It happens that the home network penetrates strangers. This cannot be ignored because it causes inconvenience and is also unsafe. After all, attackers can both view the password from your router’s WiFi, and use your traffic for free, and be able to view personal files and documents.
Related: Windows 10 can’t connect to this WiFi Network: How to fix it?
Signs of third-party connections
If someone has connected to your wireless network, it will cause noticeable symptoms such as:
- Reducing internet speed (the most frequent and obvious sign), downloads become slow, and online video playback slows down;
- Changing the wifi settings;
- Programs that show all connected users will have foreign devices;
- The WAN light bulb on the router flashes when you’re not using the connection.
How to secure the home network?
There are several recommendations for making your home connected as secure as possible:
- It is necessary to change the network security key at least once every 3-4 weeks.
- Never use the same passwords for different purposes (such as the same combinations to access email and home network). And do not come up with simple keys, like a birthday, your own name, the name of the animal, the street on which you live, and so on. Only keep the keys on paper. Many people write them down in a notebook on the desktop – it is not safe.
- Use the WPA2-PSK encryption type. Unlike others (and more outdated), it’s the hardest to crack.
- Any suspicious, unfamiliar device is put in the mac filter.
Utilities showing connected devices
The functionality of the following programs is simple and similar to each other. They all show a list of devices active on your home network, with IP and mac addresses.
Softperfect WiFi Guard
The program shows the number of devices connected to WiFi. The interface is Russified. The utility is adapted to work on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7.
The green light in front of the device indicates that it is active, red, and disabled. The background program checks the network and can notify the user when connecting foreign devices.
You can download it from here.
Wireless Network Watcher
To cut off access to the network to outsiders, you need first to find out who connects to it. Wireless Network Watcher can help identify foreign devices on your network. The utility is easy to use and is entirely free. You can download it from the official website. The program works with and without the installation (this choice has almost no effect on anything). To see who is connected to my WiFi with
Wireless Network Watcher, you need to do the following:
1. Run the program.
2. The window will show how many devices are connected to the network.
3. If you wish, you can leave the program to run in the background so that it lets you know when outsiders are connecting to the network. To do this, go to Options and tick in front of Background Scan and Beep on New Device.
The main drawback of the utility is the lack of official Russification. Nevertheless, you can download a third-party. Even on the watcher site, you will see detailed instructions on what it takes. All you need to do is download the Russification file, put it in the program directory, and restart it.
You can download it from here.
Advanced IP scanner
This app shows a list of all the devices connected to your home network. It takes no more than 2MB, does not require installation, and has a simple interface. Instructions on how many connected users there are online at the moment:
1. Download the utility from its official site (it’s completely free).
2. Open the downloaded file. You will be given a choice – to install or run immediately. The choice will not affect the functionality of the program.
3. The working window will start. On the panel on the top, there is an IP icon. Click on it, then on “Scan.”
4. After about half a minute, a list of devices connected to this wireless network will appear in the window.
5. If you have foreign connected devices on the list, you should immediately change your network security key. The check is recommended once a month to prevent unauthorized connections. This will make it harder for attackers to connect to your network.
You can download it from here.
On the D-Link router
Here’s what you need to do to see active home network customers connected to the D-Link router:
- Open your router’s web menu via an internet browser (198.168.1.1).
- Go to the extended settings. We watch the Status button, and there should be a double arrow to the right in the “Customers” section. There is a list of all users who are connected to the network.
On the list, determine whether the total number of devices corresponds to the number of your customers. If they are a mismatch, you need to secure your network and cut off the access of attackers to it. To begin with, it is better to change the WiFi password. Then you can resort to blocking at the MAC address, which is also done through the web menu of the router. Web menu can be opened through PCs and on Android, and any mobile device with the Internet.
On Tp-Link
Instructions on how to see who is connected to my WiFi TP-link are:
- We go to the settings TP-Link.
- We go to the “Wireless Mode” tab, click on “Wireless Statistics.” You’ll see a list of all customers who have connected to your home wireless network.
Tp-Link web settings are opened in any browser, via mobile phone or PC.
How do I see who’s connected to Asus WiFi?
On the Asus router, you need to go to the web interface, open a network map and “customers” menu to display a list of customers connected to the router. The list shows their IP and MAC addresses (you can use them to block). But Asus devices have one inconvenient feature: the page displays not active users and everyone who used the wifi before the restart. The list is only updated after the restart.
The settings menu opens on computers and mobile devices, such as the iPhone.
How do I reset my connections?
To remove foreign devices from the network, you need to change the password from it. You can completely protect the Waifai from unauthorized connections. To do this, you will need to go to your router’s web interface through the browser, dialing the address of the router (the most frequent – 192.168.1.1, in other cases, see the address on the back cover of the router). You can visit the Settings page on both your PC and your phone.
The authorization window will open. By default, the username is admin. The password is admin.
Once you enter, the router’s web menu will be displayed. For example, the TP-Link router menu looks like this:
You can close the entrance to strangers through MAC filtering. Add a new one.
We enter the MAC address of a foreign device (using utilities that display a list of connected devices to determine it) and save it. If there are several such users, we repeat the operation.
How do I find mac-address devices?
You can use the standard tools in Windows 10 to determine the MAC addresses of unwanted devices. Before you find out who is connected to my WiFi router and determine its MAC address, we will find out the addresses of their devices so as not to accidentally block them:
1. Go to the Menu Start – Control Panel.
2. We are looking for a Network Management and Sharing Center. (You can open it differently: click on the connection icon on the left at the bottom of the pad.)
3. Switch to wireless networks.
4. Open “Details.”
5. The “Physical Address” line shows your device’s MAC address.
Define the MAC address of an Android mobile device as follows:
We go to the settings – About the phone – General information.
On the iPhone, it is done by analogy.
How to punish those who unauthorisedly infiltrate your home network?
If you find an outsider who’s connected to your network, you need to take appropriate action. You can block it forever. Step-by-step instructions on how to find out who is connected to my WiFi and disable it:
- We go to the router’s web menu.
- Open the switch Wireless Statistics (in another way, it can be called DHCP List). In it, we find the MAC address of the attacker and copy.
- We go to the Wireless MAC Filtering settings section, which allows you to filter devices by MAC addresses.
- We use settings and save changes.
Related: How do I limit wifi distribution speeds for other users?
Now, this user will never be able to connect to your Wifi network. But you can apply to it and less stringent measures, for example, limit the speed of its connection (put a few dozen kilobytes/sec). Now, connecting to the network, he will ship any Internet page for several minutes. The attacker will disconnect from your network himself, as the Internet on his computer will work unbearably slowly, and he will not be able to fix it.
You can also change the password on the router to which an unknown customer is connected to disable all foreign devices.
