Lost android tablet but it shows as connected to wifi on Vodafone Broadband app

[Papatronski]

My son has lost his Android tablet. It is nearly brand new and quite a good one. We are pretty sure it's still in the house but cannot find it anywhere. We haven't seen the tablet for weeks (possibly months) but when I open the app it says it is 'Online' in the Vodafone Broadband app. When I go to details it says 'Duration 02 Hrs: 09 Min: 54 sec.

However a couple of days ago it said 'Duration 16 Hrs: etc etc' .

What does Duration mean? Is that how long it has been connected. I can't understand how this thing is still connected and hasn't run out of battery if we haven't seen it for weeks. I'm wondering if one of my kids has it hidden somewhere and is secretly using it. Or if the Vodafone Broadband app is giving me inaccurate information.

I've tried 'Find my Phone', Family link etc. But none of them have revealed anything other than it last logged in to Google in March 2020, and hasn't logged in to Family Link since 2 months ago in June.

Any clues as to what's going on here? And is there any way I can precisely pinpoint its location via Wifi?

I could block it from Wifi but not sure what good that would do and I'm loathe to disconnect it in case that is our only hope of finding it.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

If it's still online then it must be being charged.  So I'd check any chargers or USB ports on computers that are being used for this and check in any cars, including charging ports in the back seats and boot!  Beyond that, is there any possibility that it could be with your neighbours?

[Papatronski]

Thanks for your reply. Yes I was wondering that re: neighbours. None of them are dishonest types who would steal a tablet though. And even if they did, surely they’d think to disconnect from my WiFi?  
Good idea... I can start by checking every power point in the house in case it’s plugged in somewhere. I can’t think where that would be that I haven’t noticed, but you never know. 🙂

[network123]

Are you logged into it with your Google account or Samsung account (if it's a Samsung tablet)? If so then you can try putting it into lost mode.

[Papatronski]

Hello. And thanks for the reply. 
I have now solved the mystery. I tried ‘find my tablet’, family link, google etc. But no luck. 
Then I watched the broadband app late at night and saw the tablet appear as linked to the WiFi.
Long story short, my son had stolen his brother’s tablet and had been hiding it in his mattress for weeks and waiting until everyone had gone to sleep before using it to chat to ‘friends’ on Discord. Despite having very convincingly denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the device. 😡
Let this be a warning to all parents. Keep your WiFi router in your bedroom and switch it off at night. Not just the guest WiFi, the whole thing, at the wall. 
We thought we could trust our son, but no!! 

[network123]

Haha, glad you've managed to find it! There is a Schedule setting on the Vox 3.0 router where you can get the router to switch off the WiFi connections at certain times of the day.

Alternatively you could look for a wireless access point which has a Schedule setting for each device, so you can stay connected to the WiFi but disconnect other devices at a certain time.

[Papatronski]

Thanks. Seems very hard to find something which accurately controls individual devices without messing everything up. I use the ‘block’ feature of the Vodafone app but it is a bit temperamental. And quite difficult to identify which device is which.