How to turn off remote viewing on a wifi baby monitor

What do NCSC and Which? actually ask you to switch off?

The National Cyber Security Centre's page on smart cameras and baby monitors (reviewed 12 March 2025) lists three steps: change the default password, keep firmware up to date, and — if you do not need to watch the camera over the internet — disable that remote-view feature. The NCSC notes that doing so may also stop movement alerts and links to Alexa, Google Home or Siri.

Which? repeated the same three points when the NCSC guidance was published, and its baby-monitor buying guide (page checked July 2026) puts it in parent language: "Turn off the remote access to your baby monitor if you don't need it." That guide also tells you to set a strong unique password, switch on two-factor authentication when the app offers it, and install updates.

Official wording is about reducing how easily a default-password camera can be reached from the internet. It is not a verdict that your model is or is not compromised, and it is not a substitute for the Lullaby Trust's safer-sleep advice.

Where is the toggle on Nanit, eufy and Avent?

Makers do not use one name. Look in the camera body, the parent unit and the app. The NCSC says the steps live in the manufacturer's documentation — the table below maps the published names, not a hidden setting.

How do I turn remote viewing off, in order?

Work from the camera outward. You are closing the internet path, not dismantling the handheld radio.

1. 1
   Change the default password first NCSC: if the camera shipped with a default password, change it in the app to a three-random-word password you have not used elsewhere. Which? says the same for the camera and for the home Wi-Fi.
2. 2
   Install firmware and app updates NCSC: switch on automatic updates if the app offers them. Look for update, firmware or software in settings.
3. 3
   Switch off the maker's remote-view control Use the published control for your set: eufy Wi-Fi switch off; Avent privacy mode on; Nanit Local Wi-Fi-Only for every Viewer you do not want off-site; or the app's remote-access toggle. Confirm the live feed dies when you leave the house Wi-Fi on purpose (phone on mobile data, still in the garden).
4. 4
   Remove extra accounts Nanit lets you drop Viewer permissions feature by feature (audio, two-way talk, notifications). Avent's FAQ says a second admin login knocks the first admin off — tidy guest users you no longer need.
5. 5
   Check the router for UPnP and port forwarding NCSC: many routers use UPnP and port forwarding so devices can be found; they say to consider switching both off, using the router manual. This is a settings check, not a networking project. Some routers ship with UPnP already off. NCSC notes that turning UPnP off can stop games, media servers and other smart devices — you decide whether you still need those.
6. 6
   Write down what you lost Remote live view, some push alerts, and any voice-assistant link the NCSC named. The dedicated parent unit, if you have one, should still show the room.

What do I lose when remote viewing is off?

The NCSC lists the trade-offs in one sentence: you may stop receiving movement alerts, and the camera may stop working with Alexa, Google Home or Siri. In parent terms that usually also means:

• No live picture on a phone that is not on the house Wi-Fi — the commute check-in goes away.
• Grandparent Viewer accounts that relied on the internet path go dark (Nanit's local-only flag does this on purpose for that person).
• Cloud clips and "away from home" notifications on sets that generate them only when the camera can reach the maker.
• The handheld is unchanged on hybrid sets. eufy UK's FAQ is explicit: Wi-Fi off still leaves the monitor link.

If you later need one evening of remote view, reverse the same published toggle — do not open extra router holes to "make it work". Which? and the NCSC both start from passwords and updates, not from exposing the camera on the public internet.

What is the router check — and what is it not?

The NCSC asks you to look in the router manual for UPnP and port forwarding and to consider switching them off so cameras are harder to reach from outside. That is the whole instruction. It is not a guide to scanning ports, adding forwarding rules, or testing anyone else's network.

1. Open the router booklet or the maker's UK support page (the sticker on the router names the brand).
2. Find the pages titled UPnP, Universal Plug and Play, or port forwarding.
3. If they are on and you do not need them for another device, switch them off and reboot the router as the booklet says.
4. If a games console or a work VPN then fails, the NCSC says you have a choice between those applications and leaving UPnP on.

Leaving a baby-monitor admin password as admin or 00000 is the failure the NCSC describes. Closing remote viewing does not fix a default password that is still in the app.

In short

In shortNCSC and Which? both say: unique password, updates, then disable internet viewing if you do not need it. On current UK-sold sets that is a Wi-Fi switch (eufy), privacy mode (Avent), local-only Viewers (Nanit), or the app's remote-access toggle — plus a UPnP / port-forwarding check in the router manual. You lose out-of-home live view and some alerts; a dedicated parent unit keeps the in-house picture.