cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Anonymous User
Not applicable

How to block a device

Could you tell me how to block a device. I have changed my password but they keep using it, I have no idea who it is..

Thanks 

21 REPLIES 21
starman73
Elite

someone piggybacking on your internet connection

 

People can piggy back on mine as Virgin allow them to via a hotspot. Interestingly I can block individual devices, but determining the device is tricky given that all android phones look the same.  Also given there are 4 of us in the house and my teenagers will share access with friends pretty hard to police. 

 

As an aside, that written one of my son's friend did log in to Netflix on our main TV, so we had that for a few months!  Even found the same in a hotel that someone hadn't logged out.  And you can't de-register devices with Netflix just have to force everyone off.

RoyB
Legend

@starman73 

 

If the Virgin thing is anything like what BT offer, it just lets Virgin users in WiFi range of your router use some separate bandwidth instead of their mobile data.

 

It’s better than a guest account on your router (and much better than giving out the router password for full access!) as it is treated separately from your regular account.

 

And having people use your Netflix account (or using someone else’s, as you did) is a pretty victimless crime, except for Netflix potentially losing revenue of course, unless they jack your subscription up to a higher level, or use up the rather more generous number of simultaneous slots Netflix provide.

 

And not being able to block or deregister devices is one of the few downsides of Netflix never caring what devices are in use in the first place Smiley LOL

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
ukbobboy
Legend

@starman73  @Anonymous User  @RoyB  @Anonymous User  @Anonymous User 

 

You know Guys

 

We are all speculating on how to fix Char's problem without having a full understanding of how this predicament came about.

 

May I suggest that if Char wants a definitive answer then get back to the forum with more information, rather than us continuing to make wild and random guesses, that way at least one of us can come up with a proper answer.

 

 

UK Bob

RoyB
Legend

@Anonymous User 

 

NowTV broke the Community software, and it isn’t back to normal yet.

 

You can’t pick up smileys either Smiley Tongue

 

Your device-blocking 6-slot-filling 3-change-using method fails as the month rolls over, thereby forcing the OP to stay up and do it all again straight after midnight.

 

Not to mention being a right pain for the OP if he wants to use either option for himself.

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
starman73
Elite

Your device-blocking 6-slot-filling 3-change-using method fails as the month rolls over, thereby forcing the OP to stay up and do it all again straight after midnight.

 

Not ideal, I agree, but I did use that method to stop unexpected devices coming on when there were only 4 slots so I could separate the sports devices from the cinema/entertainment devices and make sure there could be no more than 2 simultaneous streams on each account.  Works pretty well, though I have had to clear a couple of slots in advance of a trip abroad. 

RoyB
Legend

@starman73 

 

Ooh, I like that! A way of having up to six users on at once, two per Pass, at no extra cost, and just a little extra inconvenience.

 

Presumably the slot-filling was a way of preventing yourself from mixing up the Passes then?

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
starman73
Elite

Ooh, I like that! A way of having up to six users on at once, two per Pass, at no extra cost, and just a little extra inconvenience. Presumably the slot-filling was a way of preventing yourself from mixing up the Passes then?

 

I could have up to six simultaneous streams, but it is at 4 because Cinema/Entertainment is split from Sports.  Not really inconvenient.

 

On Sports I have the devices with pause (Now TV Sticks + Black Now TV Box) and fill with iPads and mobiles. On Cinema/Entertainment I have Roku sticks (no pause needed) and fill with iPads and mobiles.  I don't even have to log out and in again.

 

With four TVs dotted around the house it means that even if my son, my dad and I are watching sports on two different TVs (as we all have different interests),  my wife and daughter have the other two TVs to watch stuff on.  I don't live in a mansion, but we do have 4 bedrooms + dining room + lounge.

 

I also had the mobile sports pass on a different account so I had a fifth stream if needed.

 

Two streams simply aren't enough, hence the "creative" solution.  Very handy having 6 devices now.

RoyB
Legend

@ukbobboy @Anonymous User @Anonymous User @Anonymous User @starman73 

 

You always have to think ‘shared house’ in these scenarios. So the presumption is several people on a shared router, probably on WiFi, so you can’t change the router password without telling all your housemates (or family, if that is who you are sharing with) the new one, which defeats the object. (I might, however, lock down the router admin in this case).

 

So I wonder if a NowTV device, signed in on under the old password and never signed out of, would keep working? In this case, no-one need know the new password, and perhaps it hasn’t been breached?

 

But what are the issues if someone else in the house is operating like this?

 

Firstly, set a Payment PIN so they can’t buy passes.

 

Secondly, maybe their rogue device is taking up a slot in your allowed six that you need? But that apparently isn’t the case here.

 

Thirdly, maybe they are using up one of your allowed two simultaneous streams, and you want both?

 

That could be an annoyance.....

 

But whatever it is, having a password no-one else knows, and deleting any unexpected devices from your six slots, will block it, by preventing it coming back and being Signed In again.

 

The only remains question is if you did change your password, and somebody then learnt what it was, how did they do that? Is the password physically stored somewhere, in clear, on a device or on paper, that someone else could access and learn it?

 

If I had to store passwords in a situation like that, I would keep them in a locked box, and wear the key round my neck at all times Smiley Tongue

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
starman73
Elite

So I wonder if a NowTV device, signed in on under the old password and never signed out of, would keep working? In this case, no-one need know the new password, and perhaps it hasn’t been breached?

 

This is a possibility.  If you have Netflix it provides the option to force off all users.  So it may be that someone who has an iPad and has logged into the account in the past can still access Now TV.  This is speculation on my part so please don't have a pop at me if I am wrong.

 

One way to stop this in the short term is as I suggested which is to have no available slots.  However if I was in this predicament, I would let the passes lapse on the account, apply a credit card with a short expiry date, add a payment PIN and set up a new account.

RoyB
Legend

Go to My Account/Devices and remove any devices that you don’t recognise as yours. With your password changed, nobody should be able to put them back.

 

If they are all devices that you recognise, though, check the Last Used Date and Time for entries that don’t match your recollection of the last time you used that device or devices, which will show someone sneaking onto your device somehow (e.g. TV In a shared house with your Stick in the back?)

 

As your security seems to have been breached, I suggest you also set a Payment PIN under My Account/Settings and PINs, which will forestall any attempt by a third party to set up Passes on your account, and have you pay for them.

 

 

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.