Scheduling

How to Automatically Turn off Internet Access at Night

Build better habits by automatically turning off the internet on your devices at night.

Tech Lockdown Team

Updated July 5, 2024

If you are trying to improve self-control for yourself or others, turning off internet access at night is a useful strategy. In 2024, it’s possible to schedule internet usage on devices that use roaming internet connections (like smartphones with 5g) as well as home internet connected to using a wired connection (ethernet) or Wi-Fi. We’ll go into the various strategies for scheduling internet usage in this guide.

Here are some common reasons that Tech Lockdown members have reported that they schedule internet downtime on their devices:

Reduce screen time. So much "doom scrolling" happens at night in bed. Scheduling downtime is a quick way to significantly cut down on screen time and improve sleep.
Self-control is weakest at night. For our customers who want to prevent themselves from accessing adult content , setting internet downtime is a critical step.

Depending on your use-case for internet downtime, you might mix-and-match some of the recommendations we provide in this guide. Here are some areas we considered when creating this guide:

Handle common bypass techniques used to circumvent downtime schedules.
Downtime schedules might need to be customized differently for specific people/devices.
Ensure that you don't render home security smart devices useless by blocking their ability to connect to the internet.

Add an Internet Downtime Schedule to your Content Policy

One approach you can use it to connect your devices to a DNS Content Policy that supports scheduled block rules. Instead of turning off the internet, you can block the entire internet so that internet-dependent apps and the browser won't be able to reach the internet.

There's a few significant advantages to this approach:

It works whether connected to WiFi or 4g/5g. This is important since some people bypass home router Wifi downtime schedules by switching off WiFi and using a roaming internet connection.
You can personalize downtime schedules so that some people/devices have different schedules.
If you're using smart devices to protect your home, like a home security camera or doorbell, you can make sure these devices still function properly by excluding their services from your downtime rule.

If you're using the Tech Lockdown Content Policy, follow these steps to set your internet downtime schedule.

It's recommended, but not required, that you point your home router to your content policy. This will let you easily schedule internet downtime for all devices that are connected to your home WiFi.

Additionally, connect each device directly to your Content Policy. We recommend using the provided app to do this. Even if you've configured your home router to point to your Content Policy, this step is important to account for 4g/5g connections.

In your Tech Lockdown Content Policy, create a rule > select the presets tab > select Internet Downtime

After creating the downtime rule, you'll be directed to the page to customize your schedule. Scroll down and change the schedule to match your downtime preference.

Once the schedule is set, scroll up and Enable the rule and Save changes

The next thing to consider is who this internet downtime rule should be applied to. By default, this downtime rule will apply to all devices connected to your Content Policy.

If you've configured your router to point to your content policy, all devices connected to your home router will have their internet blocked depending on the downtime schedule you just set.

If you want to narrow the scope of the downtime rule you created to a specific device, customize the Audience section of your internet downtime rule based on the app login email address.

Ensure that the device you want to target has been configured to connect to your Content Policy using the app.

Open the Internet Downtime rule you created previously and customize the Audience section to select the email address used to login to the app on that device.

App Required

The audience rule scoping requires that you are using the provided App to connect to your DNS Content Policy.

Finally, you might consider excluding certain apps or web services from being blocked when the internet downtime rule is applied.

In the Content Policy page, create a new rule and select an Allow rule

Navigate into the allow rule you just created to customize it

Start by searching for any specific apps you want to exclude from the blocklist. This approach is ideal since it's the most effective whitelisting approach.

If you can't find an app in the list, you can open the Domains section and specify specific domains to allow:

If you aren't sure what domains you need to allow, you can go to the part of the Tech Lockdown dashboard that lets you see recent and popular DNS Traffic logs. Check to see what is being blocked and then add those domains to your allow rule.

Configuring Devices to Specify Internet and App Downtime

We often recommend combining multiple approaches together for better flexibility and effectiveness. In addition to scheduling downtime with a DNS Content Policy , you can combine this approach with features that are available on computers and smartphones.

Here are some additional benefits you can get alongside the content policy:

A DNS Content Policy can block the internet entirely, which will ensure internet-dependent apps not work properly and websites can't be access in a browser. However, you might prefer to not have the ability to open the apps at all. This is where it can be useful to combine DNS blocking with customizations on the device.
When there isn't the option to connect to the internet, some people will switch to playing games on their device since the internet isn't required in that case.

Cross-Platform App for Setting Downtime

Our preferred approach that perfectly compliments the DNS Content Policy internet downtime rule is the Freedom App . Here's why we recommend it:

It works great alongside a DNS Content Policy - it doesn't conflict with it, so you can combine both approaches together.
It works on Apple, Windows, and Android devices. This means you don't have to manage multiple apps on different devices and can use the same app on computers and smartphones.
Scheduling app and internet usage is the main focus of this app.
It has basic bypass prevention built-in with their "locked mode"

In order to schedule internet downtime, you would create a blocklist and then start a recurring freedom session based on your required downtime schedule.

Using Screen Time on Apple Devices

Alternatively, you can use Apple's Screen Time tool to set downtime on Apple devices.

This approach has a few benefits as well:

It works great alongside a DNS Content Policy without conflicting with it.
Most Apple devices have access to Screen Time. If you're an Apple-exclusive household, you won't have to worry about juggling multiple apps on different platforms.
Apple provides basic bypass prevention by allowing you to set a pin to enforce your screen time settings.

One of the features Screen Time includes is called "Downtime", and it lets you schedule when you should be taking time off of your phone or laptop.

By default, Downtime restricts all apps on your apple device, except for phone calls and messages. You can choose to make exceptions for this by including apps in the Always Allowed apps category in Screen Time.

In order to prevent turning off screen time and bypassing your downtime restrictions, you can configure Screen Time to use a pin. Either share this pin with an accountability partner or use a pin that you won't remember and store it somewhere that you can't easily access.

Using Digital Wellbeing Settings to Set a Bedtime on Android

Android's competitor to Apple Screen Time is called Digital Wellbeing.

If you're just wanting to reduce distractions, then you can use the Bedtime mode feature to schedule when you want to not be distracted. Unfortunately, it's not like Screen Time, since it won't block you from being able to use or open apps. It does put your phone into Silent Mode and turns on the screen filter on grayscale.

If the free Digital Wellbeing app that comes with most android devices doesn't go far enough for you, you can download an alternative from the Play Store.

Using Parental Controls to Limit Access on Game Consoles

I personally don't play on consoles as much as I used to, but many of my friends do. It can be tricky, but you can set some limits for your account (or your child's).

In general, I don't recommend going through this process for yourself for the following reasons:

You can achieve similar results by scheduling internet downtime on your router with a DNS Content Policy like we discussed previously.
Parental controls usually require you to have an account that's below a certain age (usually 13). If you're a parent who's wanting to set limits for you child, this is fine, but for self-control, setting limits properly like this can be more of a hassle than it's worth.

PlayStation's parental controls are what you can expect nowadays: they offer controls at the account level, which can be used to:

Limit which age rating children can access.
How long child accounts can play each day.
Control chat and content sharing features.

There are more options listed on their site, but these are the one's that might be most important.

Xbox has something called Family Hub , which builds off of Microsoft Family Safety features. Similar to PlayStation, restrictions are set at the account level, and include:

Set device screen time limits.
Set limits for a specific game.
View activity reports.

Create a DNS Content Policy

Enforce content filtering rules on all your devices.

Setting an Internet Cutoff on Your Home Network

A potential free way to schedule internet downtime at home is to set an internet downtime schedule on your router .

Most router models support an internet shutoff that can be scheduled for different times of the day, or even customized to each device connected to the router. However, this isn't an option for everyone and it has a few limitations:

It's easy to bypass router scheduled internet downtime by switching to a smartphone's data or setting up a hotspot.
Some routers simply do not support this feature.
Smart devices, like home security cameras, might be rendered useless when the internet is turned off.

Each router is going to have different settings, so making a single article or section that covers all of the nuances you might encounter is tricky. Typically, if your router does support this feature, you should be able to very quickly look it up online.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a DNS Content Policy?

A DNS Content Policy allows you filter the internet to block websites and apps. Good DNS Filters allow you to block general categories (like adult or malicious websites) of content and are great if you are wanting to improve self-control or add protection while online.