That's it, NO MORE WIFI FOR YOU! Kids these days are very deeply entwined in the internet, their life can revolve around it. From video games to social media, they're spending hours everyday on the sticky web. As parents you often have to face challenges of...well lets just say nicely, lazy little couch potatoes and getting them to do things like their homework and chores. There is a number of ways to do these groundings, one of the more common forms is the removal of internet access, no gaming, no streaming no social media.(Unless they have their own phone plan, then they'll start using that, racking up the data bill instead) It cuts right at the heart and life line of most teenagers. This is a little easier said than done, you can round up all the devices and stash them away or you can just kick them from the network. The Starlink system gives the ability to do a lot more than what previous providers could, the kiddos will become even more dependent on their internet now, maybe even too much but that is another topic.
Can You Turn The WIFI Off With Starlink? Short answer is no...there isn't a little toggle switch in the app, (however there are a couple workarounds) all have their shortcomings until Starlink brings out more network controlling features with their system.
The options we found are:
1. Unplugging the router(Gen 1 only) Takes out your WIFI network but can stilled be used with hardwired devices. This cannot be done with a Gen 2 system. but you can put it in bridge mode this will disable the WIFI.
2. Stowing the System This takes out all services, including yours but starts back up quickly and will save some power. This is primarily used if you move Dishy around a lot.
3. Changing The Password Gives you the ability to keep the network up and running, your phone with the Starlink app will still have access and whatever other devices you choose if any.
4. Unplugging the whole system. Very effective no network at all, and will take a bit to boot back up and do any updates it may have missed.
Until Starlink brings out the feature themselves the best workaround that still gives you network availability and some control is option 3. It can be done in a matter of minutes from your phone in the Starlink App by changing your password. Disclaimer here, when you change your password it will remove all devices except hardwired,(If being used) Anything using your WIFI, camera systems, IOT smart systems, security and monitoring systems will all be removed for the time in which you shut down the network. Most networks are set-up for all devices to reconnect as soon as the Starlink network becomes available with the original password, if a device doesn't come back online then you will have to manually add it to the network. Modern day technology changes fast, so be patient and always check for equipment updates and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Make notes of all your logins and password, keep them safely. These notes will help with networking further down the road.
It is Simple and easy, by setting and resetting the WIFI password also known in technical terms as your SSID.(Service Set Identifier) This is the place where everyone goes to login to use your Starlink system, every device that wants to use the network will have to scan for the SSID and then enter in a password. A lot of modern day routers give you the ability to control devices on the network, unfortunately the Starlink set-up doesn't allow you to do this with their router. But there is a pretty good work around that will have your couch potatoes moving around in no time at all.
This only takes about 5 minutes to do so it can be done very quickly on a whim. The first step is to go into the Starlink App and click on Settings, just under your WIFI networks name is your password that you already made for the network. Take note of what it is (I'm sure you already have it memorized). Now make a new one to replace it, make it something only you will guess, and preferably 16 characters long but that is another topic I will cover later on. Just make sure you remember both your new and old passwords.
Once you've changed the password you'll notice that you will have gotten kicked off the network yourself as well as everyone else's device. This is where it gets a little tricky so be patient and follow the prompts on your phone for finding and connecting to your network. You will still have the same network showing but you're unable to connect. Find the tab to select the network and forget the old network.
Now rescan for your WIFI Network and place in the new password, then voila...you are now connected and everybody else is disconnected. Their devices will keep trying to hook into the network but they won't be able to until you either give them the new password or change back the password to the original one. Which is done by just going through the same steps as before and changing the password back.
Before changing your password take note of how many devices are on it, this will help identify which devices have or have not reconnected. When you reinstate the original password all the devices should automatically sink back up to the network, this can take 10 or so minutes so be patient. If some devices don't hook back up then you might have to manually do them, following the manufacturer's directions, always making sure your equipment is up to date.
By clicking in the network setting you can see all the devices in the network with the connection type and signal strength. If one device is having problems then you can check it here for low signals. Although the Starlink router is good, it is not perfect and even annoying at times. Right now you can't access a lot of standard router features, including safety ones as well as monitoring. This is where a lot of aftermarket routers excel at as well as many other things and are much more capable and powerful if you have the budget. The Starlink router is decent, but it could be better for sure.
Well they served their time and have done their chores and homework(As much as they could offline) and now you want to reconnect everybody(thing) back online. You just follow the steps all over again and change your password back to the original. It will take some time for things to come back online and you will have to forget the network from your phone again but ideally all other devices will reconnect themselves as long as their connections were left alone. It isn't a bad thing to practice your connecting and reconnecting of network devices, learning about your network. Keeping your eye on your network activities and understanding how it works will only improve your experience all well making it more safe and secure. There are definitely other reasons why a person would shut down there WIFI other than grounding kids, maybe suspect the neighbor is grabbing some bandwidth, to many devices on the network, just a plain old network clean up. We would like to hear about your tricks and tips for the Starlink system, how you have found innovative ways to use it? comment below and let us know your thoughts and ideas. Thank you for reading, we hope you have enjoyed it, if so then please think about becoming a member for free, stay up to date with everything Starlink and join a community of users sharing their experiences.