How to set up internet control for children on a Xiaomi router? When the internet is off, game blocking, and anti-breach prevention, I understand my son's tablet management

my son's third grade summer vacation, the tablet was a birthday gift from his grandmother. I didn't take care of it for the first month, but he could play for six or seven hours a day, couldn't hear when he called for dinner, and at eleven at night, the screen was still lit in bed. I've tried both hiding the tablet and changing the WiFi password, but they didn't work—he could see the password on the TV and remember it once my mom entered it. Later, he realized something: he didn't want a tablet, but a network. The network is in my router's hands, so I'll start with the router.

Xiaomi router has a set of internet control for children hidden in both the backend and the Mi Home app, with more features than I expected: disconnect by time period, block websites by type, and even see how long they've played each day. This article covers the entire setup process and the pitfalls I encountered. If you have models like Redmi AX6S or AX3000T at home, you can copy them directly.

first figure out where the entrance is: both locations can be set up

Xiaomi has two entry points for this feature, and the functions are similar. I've tried both versions.

first is Mi Family App. After binding the router into Mi Home (refer to my previous post on Mi Home App Remote Management ), open the router card, tap the "Toolbox" at the bottom, and inside you'll find "Child Internet Protection." Just click in and follow the prompts to add your child's device. The advantage is that even when you're away, you can change the rules and watch your time. I remember once on a business trip, at 10 p.m. I checked the app and saw his tablet was still connected to the internet. I immediately reduced my available time for that day to zero, which was more effective than just shouting on the phone.

second is webpage backend . Open 192.168.31.1 in your browser and log in. In 'Frequently Used Settings,' scroll down to find the 'Child Internet Protection' entry (the location varies slightly depending on the firmware version; if you really can't find it, use the app section, which has the same function). The web-based platform excels at detailed rules, allowing you to see everything at a glance on a single schedule.

here's a premise: your child's device must connect to the router's WiFi first. The router recognizes devices by MAC address, and if you haven't connected before, you won't find it in the device list. So before setting up, make sure your tablet is connected to the internet. Don't rush in and rummage through the backend looking for devices.

Put the child's tablet inside: There's a pitfall in recognizing devices

enter the settings page for children's internet protection, the first step is to select a device. The device list lists all the recently connected devices, with all kinds of names: HUAWEI MatePad, iPad, Redmi-note...... If you're not sure, just have that device play a video and see which device has a jump in real-time data, and that's the .

Here's the

pitfall: occasionally duplicate devices appear in the list, and the same iPad shows two lines—one with a name and one with a MAC address. This is because the tablet has enabled the "random MAC" feature, using two identities when connecting to WiFi. When selecting, add both, or go to your tablet's WiFi settings to turn off "Random MAC" and change it to "Device MAC" for a one-time solution. At first, I only included one of them, but after setting the rules for ages, he could still access the internet with a different identity on his tablet. I thought the function was broken.

circle the equipment, give this set of rules a name (I named it 'Kid's Tablet'), and then lay out the rules. The rules are divided into three parts: time slot, duration, and website type. I'll explain them one by one.

How to schedule

outage periods: My schedule and adjustment process

time period is the "when internet access is allowed"—the time when you can go online is on, and the time when you are offline is grayed out. My schedule has been revised three times:

my experience during the time slot is simple: separate the "main tasks of using the internet" from "playing" and leave . Online class sessions are relaxed, but games and video websites are blocked (how to block them below), while entertainment sessions are fully restricted. Psychologically, children can accept it easily—it's not that they can't play, but that they have time to play.

another detail is not to get too stuck on network disconnection time. On my first version, I set the disconnection point at night to exactly 21:00, but he started connecting with classmates right at 20:55, and as soon as it arrived, it forcibly disconnected, causing a huge commotion. Later, I moved the disconnection point to 21:30, and things actually worked fine. Before the internet goes off, the app will pop up a reminder for the device, telling it there are ten minutes left. Keep this reminder and don't turn it off.

Block games and short videos: How to use content filtering

I didn't have enough time to manage it, and I didn't let him play freely during entertainment hours. In the children's internet protection section, there is a "Website Type Blocker"; if you check "Games" and "Video," the router will block a large number of game and short video domains. After checking it, I tried it on my tablet: Honor of Kings couldn't access the loading page, Douyin couldn't generate new content, but WeChat and online course apps were working fine.

pour cold water on this: this blocking is domain database matching, not 100% protection. Niche games, web-based mini-game sites, and even searching directly for "xx games online" in a browser still slip through. My attitude is to treat it as 'subtraction' rather than 'walls'—block out the two or three most addictive types, and just stick to the time slot for the rest, and that's enough. If you really find a website that missed the internet, you can manually add it to the blacklist in the app and just paste the full domain name into the submission.

the opposite is also a chance to get a friendly fire. Once, during an online course, the animated video in the courseware wouldn't load. After searching for a long time, I found that the domain of that courseware was mistakenly blocked by the 'video' category. The solution is to add the domain name of the online course platform to the whitelist. So, during the first week after setting the rules, pay close attention to whether your child is attending online classes properly. Don't ignore them once the rules are set.

middle school kids take detours: three defense

this set of controls is more than enough for elementary school students, but when kids get older, they need to watch out for detours. There are three tricks I've encountered and heard of, and I've listed the corresponding methods:

• Borrowing your neighbor's WiFi or using data : The router only cares about your own area. The tablet is fine after removing the SIM card; the phone uses its own data to access the internet, and the router is completely invisible. My approach is: control is one thing, but data has to be negotiated through a SIM card package—I just got him a supplementary card with 2GB per month and let him decide how to use it.
• deleting devices and reconnecting to change identities : Some children "forget this network" and reconnect to WiFi, trying to break free from control. It's useless—the MAC address doesn't change, and the rules follow several times. The real trouble is the "random MAC" switch, so you must do the previously mentioned "random MAC" switch; once you do, it's useless.
• Reset Router : This is the ultimate move. Hold Reset for ten seconds, and all rules reset to zero. The only way to prevent it is: the router to manage passwords, don't use your child already knows, and keep the device out of their reach. How to set management passwords is a bit more complex. The approach is exactly the opposite of what I wrote about password recovery that article is about forgetting things, and this one is about preventing people from guessing.

to be honest, this is the ceiling for tools. Even in middle school, they still block him and only force him to go to classmates' homes to play. My mental expectation is: this system will be enough until elementary school graduation, and the rules will be gradually loosened, switching to a traffic distribution approach.

handy bonus settings: time reporting and FamilyMart disconnection

Let me mention

two inconspicuous but useful features.

one is internet usage time report . The app lets you view the internet usage curves for each controlled device for the day and week. I check every Sunday night, not to curse, but to spot something unusual—once, his Wednesday afternoon hours suddenly increased by two hours. When I asked, it was PE class reform self-study, and the teacher allowed free time. The information gap was filled, and the rules were adjusted accordingly.

Another is the of timed whole-house internet disconnection. Set in the toolbox, the whole family's WiFi goes off at 23:30 every night and is restored at 6:30 in the morning—not just the kids' devices. First, I should be sleeping myself; second, smart devices like cameras and speakers at home go offline at night without any issues, which is worry-free. This is two different things from child control—don't confuse it—one is managing people, the other is managing the whole family. By the way, my smart devices are all integrated into the guest network, separated from the main network. How to partition them can be found in my previous article on guest network settings.

to sum up this system: access is in the Mi Home App toolbox or the backend of 192.168.31.1 under "Child Internet Protection"; First, turn off the random MAC before encircling the device; The time slot schedule keeps the main event and the entertainment section separated; Game video blocking is a subtraction; if accidentally hit, add to the whitelist; Prevent unauthorized access by relocating random MACs, hiding routers, and managing passwords to replace . The setup itself takes half an hour to complete; after the first week, keep an eye on it, and afterwards it's much easier.