Let’s get started with installing your new Safe Surfer Wi-Fi Lifeguard. The following instructions will show you how to do this.
Step 1: Install hardware
You’ll be able to find four items inside the product box:
- Wi-Fi Lifeguard router
- 12 V international power supply
- AU/NZ snap-in adapter
- Ethernet cable
Once you’re ready, you’ll need to choose a method of installation. You can find out how to do this by clicking this link. You can return to the current guide once you’re done.
Step 2: Register and configure the Lifeguard
Quick terminology
- The Lifeguard local network dashboard is used on an infrequent basis to control hardware-based features, such as changing the Wi-Fi network name or updating the firmware.
- The online Safe Surfer dashboard is used on a frequent basis to easily change device-related settings and monitor information related to device protection.
Getting started
The easiest way to get devices protected is to connect them one at a time. We’ll first connect one of your own devices (which will be used for the installation process). Once the light on the front of the Wi-Fi Lifeguard has turned solid white, open the Wi-Fi menu on a smartphone or laptop, then select the Safe Surfer Wi-Fi network.
The default password for the Safe Surfer Wi-Fi network is goodlife (where this can be changed later).
Open a web browser and visit the following address: http://192.168.8.1
Tap the “Register your device” option.
If you’re currently not logged in to the Safe Surfer dashboard, the Lifeguard setup process will get you to log in to your Safe Surfer account.
Give the Lifeguard network a name so that it can be identified on the Safe Surfer dashboard later (for example, “Safe Surfer Wi-Fi”).
Enter a PIN, then tap the Add Lifeguard button.
Enter your PIN, then tap the “Log in” button.
On the local Lifeguard dashboard, if you’re on mobile, tap the three-bar button at the upper-left corner to open the sidebar.
Tap the “Update firmware” menu.
If a firmware update is available in the future, you can perform the update by clicking the green “Update firmware” button. This process can take 10–15 minutes to complete, where this will restart the Lifeguard router.
Back on the sidebar, tap the Settings menu.
Wi-Fi Lifeguard has a feature where we can attempt to detect and block the computer networking of VPN apps (which are a common method of protection evasion). If you would prefer better network performance in some situations, you can disable this feature (where we’ll still attempt to block other forms of VPN app computer networking regardless).
Back on the sidebar, tap the “Wi-Fi setup” menu.
If you like, you can change the Wi-Fi network name and/or password. (For technical reasons, it’s easiest to do this now rather than in the future.) If you choose to do this, you’ll also need to tap the “Copy to 5 GHz” button at the bottom.
If you changed any of the Wi-Fi settings, tap the Save button at the top.
Step 3: Connect devices
Visit the Devices menu on the Safe Surfer dashboard, look for the Lifeguard group, then tap it.
Tap the name of the device that was connected first.
To rename the device, tap the three-dot button inside the device listing.
Tap the Rename option.
Rename the device, then tap the OK button.
You’ve now successfully renamed the device. It’s also good to know that each device you connect to the network has what’s called a “MAC address”, which is automatically used by the Lifeguard network to distinguish each device and manage network traffic:
- If you need to manually identify a device (for example, if the name of the device listing doesn’t help you identify it), you can find out how to do this by clicking this link.
- Some devices have a privacy feature called “randomised MAC”. Due to this, we recommend assigning each device listing to a user, which can help avoid duplicate device listings in some situations. You can find out how to do this by clicking this link.
Step 4: Change content settings for Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
In some situations, Private Browsing mode for the Safari app on Apple devices can ignore the protection provided by Wi-Fi Lifeguard. To stop this, you’ll need to apply the following setting for each Apple device:
- Newer path (try this one first): Settings app > Screen Time > Apps and Websites > Restrictions > Filtering > set to Limit Adult Websites (which disables Private Browsing mode in Safari).
- Older path: Settings app > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > App Store, Media, Web & Games > Web Content > set to Limit Adult Websites (which disables Private Browsing mode in Safari).
Once you’re done, save the changes by going back to the Screen Time main menu and setting a Screen Time passcode if you haven’t already.
Step 5: Install apps for applicable devices (optional)
Safe Surfer has anti-evasion technology available through our protection apps, where we can perform advanced blocking of VPN apps. You can find out how to protect devices with our best technology by clicking this link. This also protects devices everywhere they go (no matter what Wi-Fi or mobile data network they connect to).
Protection complete
Great work! The devices connected to the Lifeguard router should now be protected. Visit our easy-to-use online dashboard to start monitoring traffic and blocking content from our premium categories with an affordable Pro Surfer subscription.