Alert if two android devices are separated?

[dorlow]

So, technology is a real issue in our house. Technology has led to a lot of issues with my kids where one of my kids ended up in the hospital twice due to stuff that started on social media. The kids now have pinwheel phones so they cannot get to any of that. But, my kids have broken into safes and find devices we forgot about and got around blocks.

I bought a synology router and I have it setup so any device connected without me putting it into a profile can't browse. But then my kids figured out how to use anonymous vpns and proxies which bypassed that. I now spent almost $600 on a Watchguard firewall where now I have vpns and proxies, for the most part blocked. But it's getting insaine.

So, I was storing all of our tablets and smart phones that we're not using in a safe. But. my kids figured out the code to the safe by using a blacklight to figure out which keys I push to get in... can you beleive that? Also one of my kids broke into my wife's gun safe to get a tablet. A few months ago, when things really hit the fan, I found every single electronic that wasn't used on a daily basis out to my garage, put it in the vice and then smashed the screen until it broke in half. I ruined a lot of devices. My idea is I do not want anything in the house that's electronic that isn't used on a daily basis.

Ok, brefore you get on me about parenting, my one daughter has been to the behavioral health hospital twice. She is on meds now. We talked to her doctor. Doctor says no social media for her at all. But my other daughter has been caught doing this too. I have the two kids in counseling once a week and I also hired a parent coach (which is $800 a month for her services.... insaine how much she charges), but we have a $200 meeting with her once a week to discuss parenting. Her idea is we need to take it back to the begining and fix all the issues.

But still, this takes time. My kids are required to use school chromebooks and PCs at home. (That is what I caught one of my kids using a vpn to get around my blocks.)

Ok, so all of you know all of my problems. I've spent many hundreds of dollars on Kindle books. I destroyed my tablet a few months ago when I destroyed everything. But, now I'm not reading any of my books. I just ordered a Kindle Paperwhite, but I used it for the last hour or so and I hate it. It works so slow. Also, it has an experimental web browser built in so if my kids use it, they can browse unfiltered. So, I just ordered a new tabet.

Right now, unless one of you have a better idea, I'm going to attach Tiles to my phone and my tablet and have a notification sent to me if one of them goes too far away from the other one. But, I'd rather not have a tile on each of them. I'd rather have the tablet and the phone to be paired maybe over bluetooth or nfc, and if they loose connectivity, send me an instant alert. So, then all of my electronics are near me at all times and I don't let my guard down.

Any ideas?

 

[Unforgiven]

Tasker should allow you to do some of what you want. And I feel for you with the cat and mouse games with kids. While I've note experienced it to the degree you are, they sure are damned resourceful.

Edit: I've not used tasker, but am familiar with what it can do. My thinking is either through geofencing sending you an alert when a device has moved out of a certain area or sending an alert when a device connects / disconnects from your WiFi. You may be able to do the latter on your home router or firewall as well.

 

[Dannydet]

Have you ever thought about switching over to joining the Amish community?
No electricity, no social media or devices of any kind!
Look at the money you'll save in the long run.
Live off the land, live off the grid!!!

 

[dorlow]

I tried to get us pretty much off the grid. Granted, I didn't go as far as to move to an amish community. But, we moved where there's no high speed internet available in the area other than 4g. We do have wifi at home. I have the Synology router hooked to an AT&T 4g modem. So, as far as it goes for the kids though, we do have wifi and it's pretty reliable.... I work from home, so it has to be reliable. I got rid of all of our Google Hubs and smart devices that had screens on them because the kids were using that to get around my blocks.

I was trying to keep my kids completely off of all electronics. But the school requires them to use a chromebook and PC (3 of my kids a chromebook and 1 a PC.) They are required to use them to pass the grade. I told my wife, I wish it was 1990. I wish this stuff didn't exist. But, it does exist and we can't pretend it doesn't. It's getting more and more integrated into our lives by the day, like it or not.

But, my objective is to make sure all electronics in the house are used on a daily basis. I don't want any electronics sitting in a drawer. I want it something we use and would notice if it's missing or has been compromised.