The alternative is an easy-to-use router summary page that list every network device and controls what it can contact (eg local-only, manufacturer, wide Internet).
Consumers want things that "just work" because they haven't been shown that they can have control. It's really a matter of selling the value proposition of such administration, and making these devices' communications patterns legible to the average consumer.
You've lost probably 95% of the mass-market: users who visit their router's setup page either zero times or one time throughout the devices' stay in their home. Users do not want a list of devices or controls or toggles, or text fields to fill in IP addresses. They want to buy their plastic internet box, plug it in, and go download cat videos. You can try to communicate value proposition until you're blue in the face. People want to plug it in and get on with their lives. Trying to convince users of the value of "administering a computer" is fighting a losing battle.
If a user is really that uninvested in their digital life, then why bother thinking about them? After all, nothing can be done.
I heartily disagree with this defeatist figure of "95%" though, and feel it reflects tech feelings of inferiority more than the actual ability and desires of people using technology.
Most people will apply their brain to overcome straightforward problems and most people seem to be concerned about security. Of course this concern comes from mass-media scaremongering, which also misleads them into thinking that centralized entities will protect them. But it still means there's a demand, and the concern-actualization gap should be able to be bridged with sufficiently-accessible administration.
If plugging in a device makes it just work, then a user is likely to forget the step of modifying the ACL. But if going to the router page is a required part of setting up any new device (because they have previously chosen this mode when setting up the router), then it will just become part of their workflow, the same as entering SSID/passphrase.
That's why I think a smartphone app with well calibrated alerts would help. People learn pretty quickly how to administer a router when Xbox Live doesn't work properly.
Exactly. It's not so much that people can't figure out tech, it's that they only do so if necessary to accomplish their immediate task, regardless of possible repercussions down the line.
