Find out whether you have any idea about who is using your router’s Wi-Fi. Take a look at the devices linked to your WiFi network on your router or PC. It’s important to keep in mind how many different devices are using your Wi-Fi at once nowadays. Laptops, smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and Wi-Fi printers will all be on the hit list when it’s finished.
Laptops, smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and Wi-Fi printers will all be on the hit list when it’s done.
Use GlassWire Pro to See Who’s Connected (And Get Alerts when a New Device Connects to Your WiFi)
The GlassWire firewall and security technology has earned our highest recommendation. One of the most useful features of the Pro edition is the quick and easy Network view, which displays all of the devices that are currently connected to your WiFi network.
In terms of security, GlassWire is much more than a firewall. It even includes lovely graphs to illustrate your bandwidth usage, see which programmes are connecting to which, and how much bandwidth each app uses exactly. Installers and apps both have the ability to send you notifications whenever they make changes that affect your system. It would be impossible to cover all of the available options in a single post.
In fact, you can enable alerts anytime a new device tries to connect to your Wi-Fi in the Settings panel of GlassWire, which makes it even more appropriate for today’s topic! I love that feature!
For the most part, GlassWire is free to use. However, the commercial version ($49 for one PC) includes network device monitoring.
Use Your Router’s Web Interface
Checking the web interface of your router is the simplest way to discover this data.. When you have a WiFi router, it contains the most up-to-date information on what devices are connected to your WiFi network and where they are located. A list of linked devices is usually available on routers, however this is not always the case.
You can use the router’s web interface by following the helpful hints from the previous paragraphs. To find your computer’s gateway IP address if you don’t know it, go to the Control Panel and look it up. Use the ipconfig /all command in a Command Prompt window instead.
After that, simply type the IP address into the address box of your web browser and hit Enter to proceed. When you press this button, the router’s interface should pop up. If it doesn’t, look in your router’s manual or do a web search for the model number and “web interface” to find out how to get to it.. Even if you have customised your router’s settings, the default password and passphrase may still be found by searching online or consulting the manual.
Finding the List of Connected Devices
This feature is no longer built-in; you’ll have to look for it on your router’s web interface. Look for “attached devices,” “connected devices,” or “DHCP clients” in the menu bar. On your Wi-Fi configuration page or a status page, you’ll likely find this. To save you time, some routers print a list of connected devices on the main status page.
- Listed under Status > Wireless on many D-Link routers is a list of connected devices.
- The list can be found in the sidebar of many Netgear routers under “Attached Devices.”.
- This setting may be found under Status > Local Network > DHCP Clients Table on various Linksys routers.
- It is located in the sidebar under Connected Devices on Comcast’s Xfinity modem/routers.
Understanding the List
A list of DHCP-connected devices is frequently provided by routers.. When a device is set to use static IP, it won’t show up in the results. That should stick in your mind.”
There will be a lot of comparable information on each router when you look up the list. The user interface is likely to include a table listing all connected devices, their “hostnames” on the network, as well as their MAC addresses.
As a result, changing your PC or device’s operating system hostname (also known as “computer names” or “device names”) is probably the best solution for you if the list does not give any interesting names. Here, you’ll be able to see the machine’s IP address and hostname. Unfortunately, on some devices, changing the hostname isn’t an option; for instance, we have no idea how to alter an Android device’s hostname to something more useful without rooting it.
If you’re still unsure, you can always compare the MAC address shown on this page (or the IP address provided) to the MAC address of the device you’re now using to see which one is which one.
This List Isn’t Foolproof.
To be clear, this list does not contain all of the best products and services available. Changing your MAC address can be used to spoof other devices, and anyone can choose their own hostname if they so choose. However, this would mean that a device of yours could not join to the network while another device with a faked MAC address was taking its place, as routers normally prevent two devices with the same MAC address from connecting simultaneously. Static IP configurations can also be used to hide their presence if your router has been compromised.
There are better ways of keeping an eye on who’s on your network, and this one isn’t one of them. Checking it isn’t necessary on a frequent basis. Otherwise, you may want to reset your Wi-Fi password – hopefully you’re using WPA2-PSK encryption — which will disable all of your devices until you can provide them with the new passcode.
Even devices you don’t recognise could be something you possess but have forgotten about. For example, an unknown device could be a Wi-Fi printer, a Wi-Fi speaker system, or the built-in WiFi on your smart TV that you never use.
Scan Your WiFi Network With Software On Your PC
The web interface of your router is usually the most convenient way to see what devices are connected to your network.. In the event that your router doesn't have this feature, a scanning tool may work in your favour instead. Your PC will run the programme to scan the Wi-Fi network you’re connected to for active devices and generate a report of those it finds. There is no way to view devices that are connected but are now offline, unlike router web interface features. You’ll only see electronic gadgets on the internet. /
We recommend NirSoft’s Wireless Network Watcher, however there are several tools available for this as well It’s a handy small tool, and it doesn’t have any adware or nag screens like other NirSoft products. NirSoft There’s no need for it to be downloaded or installed on your computer in order for it to work! Download the software, run it, and it will look for active devices on your Wi-Fi network and display their device names, MAC addresses, and the Wi-Fi network hardware manufacturer. Specific Android devices can be identified by their manufacturer’s name even if they don’t have a name on the box.
Unless you select your WiFi network adaptor, this utility may not function properly. It was necessary for us to use Wireless Network Watcher on our Windows PC, check “Use the following network adapter,” and then choose our actual Wi-Fi card before doing a scan.
But don’t fret, because it will not happen all the time. With WPA2-PSK encryption and a strong passcode, you can rest easy knowing your data is secure on the network. It’s quite improbable that someone has accessed your WiFi network without your explicit consent…. Change your Wi-Fi password if you’re concerned about this happening for any reason. You’ll have to do this on all of your permitted devices. Please make sure that WPS is turned off before proceeding with this step, since this feature may be exploited by an attacker to reconnect to your network without the need for a passphrase.
This can be a good idea even while sharing your Wi-Fi passwords with others, such as visiting neighbours, because it will prevent them from using it indefinitely.
