have valuable inside of it). It’s something someone with technical know-how and expertise might definitely want to hack into. They have their checklists, they have their processes down to a science, and SSID is an easy entry point into your personal data. These dangerous people out there exist. What you want to do is just rename your SSID name. Try not to make it too personally identifiable. You’ll want to avoid making it your name. Don’t imitate a private network. I see this a lot and it just invites people to join, which will slow download and upload speeds. Use a little common sense. A lot of people like to have fun with these SSIDs and that’s not a bad thing, but it’s best to err on the side of caution and keep personal stuff out of the SSID. Honestly, just changing it is going to add a layer of security. But make sure you know exactly what it is. This won’t make your home WiFi incredibly secure, but a small change like this can help quite a bit.
How Do I Change My Home Wifi Name?
This is really easy. These instructions are general for most router types. You need to access your router’s admin page (you can find this on the back or bottom of the router).
Step 1: Enter the router’s IP address into your favorite browser
Step 2: Log in as the administrator. You can find that info again on the router.
Step 3: Click on “Settings” (or similar verbiage) and you’re going to want to find the option “SSID Name” or “WiFi Name”. It should be one of those options.
Step 4: Enter your new WiFi name (follow our guidelines above). In some admin panels, you’ll have to hit save or “apply”.
While you’re in the router admin settings, the next thing you want to do is to set up a new, more secure password. Most likely, your Internet provider gave you a password, then set up your Wi-Fi with password protection. And that’s fine, but you really want to do something a little more secure and something you can keep track of more easily.
A couple of things with this. First, you want to create a strong, unique password. Do NOT create a password like one of these common Wifi passwords (and yes…these are legit passwords and I can’t believe people actually do this, but they do). Personally, I use a password generator and a password manager like Keeper or Zoho Vault, but there are a lot of really good password managers out there. Secondly, in the same place where you changed the SSID, you’ll want to change the old password with this new password. It’s usually in a field called “Password” or possibly “Passphrase” depending on the brand and type of router. Once you make those changes, press “apply”.
Protecting Your Home WiFi Tip #3
While you’re still in those admin (or advanced or something similarly named) settings for your router, another thing you want to look at is disabling remote access. It’ll usually be on a “Security” tab or something close to that. You’ll want to find a navigation label with “Remote Control” or “Remote Access”. Honestly, there are very few times when I’ve used remote access for my router. I can’t remember the last time I’ve used it to tell you the truth. What is remote access? If you’re not physically present near the Wi-Fi router (can’t access the signal essentially), remote access gives you the ability to dial in from another location. As I said, I’ve rarely used it and most people never do anyway. It’s just an extra vulnerability you don’t need for your home network. For most people (like 99% of the population), it’s an advanced feature. You’ll want to disable that feature and click “apply”.
Okay, this next one is really easy and I think is probably the most important. If you have a lot of guests (think extended family, friends, visitors, etc), one of the things that happen is you tend to give out your Wi-Fi password. My wife literally just did this today with an extended family member and I had to remind her why we have a Guest Network. What happens is that Wi-Fi password gets stored in their devices for a long time (probably indefinitely). If you were to look into your Wi-Fi settings right now on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, you’d find quite a few networks that are stored and saved on your device. What this means is they also could potentially have access to your home network, depending on how it’s set up. It’s not just the internet they get access to either. It could even include your internet of things (IoT) devices like your Alexa or your Google Assistant. Or perhaps your smart lights and smart thermostat. Maybe even your security cameras. All of these things.
So this home network security tip is really important: create a separate guest WiFi network. This can be done in a number of different ways (I love how easy Google Wifi has made it). But you’ll want to set up a separate Wi-Fi network for guests and other people with a different password than your main WiFi. What this will mean is you will have a Wi-Fi network that’s secured specifically for your family and your devices. And then a separate network for any guests that come in. The next time you have guests asking for the WiFi network and WiFi password, this way you’re not giving away your secure password that might be used for other things like email, banking, etc. I once had a friend who used the same password for everything. As a teaching moment when he gave me his home WiFi password, I tried the same password for his email and immediately accessed his email. I let him know, of course, and encouraged him to immediately change them all. If you use something like Google Wifi, Apple AirPort, or some other advanced routers, they have an option for a guest ID, which makes it super easy to set up. What I LOVE about these is it sets up a completely separate Wi-Fi network, so guests don’t have access to your home network at all.
Protecting Your Home WiFi Tip #5
Lastly, this one is by far the easiest. This is something probably not done that much but can be important. Depending on the level of home automation and what kind of smart devices you use, it might not be applicable to you at all. If you’re going on a vacation or you’re leaving your house for more than just the regular hours of work or possibly for an extended amount of time, it can be a great idea to turn off your Wi-Fi. There’s no reason to have your Wi-Fi on, especially if you don’t have a lot of smart devices. Even if you do have an Alexa or Google Assistant, it may not be a bad idea to turn the WiFi off. These devices can act as other access points to your home network. There is one caveat though: if you have a smart thermostat, a Ring camera (or something similar), smart lock, or a smart lighting system programmed or scheduled to keep burglars away, you won’t want to utilize this last tip. But if you aren’t into the home automation stuff and don’t have those extra security measures leveraging smart devices, then turning your WiFi completely off when you’re going to be away for an extended period of time is a really useful tip. We would highly recommend that you do get into the home automation space and begin to learn how effective smart devices and smart technology can help make life a little better.
Do you really need to know what is happening with your home network? Are you really at risk for not monitoring it? You’d be surprised by what dangers are lurking out there. It always amazes me when I come across a family relative, friend, or acquaintance that is completely aloof to how the internet operates in their home. Numerous times, I’ve encountered a home where the WiFi connection isn’t secure with a password and it baffles me, even causes me a little anxiety. I’d argue that it’s the responsibility of the internet provider to at least create a password to make someone’s network secure, but I digress. We created a list of questions every parent (actually every homeowner) should know as it relates to their home network. Don’t worry, we’re not going to throw out some technobabble jargon to confuse you. We don’t care about sounding smart. We care about helping you. We’ll keep this as dumb simple as possible, so you can have some actionable things to do after reading this.
What Is A Home Network?
Before we get into the questions you need to have a handle on, let’s just start with the basics here because if you aren’t monitoring your home network, you might not even know what it is. This is really easy. A home network is a group of devices that connect to the internet in your home. Those groups of devices could be laptops, computers, iPods, tablets, Amazon Echos, gaming systems, printers, smartphones, smartwatches…anything that connects to your internet. So when we say “Home network”, this is what we’re referring to. It’s everything. Simple, right?
Three Important Questions Every Parent (Home Owner) Should Be Asking
There are more than three important questions you should have a grasp on when it comes to monitoring your home network, but we wanted to focus on the three most important and easy-to-solve questions. I’d even add to this that you should know the answers to these questions or at least know how to access those answers fairly quickly. We’re going to carefully go through each of these questions and dive into why you should know each one and why each one is important.
Do You Know What Devices Are Connected To Your Home Network?
If your first gut reaction is, “I have no clue and I have no clue how to find out.” Then keep reading! Don’t want to freak you out, but how sure are you that your neighbor isn’t streaming off your internet connection? Knowing what devices are connected is definitely one of the most important things to know and understand. Your home internet is important because it provides the connection for all of your devices in your home to the outside world of the web. If you have devices that are not connected to your home network, such as a laptop that you take with you on trips, then those devices are vulnerable to anyone who might be using the same public networks as you. And when those devices connect to your home network, there are security risks. That’s just one example among many.
By knowing what devices are connected to your home network, you can better protect yourself by setting up firewalls and other security measures on your home network. You can also set parental controls on specific devices that are connected to your network, which can help protect your children from inappropriate content online.
Do You Know Which Websites & Apps Are Being Accessed By Your Home Network?
You might think this question is the same as the first, but they are very different. Knowing what those devices connected to your network are accessing is another very important thing for you to know. For starters, you should want to know the type of content and media the devices connected to your home network are accessing. No judgments here, but it’s downright scary what people look at and consume on the internet. In some cases, you might be held liable for what someone on your home network is accessing. So you should care. The Communications Decency Act gives you a little protection, but you don’t want to deal with investigations and discovery and all that legal stuff. Better safe than sorry. We don’t mean to strike fear into you either, it is a reality.
But that’s just one part of the equation. Apps and websites can access your personal information. I literally had a friend track my smartphone through a link he shared with me. It was creepy. But it taught me a really important lesson. Websites can make a record of your computer’s ID and your IP (Internet Protocol) address and track your web-behavior. With a decent firewall or VPN (DDID choice is ExpressVPN), you can completely halt this. And knowing which apps and websites are being accessed by your home network is vital. Because if you’re not careful, someone could be accessing your personal information without your knowledge. But I like to know what apps my family is using. Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Fortnite…I like to know when those are being accessed, how often, and how much.
Do You Know What Devices Connected Your Home Network Are Accessing?
It’s the 2020s, man. Kids share passwords. They shouldn’t, but they do. One of my favorite things to do is get a notification when a new device accesses my network only to shut it down moments later. Usually, it’s my son’s friend accessing our home network, but I still like to chat with them before I give them access so I can let them know that I can see EVERYTHING they’re doing on their phone. Want to avoid any awkward future conversation with their parents (if you know what I mean).
Why else is it crucial to know which devices are connected? Because your devices talk to each other. But it’s also important to know what devices are connected to your home network because each device uses up bandwidth and slows down the network for everyone else. A lot of smartphones won’t update apps or operating systems unless connected to WiFi. Many times once a guest in my house gets access to my network, their phones start downloading those apps and using a ton of my data. With a decent router, you can throttle specific devices and even shut them down if you wanted to. Additionally, some devices might be hacked and used to steal your personal information or launch cyberattacks against other people. By knowing what devices are connected to your home network, you can take steps to secure them and protect your privacy. You can also disable or unplug any devices that you don’t use anymore.
What Do I Recommend To Monitor A Home Network?
So…what are you supposed to do? Hopefully, by now, you understand the importance of knowing why monitoring your home network is important. Time to take action! There are so many options out there to help monitor your home network. There are some complex options and some really simple, yet effective solutions. I really like Google’s Nest Wifi. Not only can it act as a home automation hub where you can control all the smart devices in your home (outlets, lights, cameras, locks, thermostat, plant lights, etc), but it can also help you monitor your home network. If you want, you can set up a guest network on your home network as well. Setup is really easy and the Google community and support are just phenomenal. Plus, operating the app and navigating through features is a huge thing for me. Google’s Wifi section of Google Home (where these features exist) are just fantastic. If you’re a little more geeky, you can also look at the Synology RT2600ac which has similar features, plus some really cool parental controls and notifies you as bad-guys attack you from the outside. I’ll have to do a review of that bad-boy.
This past week, the U.S. Government issued a warning about possible cyberattacks from Russia as tensions between that country and Ukraine continue to escalate. Russia is notorious for performing cyber attacks throughout the world. In fact, Russia has some of the best-known hackers in the world! Notice I said, “known”. A good hacker everyone knows about, a GREAT hacker no one knows about. With my experience with Homeland Security, let me just say, we have some GREAT unknown hackers on our team. It’s a new-age military tactic, which can be very effective. We want to briefly walk you through what a cyberattack is and if you should worry about a cyberattack happening, and what you can do to protect yourself from a cyberattack.
What Is A Cyberattack?
Cyber attacks work by exploiting vulnerabilities in computer networks or individual computer systems. Hackers can use various methods to gain access to these systems, including viruses, worms, and Trojans. Once they have access, they can steal sensitive data or damage the system’s software or hardware. You can see why a successful cyberattack can prove useful in a military situation. Cyber attacks are a growing threat to businesses and individuals alike. Even governments are at major risk.
Yes, you should worry about a cyber attack! Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common and can cause a lot of damage. They can destroy data, disrupt business operations, access personal data, access financial records, and even put people’s safety at risk. Businesses need to be especially careful, as they are a prime target for cyber attacks. But individuals are also at risk as well and should take steps to protect themselves online.
The U.S. most likely will not be the target of a cyber attack from Russia, but it could set off a chain of events that could potentially increase the risk of a cyberattack on your data. Let us paint a couple of scenarios in which this could likely happen. First, cyberattacks aren’t always performed in a controlled fashion. They can grow out of control and affect other areas. Suppose Russia launches one on Ukraine. There is no guarantee those attacks will stay In Ukraine. Bordering networks could potentially be at risk. If you live in the U.S., this scenario is most likely not going to happen. But…we’re seeing the U.S. get involved with sanctions that will put economic pressure on Russia, so it would not be a surprise to anyone if Russia retaliated in a non-violent manner in the form of a cyberattack.
There are outside forces at work in the cyber world as well that governments have almost NO control over. For example, the hacking collective Anonymous just this week announced a “cyberwar” against Russia and Putin. There have been reports that they have been slightly successful as some of the propaganda arms of the Russian media have experienced outages and been taken down. Anonymous is no joke. But here’s the thing, Russian counterparts can do the same thing. In fact, in a digital retaliation move, a Russian ransomware group threatened any country and group that targets Moscow. This ransomware gang is responsible for some hall-of-fame-level cyberattacks too. They nearly crippled the Ireland health system in May 2021. This dangerous group of cyber thugs is very capable of launching a cyberattack on the U.S., especially considering that President Joe Biden has already been presented with a plan on how to carry out a massive cyberattack against Russia.
Furthermore, who knows the level of crazy we could see coming out of a desperate Russia. Most likely those attacks are going to be in areas that would affect the U.S. economy: large companies, government departments and agencies, and financial institutions. Even though most cyber security experts are saying we have a low risk of an attack, I can’t think of a better time than now to take immediate action to protect yourself from a cyberattack. These are all reasons why you need to take special precautions now.
How Do I Protect Myself From A Cyberattack?
Okay…so hopefully you are not freaked out about what’s going on in the world from what we mentioned above. It’s okay to be concerned and cautious. We don’t mean to scare or entice fear either, but we are passionate about you being protected from a cyber attack. There are a lot of people with emergency food storage, bug-out bags, and all of that stuff. Quite frankly…protecting yourself from a cyberattack is more practical because you are more likely to experience digital attacks than having complete infrastructures in the country shut down. That’s a fact.
So…what are you supposed to do? Here are several things you need to do right now to protect yourself from a cyberattack:
The best way to protect yourself against cyberattacks is to keep your computer systems up-to-date with the latest security patches.
Be uber careful about opening emails or attachments from unknown sources. As of now, if I’m not expecting an email from a sender, I’m going to be very cautious about opening it. In fact, if I don’t know you…I’m not opening that email.
Same thing with phone calls and text messages from unknown numbers. If you’re not on my contact list, it’s going to be hard to contact me for the next little bit.
You should also change your passwords and use very strong passwords. Avoid the “Password1234” laziness type ones as well.
Use anti-virus software to help protect your networks and devices.
Update your browsers. If you have a browser installed on your device and you don’t ever use it, uninstall it.
Get a VPN as they are known to protect you from most cyberattacks, especially ones targeting your IP address. I’d go with Firewalla’s Purple as it’s easy to set up, easy to use, and effective.
Be super careful about what links and websites you click on and what files, extensions, and applications you download.
Update your router’s firmware. If you have a TV, update your TV’s software.
Your phone is also a major weak spot. Where applicable with apps (banking and shopping especially), give your security a boost and enable two-factor authentication.
Take Action Now To Protect Yourself And Your Data From A Cyberattack!
Are you taking the necessary steps to protect yourself from a cyberattack? A cyberattack can happen to anyone and it’s important to be prepared. A cyberattack can be devastating. Can really mess up your life. Your personal information, your company’s data, your financial security, and even the nation’s infrastructure can be compromised in a cyberattack. If you take the necessary precautions now, you can help protect yourself from a potentially devastating attack. Remember, cybercriminals are opportunists and flippin’ smart. They will go after the easiest targets possible. The best way to protect yourself is to have good cybersecurity hygiene. Follow what we’ve outlined above. This includes using strong passwords, updating software regularly, and being aware of phishing schemes. You should also back up your data frequently so you will have copies if your computer is ever hacked. Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility and we all need to do our part to stay safe. Have a plan of attack to protect yourself from an attack.
More and more homes are being set up to be smart homes with all the bells and whistles (smart cameras, smart doorbells, smart locks, smart assistants, smart this, smart that) with fast internet. If your family is like mine, it feels like everyone and everything is connected to the internet. For the most part, everything runs smoothly. But underneath all of those connections, devices, and the internet is a world of data and quite honestly…danger. How do you really know what each device is doing on your network?
One of the things I get asked quite often is, “What do you use for home network security?” or “What do you use for monitoring your home network?” First, let me state that there are many efficient and easy (and complex) ways to monitor your home’s network. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with a lot of options for a lot of different users. But one of my favorites and the one I use in my home is Firewalla.
At the highest level of why I love Firewalla? Well…firewalls are typically complex (at least for the general homeowner). Firewalla is extremely simple to use. And when you do come across a firewall that is simple, most of the time they are not powerful and lack protection. Most effective firewalls can be very expensive as well. One thing we love about Firewalla is not just the price but the VALUE it delivers for its users. We want to walk you through some of the things that will help you understand what is at work with the world of firewalls and how Firewalla can really help you monitor your home’s network.
What Is A Cyber Security Firewall?
Don’t panic. Those are big words. Let’s break it down for you as simply as possible. A firewall is a cybersecurity measure that is designed to protect a computer, device, or network from unauthorized access. It’s designed to give you control of what does and doesn’t have access. Firewalls can be software-based (such as the Windows Firewall that comes standard with Windows operating systems) or hardware-based (like Firewalla).
A firewall works by blocking incoming and outgoing traffic based on a predetermined set of rules. For example, you might have a rule that blocks all traffic except for traffic originating from your trusted IP addresses. You might have a rule that blocks a domain from being accessed on any device. You might have a rule that blocks access to any app on a smartphone. This would help to prevent unauthorized access to your computer or network from outsiders. Firewalls are so powerful that 100% of all major businesses use several of them throughout their networks. It’s one of the major networking devices for them. “Dale, if they’re so good, why don’t we use them in our home?”. That’s where Firewalla comes into play.
What Type Of Firewall Is Firewalla?
Firewalla is a next-generation firewall that uses stateful inspection and deep packet inspection (DPI) to protect your devices from malicious attacks, while also providing you with visibility into all of your network traffic. What this incredible (yet simple to operate) piece of hardware can do is beneficial for your home network.
Firewalla uses application-level whitelisting and malware detection to protect your devices from unauthorized access, and it also includes a built-in VPN for secure browsing and streaming. We’ve talked about why you would want to use a VPN (they’re pretty cool). Plus, Firewalla’s intuitive mobile app makes it super easy to monitor your home network from anywhere. There is a little confusion on whether or not Firewalla is a firewall. Yes, Firewalla is a firewall. It’s designed to protect your devices and networks from unauthorized access and attacks. Firewalla can be used to protect your home network, office network, or any other type of network. It’s an easy way to keep your data safe and secure. Heck…it’s an easy and effective way to keep your family safe as well!
Firewalla also acts as a VPN service that encrypts your traffic and routes it through servers before it goes out to the internet. This way, you can keep your data private and secure, even on public Wi-Fi networks. Plus, Firewalla gives you the ability to block ads, trackers, and malicious websites. It’s like the Swiss-Army Knife of devices.
To put it plainly, Firewalla is a great way to monitor your home network and see what devices are connected, what apps are being used on those devices, and how much bandwidth each device is consuming (yes…I can see how much bandwidth my son’s Xbox X or Oculus Quest 2 is using). You can also use Firewalla to set parental controls and block specific websites or apps.
Firewalla is a hardware device (an actual thing you can hold) that plugs into your home router and tracks all the traffic going in and out of your network. It then sends all that data to the Firewalla app on your phone (to which you can be the only one who has access), where you can see everything in real-time. You can also go back in time up to 30 days and see what everyone (or device) was doing then.
Firewalla Products At A Glance Lineup
There are a handful of different Firewalla products and we wanted to briefly break down each one to make sure you get the one that will best match your needs. There’s almost a timeline of how Firewalla launched their products. And they’ve been an interesting story and brand to follow for the past several years.
Firewalla Red has launched a handful of years ago with one thing in mind: make cybersecurity simple yet affordable. As a base-level product, Red was designed to give you a basic insight into your devices, manage your family’s internet access, and protect your network from dangerous media. It was Firewalla’s answer to fill in the need for an affordable option.
In 2018, Firewalla launched Blue. This version was designed and engineered to be more powerful than Red by operating at 500 megabits. They added Safe Browsing for kids, a VPN client, and geo-blocking to block basically any country from your network (no more Ukrainian hackers). The built-in VPN client is nice because it allows users to safely browse the internet without exposing their personal information.
Back in 2019 Firewall released a bigger, faster, better version of the Blue called the Blue Plus. All the features of the Blue, but more CPU and memory and a cool feature called Simple Smart Queue which reduces congestion on your network…meaning you can give Netflix a higher priority than your kids Xbox game and you’ll stop seeing buffering.
Firewalla Gold was launched in 2020 and it was the enterprise business “Gold” standard in home cybersecurity. They were aiming for next-gen smart firewall protection for home and business. It still utilized the same software as Blue and Red, but this product processes at 3 gigabits per second and was much more powerful than its predecessors. It was like 30 Red’s packed into one piece of hardware. Firewalla Gold allows you to create private networks (with customized rules for each one), device segmentation, create your own VPN networks so devices could teleport to a remote location, and a lot more other bells and whistles. It is built for businesses.
Gold is a professional grade and highly customizable hardware firewall and router with a lot of awesome features: parental controls, advanced insights into your home network, built-in VPN server, dynamic content filtering, device protection, the ability to block ads, and…no monthly fees. It truly is the “Gold” standard.
We’ll have a full review on the Purple in the very near future, but this latest product has very similar features as the Gold model but is packed into smaller hardware. There’s a small, yet clever wrinkle with Purple though: it has built-in Wi-Fi (short-range Wi-Fi radio) so it can operate as a remote router. Why is that cool? You can take Firewalla Purple on the go (vacation, work remote, etc) and can tether your smartphone to it and provide an internet connection to your devices (up to 8 devices). You don’t have to worry the next time your kids connect to the hotel’s Wi-Fi. It’s literally Firewall-on-the-go. It still runs at gigabit speed. Still protects devices. Still allows you to monitor and control internet usage. And yeah…still no monthly fees!
What Is Fortnite? Why Should I Care About Parental Controls For It?
Fortnite is a video game that has become wildly popular with children and teenagers (and adults) over the past few years. The ecosystem of Fortnite is insane! While the game can be a lot of fun and provide a lot of entertainment and collaboration between your children and friends, it can also be quite addictive and may lead to problems with behavior, time management, and discipline if left unchecked. When I asked several of my friends if their kids play Fortnite, every single one of them said yes. When I followed up with asking whether or not they had parental controls set up, every single one said, “No.” Some of them followed that up with, “I just don’t know how to set up all that tracking stuff.” And that’s the problem: we just think managing our kid’s screentime and game-time use is too difficult and takes too much time.
Reminder: You are the parent. If you’re going to give your kid a device or platform, you need to be responsible so you can teach your kids how to be responsible with them. This is an oversimplification, but would you just hand a 16-year-old kid the keys to a car with no training, no education, and no testing? Probably not. The same logic applies to gaming and the specific games they play. That’s why it’s important for parents to put in place parental controls for Fortnite and any other games or apps their children might be using. These controls are there for a reason. They can help limit the amount of time kids spend playing games, as well as the amount of money they might be spending on in-game purchases. If you have an avid Fortnite gamer in your household, you’d know how much those in-game purchases can add up to!
How Do I Set Up Parental Controls For Fortnite
This is how you set up parental control for Fortnite. We’re assuming you’ve already got the account created and are now ready to go ahead utilize these parental controls. This process was performed on a PC, but the steps to set up Fortnite parental controls on Playstation and Nintendo Switch are very similar.
Step 1:
In Fortnite, select the menu icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen. The menu icon has three lines in succession on top of each other.
Step 2:
From here, you will then want to select “Parental Controls”
Step 3:
You’ll be taken to another screen and a big button reading “Set Up Parental Controls” will be the main call to action here. You’ll want to select that.
Step 4:
If you (or your child) have already set up your child’s account with their personal email address, we highly recommend changing it to yours by selecting change email. This process is pretty easy. If you don’t set it up with your own personal email (one they don’t have access to), they can easily switch these parental controls on and off at ease.
Step 5:
Select “Next”. From here, you’ll be taken to a new screen where you are required to enter a six-digit parental control pin. This six-digit pin will be required when adjusting any parental control settings. What’s cool about Fortnite parental controls is the email associated with this account will be notified whenever a pin is changed. This is a big reason why we recommend that email be yours. Go ahead and enter your six-digit pin code (and keep this secret as well, no need to tell the kids). Select “Next”.
Step 6:
You will then have the Fortnite parental controls settings panel displayed. There are several options here. Everything other than text chat has defaulted to “Off”. This is vital: take time to read and understand each parental control option. We’d highly recommend sitting down with your child to go through each of them together and agreeing on a personalized solution, which is best for them and you. If there are disagreements, let your child explain their side. And explain your point of view as well.
One tip here: Keep the “Voice Chat” off at the start. As we mentioned earlier, the Fortnite ecosystem is huge and there are all kinds of players. Adults play with kids. Teens play with little kids. You cannot control what other people say live. So as a recommendation (especially with younger kids), keep this option Off. Another quick tip: select “Weekly Playtime Reports” to On.
Once you’ve finished configuring the parental controls, select “Save” to enable them and that’s it. Congratulations! You’ve now officially set up parental controls for your kid’s Fortnite account.
Quick Parenting Tips For Fortnite
We’ve talked about some of the principles you can use to help parent your gamer, but when it comes to Fortnite, here are a few tips for you to manage your child’s use of Fortnite:
1. Just Talk About It
This one is so easy and pays off dividends if you do it consistently! Talk to your kids about Fortnite and the risks associated with playing it too much. Make sure they understand that it’s just a game (it’s fictitious), but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a little harm that can affect them.
2. Create Some Rules
Don’t rule with an iron fist here. Collaborate and create rules together. They will be more effective if you do. Set rules for how much your kids can play Fortnite each day and the key is to enforce them. If they break the rules, take away their privileges to play the game. Pretty simple.
3. Actively Monitor
This might take a little time and you don’t have to do it all the time. But randomly monitoring and checking in on your child’s gameplay and making sure they’re not playing for too long or hearing what they’re saying to the multi-player-verse is something you should do.
If you have a kid that is an avid player of Fortnite, setting up the parental controls will be the best 5 minutes you ever spend. The idea here isn’t necessarily about control as much as it is about setting up healthy boundaries with gaming (especially in multi-player universes such as Fortnite) and using tools to teach your kids management and awareness with what they’re doing. There might be some disagreements about the controls you set up on these games, but just remember…it’s for the better good.
Just last week, Google announced a surprising and draconian measure for all Legacy free G Suite users: start paying for their Google accounts or you’re going to lose your data (files, images, folders, purchases…yeah…all of it). Panic set in for those who were under this umbrella (mostly those who initially created these types of accounts from 2006 to 2012 and wanted to use a custom domain for their email rather than the free @gmail.com were going to be affected) and deservedly so. Luckily since that announcement about these kinds of accounts, Google has backtracked a little bit and is going to give these accounts the option to migrate data to a free account.
But according to their support page: “The G Suite legacy free edition will no longer be available starting May 1, 2022. Starting May 1, Google will seamlessly transition you to Google Workspace, which you can use at no cost until July 1, 2022. We recommend you upgrade now to a Google Workspace subscription that meets your needs.” As you can see, we still don’t know what will happen after July 1st.
There was a lot of confusion and frustration on the interwebs once this announcement was made because the threat (or even the idea) of losing all of your data stored to your Google account is quite the feeling. There were rumors that users would lose all their data. There were rumors that a data migration wasn’t an option UNLESS you migrated to a paid Google account (I don’t think Google realized how polarizing this new policy was going to be). So we did some research on what practical trick we could do to possibly save all that information from one of those accounts being threatened. Insert Google Takeout.
Download All Of Your Data With Google Takeout
We all know Google stores a LOT of our data. Did you know you can download most of that? It’s pretty cool. You can use Google Takeout to do this. You can export photos, log files, emails, documents, business messages, contacts, user reports, and on, and on, and on. We’re talking terabytes of data on your patterns and behavior. But in this scenario, I only cared about my Google docs. You know…the good stuff you store in Google Drive that you just don’t want to lose.
The export process was actually super easy. Just clicked on that Google Takeout link and was taken to the settings page where I could select between 44 different data locations where Google is storing information. The other genius thing about Google Takeout is you can download/export these files in multiple formats (game-changer)!
Four Easy Steps To Exporting All Of Your Google Drive Data
Again…the process was really easy. Because I had about 30 GB of data, it took a little bit of time to download, but the process was simple. The steps below are just for exporting Google Drive files that you own and have been stored on your My Drive and Computers (this will not export files that have been shared with you from another account).
Step 1: Find Google Drive
Once you’ve landed on the Google Takeout page, you’ll need to select the data you want to include. I first “deselected” everything, then scrolled down to “Drive” (they’re in alphabetical order) and clicked on its box.
Step 2: Decide On Your Export Format
There are multiple formats you can choose depending on file type. Just click on “Multiple Formats”. If you want Documents exported in PDF that is an option. If you just want them in DOCX format (for Microsoft Word), you can choose that as well for example. You can also add advanced settings to include more details and select with Google Drive folders to perform the entire export on. Scroll down and click the Next Step button.
Step 3: Delivery Method
There are all kinds of delivery methods for this export: send a download link (which I preferred for a backup measure), add to Drive (which you can use to add to another Drive account), add to Dropbox, and a handful of others. Once you decide on that, hit “Create Export”.
Step 4: And wait
Just kidding, kinda. Depending on what you created determines what happens next. I chose a download link and it arrived in a handful of minutes. But that time will depend mostly on how much information you have in your account and which option you chose to export. Just a Google Drive export shouldn’t take that long. However, if you download terabytes of personal data…well…that’s a different story.
Should You Export Your Google Drive Data…
…even if the Legacy Google Account issue doesn’t affect you? Yes! You just never know when you could potentially lose access to your Google Account. They have done a great job of providing recovery emails and security enhancements to make sure your data is extremely safe, but it is a good practice to export your Google Drive data at least once a year. Just follow the steps above and move that data to a safe, external hard drive so you have an extra backup of your files.
