College student studying for finals gets revenge on cousin’s late-night gaming marathons by cutting the Wi-Fi at 11 pm sharp: 'She said I was acting like an old landlord'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
May 3, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

There's nothing more infuriating than trying to sleep while someone else in the house is making enough noise to keep you awake. As someone who lives in the downstairs of a duplex, I know this feeling all too well. It's like trying to ignore an elephant tap-dancing above you. It's impossible. But for the guy in this story, his stress levels were already through the roof as he was prepping for finals week just around the corner. Already on edge, things took a turn for the worse when his cousin asked to crash with him for a while after landing an internship near his place. At first, he thought it was no big deal. Family's family, after all. But he instantly regretted this little arrangement when the midnight gaming marathons began. If you game yourself, you know there's no amount of earplugs or patience that can drown out loud video games, banter, and TV noise for anyone else in the household. But little did this guy know, his "easy" decision to host his cousin would lead to a battle over Wi-Fi, sleep, and sanity. So, he had to take matters into his own hands. 

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  • ONLINE Wi-Fi WAN/DSL <---> MOBILE MODE MOBILE all SIGNAL PAIR PHONE
    via Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk For Unsplash+

  • "AITA for cutting the wifi every night at 11 while my cousin stays with us?"

    I'm a 21M engineering student, living with my parents in Lebanon. Finals are in a week, so my nights are mostly spent memorizing formulas and solving circuits.
    via IlowoIl
  • Last month, my cousin, say Laura, (17F) asked if she could crash in our guest room for a few weeks while she did a short internship in the city (Beirut) from our village down south Leb. My parents said yes, which is no problem, I like Laura.
    via IlowoIl
  • The problem started on her second night. Around midnight, I heard loud laughter and TV noises coming from the living room. Laura was online with her friends playing online until 1 a.m.. This
    via IlowoIl
  • happened almost 3 nights in a row even though I complained to her multiple tines all respectful and stuff. After three nights of this, I was exhausted. I haeshly
    via IlowoIl
  • confronted her and she apologized, but the next. night it happened again, albeit only till midnight and it was a little lower. My grades are hanging by a thread, so I took a bigger approach shut off
    via IlowoIl
  • the wifi at 11 every night and turned it back on when I wake up next morning, around 7. My parents don't mind since they're more TV people and go to sleep early. Cue chaos. Laura lost
    via IlowoIl
  • Cheezburger Image 10499896576
    via ThePowerCouple For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • connection mid-game the first night I did this, and she came to me furious. She said I was acting like an "old landlord," ruining her only free time. My parents think I overreacted, they say
    via IlowoIl
  • Laura's just enjoying her time with us and the stay is temporary. They want me to turn the internet back on and 'ignore her' instead for the sake of family.
    via IlowoIl
  • The main router is in my room so most control is mine but I have to listen to my parents in the end. Am I being unreasonable?
    via IlowoIl
  • I feel bad because Laura's internship is only about 2 more weeks, and yes, didn't warn her about | turning off the wifi. On the other hand, I'm trying for a scholarship, and I literally can't focus or go to sleep with the late- night noise.
    via IlowoIl
  • AITA? Edit: It's 9pm now and I'm getting ready to go to bed in a couple of hours and she's already in our living room playing PS on the TV. I still don't know if
    via IlowoIl
  • I should cut it again tonight because at this point it's like a battle of wits. On one hand my parents pay for the wifi and she is a guest so we should be accommodating her; but I really tried and mentioned this problem so much.
    via IlowoIl
  • Edit: it's now midnight - I got my parents to agree that she's pushing things too far and they spoke to her themselves and she's agreed to be pretty much completely quite by - midnight – which was our compromise. She's
    via IlowoIl
  • packed her stuff up and is now in bed in the guest bedroom - all quiet, bliss.
    via IlowoIl
  • MerlinBiggs NTA. She is interrupting your sleep.. Your family is being very kind by letting her stay. She should be more respectful.
    via MerlinBiggs
  • Josh_horrobinkanye Nta and i genuinely do not see how this is anything else: You repeatedly asked her to tone it down which was ignored, you have to
    via Josh_horrobinkanye
  • study and that means getting decent rest and surely it's just common curtesy to just stfu at 1 a m
    via Josh_horrobinkanye
  • KZimmy If she wakes you up, go wake your parents up and get them to ask her to keep it down. Repeat as necessary.
    via KZimmy
  • TheDragonDoji Don't disconnect the WiFi, access the router settings and block her device via MAC address.
    via TheDragonDoji
  • Depending on the router, you may be able to set timed periods it will block her device only, from accessing the Internet.
    via TheDragonDoji
  • The router will still be on and all other devices will still connect...so definitely can't be you messing around!
    via TheDragonDoji
  • Libba_Loo NTA, she's being disrespectful to family who is hosting her and you need to sleep. Just go in at 10:30 if she's still at it and warn her it'll be cut off sharply at 11.
    via Libba_Loo
  • KittiesRule 1968 NTA, I'm sorry you're having to deal with your incredibly disrespectful cousin and your parents enabling her bad behavior.
    via KittiesRule1968

  • Claiming the student is NTA seems like the easy answer here. But someone always has to play devil's advocate… 

  • Perception Mammoth872 ESH She is a guest and shouldn't be disrespectful of others in the household. However, it's. ultimately your parents house & what they say goes. Also, your
    via PerceptionMammoth872
  • grades have nothing to do with her. If she's only been there a few days and your grades are "hanging by a thread", they were like that before her arrival. Don't blame others for the problems you created for yourself.
    via PerceptionMammoth872

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guests drama students house gaming gamers petty revenge parenting family video games sleeping cousins karma entitled people
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