Google Home/Nest Digital Wellbeing Settings?

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boonrider

42 posts

Geek

#303435 10-Feb-2023 08:42

Hi,

We purchased a second hand google nest Hub 2 for the kitchen and it's been really useful (timers, adding things to grocery list, photo frame, music etc).

Unfortunately, my kids figured out they can get up at 5am and watch youtube on it. I found there was a simple solution for this via the digital wellbeing features (downtime etc).

However, Google home tells me I have no devices that support these features! I've confirmed that the Hub 2 has these features in other markets, so i'm assuming it's either an issue with being in NZ or my setup. Does anyone else have a Hub 2 and if so, do you have digital wellbeing settings available?

If it is a NZ issue, are there any setup options (change regions, lockout youtube etc) I can use to make this issue go away?

Unless we figure this out, we can't use the Hub which sucks.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Cheers

pih

649 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3034331 10-Feb-2023 09:29

Have you thought about scheduling the wifi to go off at bedtime and on again in the morning at a reasonable hour? We have two separate wifi access points, one that the wife and I use which stays on 24/7, and another one for the kids' TV, Google Nest Hub, their phones and computers, etc which switches off and on automatically on a schedule.

It works really well for us but you need to have a router that supports it. We use OpenWrt which is advanced but really flexible. I've even added some HomeAssistant integrations to switch on and off the wifi, block distracting sites when they're meant to be doing homework, etc, all from a button press in the one app.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3034346 10-Feb-2023 09:50

While I don't have a Nest Hub 2 I do have a gen 1 Hub and a Nest Max and, like you, I also have no compatible devices listed in the digital well-being settings. (I'd be more interested in a way of limiting what the devices can be used for, as opposed to stopping them working completely, as ours are also used for light control etc.)

A variation of the suggestion above would be, if your router and/or APs support it, to put the Hub on a separate SSID and have that time-restricted; this is what we do for all our kids' devices, so they have no wifi access overnight.

You could also use a wifi smart plug that turns the Hub off and on at the set times; while some of these can warn you if the switch itself is unplugged, that doesn't apply to the device plugged into it so the Hub's plug would need to be attached somehow to the wifi plug (duct tape? glue gun?) if you were wanting to ensure they weren't just plugging it into a different wall socket. (Nest Hubs just reboot when power is restored.)

boonrider

42 posts

Geek

#3034355 10-Feb-2023 10:10

Thanks for your replies - Man it's frustrating that digital wellbeing features aren't supported in NZ!

Thanks for the thoughts, good to know it's not just me being a muppet. I would still be interested in seeing if I could allow those features to be enabled some how (by making it think the hub is in a different location?)

The hub is in a shared space on our house so i'd have to think about how I could set something up to not inconvenience my wife and I.

Cheers for the feedback!