Planning
Device coverage and licence planning
Counting the devices in a real household, reading a licence limit properly, and the three places money is usually wasted.
The device count is the one number that decides which plans are even eligible, and it is the number most people get wrong. Households tend to overestimate, because a drawer full of old hardware feels like it ought to be covered, and because a plan advertising more devices reads as better value than one advertising fewer. Both instincts cost money.
This page works through the count the way it is worth doing once: on paper, device by device, with a reason written next to each entry.
Count devices, not people
A licence limit applies to installations, not to household members. Two people who share one laptop consume one installation between them. One person with a laptop, a desktop, a phone and a tablet consumes four. Starting from the number of people in the house produces an answer that is wrong in both directions at once.
Write out every device that is switched on in a normal month, and against each one record the operating system and who uses it. The result is usually shorter than expected, because the count excludes anything genuinely dormant.
A worked count
A four-person household with a reasonable amount of hardware. The right-hand column is the part that does the work.
| Device | Platform | Needs a licence? | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family desktop | Windows | Yes | Shared, used for banking and downloads |
| Parent's laptop | macOS | Yes | Personal machine, general use |
| Parent's work laptop | Windows | No | Managed by employer; ask before installing anything |
| Student laptop | Windows | Yes | Downloads software frequently |
| Two adult phones | iOS, Android | Yes (2) | Web and link filtering is the practical benefit |
| Two teenage phones | Android | Yes (2) | As above; parental controls may also be wanted |
| Tablet in the lounge | iPadOS | Optional | Browsing only; covered if the licence allows spare slots |
| Old laptop in a cupboard | Windows | No | Not switched on; if it is ever used, it needs updates first |
| Smart TV, printer, console | Various | No | Consumer antivirus software does not run on these |
The household above should shop for a plan covering six to eight devices, not eleven. The distinction between "devices in the house" and "devices needing a licence" is worth a hundred dollars a year in the wrong direction.
Reading a licence limit properly
Licence terms differ between vendors and between plans from the same vendor, and the differences are rarely in the headline. Check each of these against the plan you are considering, on the vendor's own site.
- Does a mobile device count the same as a computer? Some plans count every installation equally. Others treat mobile installations separately, or include them without limit. This single point can change which plan is cheapest for a household with more phones than computers.
- Which platforms are actually supported? A plan advertised for several platforms does not necessarily offer the same capability on each. Mobile versions are restricted by the operating system in ways desktop versions are not, and what the mobile application does is worth reading specifically.
- Can an installation be moved? When a laptop is replaced or sold, you need to release the slot. Find out whether that is done from an online account, from within the software, or by contacting support.
- Is the limit enforced, and how? Some products simply refuse the next installation once the limit is reached. Knowing this in advance avoids discovering it on a Sunday evening while setting up a new machine.
- Does the plan cover household members at other addresses? An adult child at university, or a parent in another home, may or may not be inside the definition the vendor uses. If this matters to you, confirm it before buying rather than assuming.
Devices that usually do not need a licence
Several categories are commonly counted in error.
- Employer-managed computers
- A work laptop under an organisation's management typically already has security software chosen by that organisation, and installing a second product may breach the policy you agreed to. Ask your workplace before installing anything on a machine they own.
- Devices that are switched off permanently
- Hardware in a cupboard is not at risk while it is off. If it comes back into use, the first step is applying the operating system updates it has missed, which matters more than the scanner.
- Televisions, printers, cameras and consoles
- Consumer antivirus software does not install on these. They are secured by keeping their firmware current, changing default passwords and putting them on a network you control — not by a licence slot.
- A device already covered by someone else's subscription
- Bundles from an internet provider or a bank sometimes include a security subscription. Check what the household already pays for before adding another; two real-time scanners on one machine cause conflicts rather than doubling anything.
Where households overbuy
Three patterns account for most of it. The first is buying for the device count in the house rather than the count in use, which the table above addresses. The second is buying a higher tier for a feature nobody has a use for — a bundled VPN that is never switched on, or storage that duplicates something already paid for. The third is quieter: the subscription renews automatically for years after the household stopped using the devices it was bought for.
That third pattern is fixed by a calendar reminder set two weeks before the renewal date, with the licence details in the note. It takes a minute to set and it is the most reliable saving available in this category.
Before you buy, write down
The number of devices needing a licence; the operating system of each; anything specific you need, such as parental controls; the maximum you will pay in AUD at renewal, not in the first year; and the date you will review the subscription. That note is the whole requirement, and it makes the rest of the decision mechanical.
What a licence slot does not buy
A slot is permission to install, and nothing more. It does not extend to a device you do not control, such as a computer in a library or a shared machine at work, and installing software on hardware belonging to someone else is a question of permission rather than licensing. It does not cover the router, which is configured rather than scanned. And it does not follow the person: a licence tied to your household account stays with the account, so if you share one with a family member, decide in advance whose account holds it and who can see what is in it.
When the count changes
Households are not static. A new phone arrives, a laptop is replaced, someone moves out. Handle it the same way each time: release the slot for the device leaving, install on the device arriving, and if you are consistently at the limit, note it and reconsider the tier at renewal rather than upgrading mid-term, which usually costs more.
When a device is sold or given away, remove the software and release the slot before it leaves the house, and sign out of the accounts on it. This is a data hygiene step as much as a licensing one; the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner publishes general guidance on protecting personal information that is worth reading before disposing of any device that held it.
Next steps
With the count written down, the comparison method turns it into a table you can fill in for two or three eligible plans, and the buying guide covers the renewal and cancellation checks that follow. If you want the background on what the features in those plans actually do, start with how antivirus software works.