Hello,
Does anyone have a recommendation for secure charging station for kids' devices? Need a solution for locking up devices - out of sight out of mind. Looking for 8 ports for iPhones, iPads and laptop. I've googled and found some high-end (ie > $500) solutions, but hoping to settle in the $200-$300 range. Thanks.
JB
Safes have holes in them?
Maybe this would be easier to drill a hole into?
https://www.mitre10.com.au/buy-right-heavy-duty-lockable-sto…
Yes. So they can be bolted down to floors and walls. And these cheap safes are easy enough to just use a holesaw and make a plug sized home in the back of them.
I'm guessing that this is only to stop the kids from playing with them at 3am when they should be sleeping and not as a anti-theft deterrent.
And yep, a lockable plastic box would also work. That's similar to what we use at school, only difference is the ones for the school, they just move the decimal place one spot to the right in the price…
I do this at work;
Get small lockable filing cabinet/drawers, run a cable under the back and up to the large bottom drawer. Charge away.
Had 3 or 4 laptops turned on (for remote access) and charging at one time without issues.
Found this when I googled https://www.inchargebox.com.au/shop/
Have you considered the alternative of enabling screentime?
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT208982#:~:text=Go%20to%20S….
This is actually the one I was looking at. Found it a bit cheaper on amazon, too: https://www.amazon.com.au/inchargebox-0177-Unicorn-White-6US…
My work uses them (government) we have about 30 of them total, to lock up phones and tablets pretty good bit of gear
Bit of an alternate, but cheaper, solution - how about an outdoor safety box or similar?
Designed for putting electrical cables into while being locked.
Obviously that one is not going to fit a laptop or likely even an ipad, but maybe there are bigger ones?
At a minimum just set a curfew on the wifi?
Honestly it sounds like overkill to have to lock the devices away
This does sound like overkill, my kids are still primary school aged - so I leave the devices on charge on a shelf in my room. The android family app lets me control windows of usage and usage per day (either by app or overall).
If it is outside of that they are more than welcome to have tech and stare at the 'you are locked out until xx' screen as much as they want.
Use one of these and you can run-in as many cables as you want?
https://www.amazon.com.au/Smartphone-Holders-Classroom-Famil…
Is the lock more symbolic than anything else? That is, do you fully expect your kids to try and break the devices out?
Maybe a set of drawers like the ones below from IKEA, looks like there's enough gap to run charging cables through. Then run a bicycle chain or some chain/padlock combination around the whole unit so that you can't pull the drawers out.
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/lote-chest-of-3-drawers-white-3…
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/lennart-drawer-unit-white-10326…
Go to somewhere like Bunnings/Officeworks and just buy a cheap hotel type safe and run the cables through a hole in the back.