Out of control Kid with his PS4

Lounge
#1

So I have a 18 year old. Can't get off the PS4, I could take it away, sure.. rather annoying to constantly take and put back.

So I want to install In-Wall DUAL Smart control outlets. iDevices & Insteon has them, iDevices is Wifi and Insteon needs its own Hub, both of which are not supported in Hubitat.

Basically just want to kill the power outlets in his room at a certain time, to ensure dude goes to sleep. We travel a lot so would be handy. If I could schedule his rooms power outlets to be on and off at certain times of the day... and it needs to be dual outlet controllable, he could just unplug from the smart outlet and plug into an outlet that is not controlled.

Suggestions?

#2

IMO these types of control never work as intended .... what's to stop him plugging it into a different outlet in the room (if there is one)? Or running an extension lead from another room?

Plus, while the PS4 is reasonably robust, killing the power to it while it's on is a sure way to eventually brick it .....

If he's an online gamer, you might have more luck with blocking outbound internet access? That seems to work quite well with my 12-year-old Fortnite addict. Maybe your internet router has a schedule facility for locking out clients during certain hours?

The PS4 also has parental controls, might be worth investigating setting limits there too?

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#3

Agreed. I have very good results by limiting my 10 year old with my TP-Link Deco M5. Excellent parental controls. You can pause and unpause with a single button push in the app, pause internet by time of day and day of week. Much better control and much easier to use than any router I've had prior.

I would also encourage a change in approach. May be that he is more susceptible to addiction and this may lead to more serious situations. As the parent of an 18 year old too, I can definitely say that the better you work with them to govern themselves and prepare for challenges, the less you will spend sleepless nights worrying about them.

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#4

Yea I figured out even blocking internet to devices isn't a good enough answer. You've just got to know when the device is in use illicitly and take it away. Granted iPod touches are easy to remove than a PS4. I'm dreading when my kids get older with how connected they want to be. Just take the controllers away, until they buy secret controllers.

Kids are bad and will do what they want to do at the end of the day. I used to be one...

1 Like
#6

I have to agree here.

Cutting internet really doesn't do anything, he just goes to single player games like red dread 2 or something.

I was planning on putting smart outlets in all sockets in his room. He doesn't have access to extension cords, I know him well enough that he'd get the hint at that point. I am just not here to take the controllers away sometimes. Need a consistent method of killing his power, if it bricks his PS4, that's on him because he'd know his time limits coming.

I may check the parental controls in his PS4 but I'm not happy with a method I have to go interface with on his device, I'd rather interface with home automation he has no access too.

#7

Just wanted to circle back to this. I still agree that this isn't going to stop a motivated teenager, but while these devices are not officially supported, there are ways to make them work. I have many Insteon devices which work great using this community integration. You will need node.js running on a Raspberry Pi or separate computer.

I also have an iDevices outlet that I control via Homebridge and HomeKit automations. I simply create a virtual switch for each outlet, then expose it to HomeKit via the MakerAPI Homebridge community integration. I then build four HomeKit automations (two for virtual switch turns on, and virtual switch turns off) for the two outlets. This works great, but you of course need to be an iOS user, need to again have an always ON node.js computer, and you need either an AppleTV 4 or later, an iPod with the latest OS, or a HomePod to run the HomeKit automations.

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#8

good luck

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#9

Use the parental control in the PS4. The playtime control is really good actually. I use it for my kids and it's working well. Unless they are bypassing it without me knowing of course. YouTube.... Now that's another story.:sob:

#10

My dad went as far as taking scissors to the phone line to my bedroom to cut off my access to dial-up. It's when I learned how to splice wires :rofl: The only effective thing you have at your disposal is the built-in play time control, but this is an 18 year old. If they want to play, they're going to play.

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#11

Your profile doesn't indicate what country you're in. In the USA I think most (all?) smart outlets only control half of a duplex socket--the uncontrolled outlet is always live. They also have a manual override push button to turn the controlled outlet on or off.

EDIT: You could however use something like a Qubino relay or similar mounted inside the electrical box to switch power to a standard outlet.

#12

I think this is just a manufacturer choice and/or cost savings.

Insteon, iDevices and the new ConnectSense can all control both outlets, but they're not natively supported in HE. I don't know of any Z-Wave or Zigbee outlets that control both top and bottom, but would love to learn about them if anyone else knows of some.

I would especially like to know about an in-wall load sensing outlet that is not made by GE. Yes, I have something against them. :stuck_out_tongue:
Only two that I'm aware of are the Insteon and ConnectSense, but only Insteon can do something with that capability.

#13

I was an Insteon user for a number of years and unless they've changed, I only recall one socket on a duplex outlet being controlled. Those also had an override push button making "lock-out" functionality impossible.

#14

Now they have a version that can control both. I have the older ON/OFF outlet that controls just the top. There was also a dimmable version that you could swap out the insert to make it dimmable or not. I believe that too is discontinued.

#15

Good point. Duh! forgot about the buttons. All those outlets can be controlled manually. :rofl:

#16

ConnectSense doesnt seem to have an over ride button...

#17

The new ConnectSense In-Wall Smart Outlet puts possibility in the palm of your hand. Control devices with the sound of your voice, check if you remembered to turn off the heater, and schedule your lights so you never come home to a dark house. Even lock usage when it’s time for homework, not video games. It’s energy monitoring and control - seamlessly designed to fit right in.

Lock usage , looks like some one was on the same thought path as me.

#18

Take it away for a week... the first time, 2 weeks the second, a month the next, etc. It you reach a year, sell it and the games that go with it.

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#19

This was mentioned earlier, but to reiterate you will probably kill the hard drive in the PS4 if you keep powering it off while it is accessing data.

#20

Regardless of which approach you take remember to never underestimate the will of a teenager to do something contrary to your wishes and to perform superhuman google-foo to circumvent any measures you have in place to shape their behavior.

#21

Truth :point_up_2:

Download the Hubitat app