What are People profiles on the Cogeco Wi-Fi app and what can I do with them?

Updated 17 January 2024 14:02

With People profiles, you can assign specific devices to users in your home so that you can see when people are at home, or adjust the settings on multiple devices at the same time.

Adding a profile

Select the People and Devices icon from the bottom of the screen and select the People tab.
Select the + icon at the top right and then Create a person.
Enter a name for the profile.
Select the profile icon to choose a new avatar, take a new picture or select one from your library.
Select Next.
Select a profile type (Adult, Teen, Restrictive or Household).
- Note: Selecting a profile type will automatically set appropriate Content access, Online protection, Adblocking and Advanced IoT protection. If needed, select any of these options to change the level of protection.
Select Done.

Assigning devices to a profile

There are 2 ways to assign devices after the profile has been created:

From the People tab, tap the 3 dots next to the profile name, select Devices Assigned and choose the device to add. For the first device assigned to a profile, you’ll be prompted to assign it as the primary device. You can change the primary device later in the profile’s settings.
From the Devices tab, select a device, tap the 3 dots at the top right, select Assigned to and choose a profile.

Good to know: You won’t be able to assign a device to a profile if the device has MAC Randomization enabled. This feature randomizes the MAC address when it first connects to the network (available on Android 10 and up), or every 24 hours (available on iOS 14 and up). To assign the device, you’ll need to disable MAC Randomization, select the option to forget the network in the device’s Wi-Fi settings, then reconnect. The device should show up as assignable within 10 minutes.

Adjusting Content access and Guard features

If you need to adjust the Content access and Guard features after the initial setup, you can do this through the profile settings.

Find the profile on the People tab.
Select the 3 dots next to the profile.
Select Person Profile.

Learn more about Guard settings.

Setting a Time Out

You can also set a Time Out to temporarily disable the Internet on all assigned devices for a profile.

Find the profile on the People tab.
Select the pause button next to the profile.
Select Set Time out to disable the Internet for a customized period of up to 24 hours, or select Freeze until midnight or Freeze indefinitely.

Good to know: If you would like to schedule an Internet freeze for a specific time, this can only be done on devices rather than profiles.

To freeze a single device, select it from the Devices tab and select Schedule internet Freeze for options.
To freeze multiple devices, select Set Time out from the home screen, select multiple devices from the list and set a time interval.
To freeze all devices on the network, select the settings button next to Control on the Home page, then select Add new freeze schedule.

People Notifications

Once you’ve assigned primary devices to people in your home, you can also receive notifications when those people leave or return home.

Select the Menu & Settings icon from the bottom of the screen.
Select Notifications under App settings.
Tap the toggle switch next to People notifications to enable them.
- Note: The People notifications option will not appear if you don’t have at least one profile with a primary device assigned.
Once the feature is enabled, profiles with primary devices assigned will be listed below. Tap on a profile to receive notifications for it (a checkmark will appear).

Good to know:

Since this feature uses the person’s primary device connection to the network to determine if they are at home, it will show them as having left if the device is powered down or if its Wi-Fi is disconnected.
If you have Sense Alerts set up to be sent only when you’re away (Smart Activation), those alerts will be sent 15 minutes after the last person with an assigned device disconnects from your network.