Power user



  • @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    Slightly easier, but not to a relevant amount...

    I don't have to worry about things like ☁ is falling, WPA2 is vulnerable and this is valuable to me.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    Do you have kids? I can keep tabs on their Internet activities much more easily if they have to be at the computer desk in the family room to get to it. And the fact that it's in an open space itself induces away from doing anything untoward.

    Yes, and we do keep their computers in spots like that while also using wifi. Also, just because you have wifi in the house that you can use with your phone doesn't mean that everything has to use it. You're causing yourself inconveniences from my POV.



  • @boomzilla I'm happy for them to take the laptop into their bedrooms and do homework on it. I just don't want them to have Internet access there.

    The eldest does this quite often, because it's a better environment for studying than at the computer desk with the other two playing games and making noise.


  • Considered Harmful

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    @boomzilla I'm happy for them to take the laptop into their bedrooms and do homework on it. I just don't want them to have Internet access there.

    The eldest does this quite often, because it's a better environment for studying than at the computer desk with the other two playing games and making noise.

    How do you do homework on your computer without internet? Even if it doesn't involve online research, it's common knowledge nowadays that you should exclusively use Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/whatever for stuff you'd otherwise use Office for, to eliminate any possibility of machine failure (teachers at my school required that it be done solely on Drive, after getting sick of hearing 'I couldn't print it', 'I couldn't find a flash drive', 'Word borked it', etc).



  • @pie_flavor Office hasn't been a problem for them so far. She did learn a lesson a year or two back about why you should not have the only copy of your work being on a USB key.


  • kills Dumbledore

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    I'm happy for them to take the laptop into their bedrooms and do homework on it. I just don't want them to have Internet access there.

    Again, no wifi password but an ethernet jack at the computer desk.

    You do seem to be going to great lengths to make things difficult for yourself



  • @jaloopa You seem to be overestimating the amount of difficulty it is causing me. I don't download apps for my phone all that often.

    Genuine question, because the option is worth looking at even though not directly applicable right now: would it be possible to set up the laptop so that it connects automatically to wi-fi if my wife or I are logged in, but the kids would still need the password? I could probably manage to remember Yet Another Password but my wife wouldn't.

    Also, whether it would be possible to give them access on a one-off basis (i.e. by me entering the password) without then enabling them to use it whenever they liked.

    (ETA: since OS is obviously kind of important here, Win 10)


  • :belt_onion:

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    Slightly easier, but not to a relevant amount...

    I don't have to worry about things like ☁ is falling, WPA2 is vulnerable and this is valuable to me.

    Neither do I, because my devices will be patched far before everyone else's, and I'm not the target of a foreign government entity.

    Seriously, the security aspect is approaching tinfoil territory - WiFi is pretty effective at being secure unless you're actively being targeted by someone.

    In which case, why are you even on the internet?


  • :belt_onion:

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    @boomzilla I'm happy for them to take the laptop into their bedrooms and do homework on it. I just don't want them to have Internet access there.

    The eldest does this quite often, because it's a better environment for studying than at the computer desk with the other two playing games and making noise.

    Cool... So

    @boomzilla said in Power user:

    just because you have wifi in the house that you can use with your phone doesn't mean that everything has to use it. You're causing yourself inconveniences from my POV.

    You having WiFi doesn't instantly mean your kids will have it, unless you're stupid and make the password easy to guess (or botch the security some other way, like making it easy to change the password from inside the LAN).


  • :belt_onion:

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    would it be possible to set up the laptop so that it connects automatically to wi-fi if my wife or I are logged in, but the kids would still need the password? I could probably manage to remember Yet Another Password but my wife wouldn't.

    Uh, yea, probably. I don't think that's built in to Windows, but there's probably something that can do that.

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    Also, whether it would be possible to give them access on a one-off basis (i.e. by me entering the password) without then enabling them to use it whenever they liked.

    That would be much easier, since you would just not "remember" the network, and the next time it drops the connection it won't reconnect.



  • @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    You having WiFi doesn't instantly mean your kids will have it, unless you're stupid and make the password easy to guess (or botch the security some other way, like making it easy to change the password from inside the LAN).

    OK? I think last time I used it on a Wi-Fi network (visiting family for several days) I put in the code and everyone had access to it, though I might be misremembering on that point; it was almost a year ago.

    @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    That would be much easier, since you would just not "remember" the network

    Cool, wasn't sure if that was a per-user thing.


  • :belt_onion:

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    OK? I think last time I used it on a Wi-Fi network (visiting family for several days) I put in the code and everyone had access to it, though I might be misremembering on that point; it was almost a year ago.

    Well yeah, you'll need to share the PSK (basically a password) with any device that you don't want on the network, but blocking the kids from access is super simple, just don't share it with them.

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    Cool, wasn't sure if that was a per-user thing.

    Yea, I believe that's a system-wide thing.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    would it be possible to set up the laptop so that it connects automatically to wi-fi if my wife or I are logged in, but the kids would still need the password? I could probably manage to remember Yet Another Password but my wife wouldn't.

    Actually yes! But... it's definitely not trivial. You're looking for 802.1x authentication, and that requires a bit of configuration. But, once set up (so long as it's done correctly) it's almost as easy as the normal password-based auth (technically easier if you're in a domain, as each computer just inherits the correct wifi settings and depending on who logs in can do the authorization transparently and automatically).

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    Also, whether it would be possible to give them access on a one-off basis (i.e. by me entering the password) without then enabling them to use it whenever they liked.

    Besides using the built-in wifi radio toggle (accessible in the unit's admin page or sometimes an actual button on the unit), there are hotspot systems that can also do this, essentially letting them connect to see a "captive portal" but not the actual internet until some condition was met (code, password, whatever) to allow access, typically time limited.
    But that also requires a bit of setup.

    Really, it would probably be easier just to get a cheap-o $10 pocket router you connect to the ethernet jack for a few minutes to update your apps and just not tell anyone, putting it away in the shirt drawer or something until you need it again.



  • @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    @jaloopa You seem to be overestimating the amount of difficulty it is causing me. I don't download apps for my phone all that often.

    Genuine question, because the option is worth looking at even though not directly applicable right now: would it be possible to set up the laptop so that it connects automatically to wi-fi if my wife or I are logged in, but the kids would still need the password? I could probably manage to remember Yet Another Password but my wife wouldn't.

    Also, whether it would be possible to give them access on a one-off basis (i.e. by me entering the password) without then enabling them to use it whenever they liked.

    (ETA: since OS is obviously kind of important here, Win 10)

    If you want a really stupid answer, here's one:

    • Make a file on your wife's desktop with the password.
    • Set the computer not to remember the password.

  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @scarlet_manuka said in Power user:

    @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    You having WiFi doesn't instantly mean your kids will have it, unless you're stupid and make the password easy to guess (or botch the security some other way, like making it easy to change the password from inside the LAN).

    OK? I think last time I used it on a Wi-Fi network (visiting family for several days) I put in the code and everyone had access to it, though I might be misremembering on that point; it was almost a year ago.

    @sloosecannon said in Power user:

    That would be much easier, since you would just not "remember" the network

    Cool, wasn't sure if that was a per-user thing.

    Ah, yes, typically going through the "normal" method of connecting to wifi adds it to the "All Users" area, meaning anyone on the computer can use that "profile".

    MS kinda hid the functionality to move the wifi connection settings to personal accounts, but it can be accomplished via the following:

    0_1508309302166_1b8d71f8-aebe-43b5-8c51-1900ab7fa2f5-image.png

    (I don't think you actually need to be admin, but habit)
    This adjustment means that only my account knows the password to the Wizarding-AC network, and others on the computer won't be able to connect without entering the password. I'm not entirely sure if it disconnects from wifi upon logoff though...



  • Hey all, thanks for the useful replies.

    I probably won't make any hardware changes until the NBN arrives at our place (although... I should try to find how how long they expect it to be, I guess), so I've bookmarked this for future reference.


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