How to find out who else is connected to my wifi. How to check your home Wi-Fi for unauthorized connections

The first sign that some kind of “guest” has connected to the network is a drop in speed. This is expressed in a variety of ways, but most often:

How to find out who is connected to my wifi

Finding out exactly who is currently connected to a wifi router is quite simple. There are several options for this. A program designed specifically for such purposes will help you find out who has connected to the network. In the same way, you can find out who connected to wi-fi using the router control panel.

Both methods are good and correct. The program, for example, allows you to find out that someone has just joined the network. And the router’s web interface not only “sees” the connected device, but is also capable of blocking unauthorized access forever.

Overview of connected devices in the router settings

So, the first way to know that someone is connected to a wi-fi router is to look at the control panel of the router itself. To do this, you only need to make a few clicks and know some basic things:

1. you will need to find out the address to log into the control panel;
2. you must be connected to a wireless network;
3. know the login and password to access the router responsible for distributing the Internet.

Obtaining this data is easy. It is enough to find out the model and look at the necessary information on the manufacturer’s website. And also take a look at the back cover of the router, where a sticker with all the technical information is usually located. In order to find out who is unauthorized connected to the wifi router at a given time, you should take the following steps:

• Launch your browser and enter the numbers specified in the documentation in the address bar. Many companies use 192.168.1.1 as the default router address, but you can change it yourself.
• Enter the appropriate data in the “Login” and “Password” fields. A window will open after the page loads.

• You now have access to the control panel. It differs depending on the manufacturer, but there are common features. For example, the location of the section the user is interested in is Wireless statistic.
• Open the Basic settings tab. Go to Wireless - “Wireless Network”. In the list that appears, select Wireless Statistic - “Wireless connection statistics”.

• On the loaded tab, view the list of devices currently connected to the network. And also analyze what kind of devices they are, based on the available information:

In a specific example, it is easy to find out that one user is connected to the network via cable. This is indicated by the AP-UP status. Consequently, this is the PC from which an attempt is made to find out who is currently connected to Wi-Fi. And, in fact, by looking at the number of connections with this status, the answer to the question of how to find out how many devices are connected to the network at the moment when viewing is done is ready. With laptops it’s a little more difficult because they end up in the same category as smartphones. Identifying these devices will require direct access to them. But it’s a little easier to determine “your” and “other people’s” gadgets; to do this, turn off the connection on “yours”. As a result, only “foreign” gadgets and the one from which the viewing is made will remain on the network.

It is enough to look at the MAC address of the device to compare it with the response from the router interface. And if they match, then the device is legally on the network. This is just the first way to view devices. There are other options to find out who is “sitting” on our router.

Programs for viewing a list of devices connected to Wi-Fi

Naturally, in addition to the way to determine who is connecting to wi-fi using the control panel of your router, there is also the opportunity to do this through a program. For this purpose, there are developments for both PC and phone. But we will only talk about PC programs. There are several types of them, but they all work according to a general principle. There is a call to the router, where the information is taken from. That is, the program for viewing connected devices performs the operations from the list above, saving the user from unnecessary actions.

This program is used to view devices connected to the router, the first of its kind. When it comes to Wi-Fi Guard, you should remember that its pioneer developers decided to exclude the router from viewing the list of active connections. This is due to the simplicity of the interface and functionality. There is no option to quickly disconnect a user in the program. But there is a sound signal indicating an active connection. True, in order to find out that an “extra” person has just connected to the network, you need to keep the program as a background process. It minimizes to the tray, from where it conducts monitoring.

Essentially no different from the previous version. Performs the same function: the program is used to find out who else is connected to my wifi router. Also allows you to notify about new connections the moment they are established. It should be noted that the development of this program is ongoing at this point in time. Therefore, the first difference is the interface, adapted for the latest versions of Windows OS. Alas, Network Watcher does not yet “know how” to break active connections. Although this function is stated to be under development. It is possible that Network Watcher will soon be added to the program. In the meantime, it is possible to find out who is connecting to wi-fi while it is running. There is a function for logging and displaying a list of devices connected while the program was running.

Disabling foreign devices from Wi-Fi

Once you have found out who is connected to my WiFi, you should move on. Now we have to take action without harming other users connected to the network. Or be able to freely connect to it. In theory, everything looks simple: just turn off the device. But in practice this is not enough. After all, a simple disconnect will allow a third-party “client” to reconnect to the network almost immediately. This means a more radical solution will be required.

When analyzing the question of how to determine who is connecting to our network, we already looked at the router control panel. But it serves not only to see active connections on the computer. Also, using the web interface (this is essentially the same thing), it is possible to make changes to the router settings. This will allow you to find out and see who is connected to the network, as well as block further access for “left” users. The following steps need to be taken:

• Log in to the router control panel (see above). This feature has previously been used to check connections.
• In the Wireless section, find the Mac Filtering item. The necessary operations are performed through it. It is also possible to configure a Firewall on the router. But this is a little more complicated than setting up access rules through address filtering:

• Select the rule to use. The difference is that in the first case, access is blocked for all devices except those specified in the list. In the second case, “listed” devices will be blocked. Which solution to apply depends on the user.
• Having made your choice, click Add new so that the following window appears:

After this setup, you can instantly disconnect the unwanted subscriber from wi-fi. Of course, this method is very complicated and it is easier to change the password. But this does not mean that the “freeloader” is not able to learn a new one and connect again.

In general, the access denial method is imperfect. If you simply change the MAC address, there is a chance that you will be connected to someone else's network again. Which means we should move on. And the next logical action is to change the wireless network password. And this leads to the next question.

How to protect your Wi-Fi network from hacking

It's actually quite easy to defend yourself. It is enough to have a strong password, and ideally also change it at some intervals, which will ensure high security. Changing the password helps if someone managed to find out the old password and connect using the code. After changing the password, any connected user will lose connection until they enter a new password. In a sense, this solution is a faster way to protect your Wi-Fi than blocking by MAC address.

How to make fun of freebie lovers

After you can see who is connected to my wifi, you can resort to a non-standard solution. The user can actually be punished in a funny but unusual way. And it differs from the previous ones in that it will not prohibit access to the network, but will make it unbearably painful.

The point is that a rule is created when we do not disable foreign devices, but greatly limit their access speed. However, the availability of this function depends on the router model. The examples above show a model that “cannot” do this. But the most common ones, like the TL-WR740n and RT-N10E, have a similar option, and its setting is in the same place as MAC address filtering. As a result, a person who manages to find out the network password will regret connecting. After all, it’s unpleasant to find out that you, the cunning one, connected to your neighbor’s wifi, can use the Internet at a speed of 5 kb/s. It’s not always worth turning off those who like free “bait”; sometimes you need to act cruelly and make sure that the cheese really lies in the mousetrap...

How to find out which of the left people is connected to your Wi-Fi router? The easiest way is to turn off the Internet during rush hour and listen to what is happening around you in complete silence. The hysterical reaction of the neighbors will tell you the answer to this question. Well, seriously speaking, you can find out this information in the router settings and using special programs. How all this is learned, and most importantly, what to do with this information later, we will consider in this article.

Signs that someone is stealing Wi-Fi

Slow Internet may indicate that poor Wi-Fi connections have appeared. The network will begin to slow down, the speed will drop to a critical minimum, and none of the household members will be caught actively downloading files. But no particularly active actions are needed to restrict each user of the local network if this network is provided by a weak router. With this, and even with a slow connection according to the tariff, each of the network devices will receive its own minimum resource. And this can even be reflected in the speed of opening sites. Lovers deserve the balls right, but it’s unfair for those who pay for the Internet.

But uninvited guests can cause much bigger problems than slow Internet or even hefty bills from metered tariffs if they turn out to be scammers, porn distributors, wanted members of extremist groups, or other seekers of trouble with the law. And with the help of our access point they will do their business.

You can detect the fact of a third-party connection to Wi-Fi if you temporarily disconnect all authorized devices from the network. The router indicator that continues to blink will indicate that someone is using the wireless Internet. The following will help you understand which equipment is currently connected to the network without our knowledge, and also take action against uninvited guests.

How to detect Wi-Fi theft using a router

You can specifically verify that there are third-party connections to the Wi-Fi network using the router’s web interface. To do this, you need to enter the interface in the browser window, log in and go to the section where active wireless connections are displayed. Each brand of router has its own interface; moreover, different firmware versions may be available for different model lines, so there can be no question of universal instructions here. But, friends, I will show the principle of operation using the example of the TP-Link TL-WR720N model.

In the browser window, enter the IP address of the router; for TP-Link, as for many other models, it is 192.168.0.1. Next, an authorization window will appear in which you need to specify a username and password. Again, for many router models the default is admin and admin, respectively. To view devices connected to the Wi-Fi network, go to the “Wireless Mode” section and click “Wireless Mode Statistics”. In my case, there is only one wireless connection - a smartphone. Using TP-Link firmware we will only see the MAC address of the smartphone.

Not much more information, alas, is displayed in the “Advanced Settings” section in the “List of DHCP Clients”, where all network equipment is listed. The router has detected the name of the computer connected via Ethernet. But the smartphone remained unknown to him.

Other router models may provide more information about connected devices. For example, determine the manufacturer or operating system. But even with such a minimum of information that TP-Link provides, the difference between the total number of wireless connections and the number of gadgets in your household will help you understand the very fact of Wi-Fi theft.

Changing your Wi-Fi password

In principle, at this stage the investigation can be completed: the fact of theft has been established, then we proceed with the simplest method - change the Wi-Fi password. Or we install it if the access point was initially not password-protected. In the tested TP-Link model, this is done in the same “Wireless Mode” section, in the “Wireless Protection” subsection, in the “PSK Password” column.

For the average person, these measures will be sufficient. But our move will not stop more or less competent thieves, because the Internet is full of instructions for determining the password of other people’s Wi-Fi access points. Devices of persistent balloon lovers must be blocked by MAC addresses. And if there are several devices connected to Wi-Fi, you need to determine whose MAC addresses are.

How to find out whose MAC addresses are

How can you find out where whose MAC addresses are if the router firmware does not provide at least some identifying feature for network devices?

Option No. 1: You can find out the MAC addresses for each of your household devices using the functionality of the operating systems or third-party applications of the gadgets you use. And thus identify the Internet thief. But there is a much simpler method.

Option number 2: you can use the special Windows program SoftPerfect WiFi Guard. This is both a more convenient way to determine the MAC addresses of network devices, and also a tool for preventing unauthorized wireless connections.

We don’t close the router’s web interface for now, we’ll come back to it later.

SoftPerfect WiFi Guard program

The simple SoftPerfect WiFi Guard program, which supports a Russian-language interface, provides a small but useful list of features:

Scans the network for connections, in particular wireless ones;

Detects third-party devices and signals their connection;

Provides information about MAC addresses and manufacturers of equipment connected to the network;

Keeps a history of all devices ever connected to the network since the first scan.

The program is downloaded from the developer’s website, there is a portable version:

https://www.softperfect.com/products/wifiguard/

You can use SoftPerfect WiFi Guard to monitor up to 5 network devices for free. This restriction is removed when purchasing a perpetual (!) license for 1,120 rubles.

How to use the program? We install it on the system or unpack the portable version. Let's launch. If your computer has several network adapters, including virtual ones, as those who work with hypervisors will certainly have, SoftPerfect WiFi Guard will launch with the settings window active and ask you to specify the required network adapter. In the list of adapters, select the physical one - the one that does not include the names of hypervisor programs.

We launch the scan directly in the SoftPerfect WiFi Guard window.

The program will notify you with the following notification about all detected smartphones, tablets, TVs and other equipment connected to Wi-Fi.

After which the window will display the entire list of network devices. The router and the current computer in the “Info” column will be marked, respectively, as “Internet gateway” and “This computer”. The router and the current Windows computer will appear with a green indicator, which indicates that they are authorized by the program by default. All devices connected via Wi-Fi will be marked with a red indicator. And this means that the program sees them as third parties. And they will continue to see it this way until we ourselves sanction them. In the “Manufacturer” column of each device we will see the manufacturer. For desktops, the motherboard manufacturer will be displayed as such a company.

In fact, in this way, based on the device manufacturer, you can determine which of them owns the MAC addresses displayed both in the router interface and in the program window. Of course, if it happens that an Internet thief has, for example, a smartphone from the same manufacturer as someone in the household, then he will have to look at the MAC address on the latter’s smartphone and use the exclusion method.

So, where whose gadget has been sorted out, now using the program’s context menu we can copy the MAC addresses of thieves for the blacklist or our household members for the white blocking list using a router.

But we’ll talk about blocking a little later, before we look at some more features of SoftPerfect WiFi Guard. Double-clicking on an unauthorized device will open a properties window where you can authorize it by checking the box that says “I know this computer or...”.

In this case, the gadget will receive a green indicator, and during subsequent scans the program will no longer display a message about it. By clicking the “All devices” button, we get a list of all computers, smartphones, tablets and other equipment ever connected to the network during the program’s operation.

In the settings section we can change the time period for scanning the network. If the preset half an hour is too short a time period, move the slider of the “Rescan the network every...” option to the left, to the desired value. Also in the settings you can check the option to run the program from the system tray. And if necessary, select the program to autorun.

Almost every apartment has computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and other devices. To ensure that all these devices have access to the Internet, owners create home wireless networks and install Wi-Fi routers. Today, the issue of protecting these networks from illegal exploitation by other users remains relevant. In this article, I will tell you how to find out who has connected to your network.

Reasons for concern

• You should be alarmed by the regular decrease in data transfer speed on the Internet. Another user joining your wireless connection is not the only reason for slow speeds. But it doesn’t hurt to monitor the situation.
• If you are sure that all devices in the apartment are disconnected from the wireless network, and the indicator on the router continues to flicker intensely. This is another reason to find out if any of your neighbors are connected to my Wi-Fi.

How to check how many devices are connected to the router

1st method

To find out who connected to Wi-Fi, you need to go to the router settings. To do this, open your browser and enter the IP address of your router in the address bar. If you are logging into settings for the first time, you will need to enter your username and password.
You can find out the IP address, login and password yourself. To do this, you need to look at the sticker on the back of the device.
You can also find out this data in a search engine by entering your router model. Provided, of course, that you have not changed them before. On the start page, select advanced settings, and then the “DHCP” tab. This tab displays all devices that are currently powered by your router. You can use the MAC address to find out whether someone else is connected to the wireless network.

The ability to administer the network is provided. By removing the MAC address, I will prevent someone else's device from accessing my Wi-Fi. Watch a detailed video on how to determine who is connected to a Wi-Fi router, for example, a router from D-Link:

2nd method Using the program Wireless Network Watcher.
Download the free WNetWatcher utility from the Internet. Launch it. The program will scan the network and show who is connected to your Wi-Fi router. First on the list are my computer and router, followed by the devices that are connected to my Wi-Fi.

For each device, the name, MAC address, and manufacturer are indicated. You can find out who is using your network by the device name. Another option is to look at the MAC addresses of your devices and compare them with the addresses given by the program. The advantage of this utility is not only that you can see who is currently connected to your network. This program runs in the background. If someone tries to use your Wi-Fi, an alarm will sound.

Disadvantages of wireless network watcher:

There is no option to block an unknown user. Even if you find that an attacker is connected to your router, you will not be able to stop it. For the program to work, at least one device must be connected by cable to the router. Watch a detailed video on using the program:

1. Always change your router login username and password. The passwords that manufacturers provide can be easily hacked by attackers. To change the password, go to the advanced settings, on the “System Tools” tab, select “Password”. In the tab that opens, you can edit the current password.

2. In the “Wi-Fi/Wireless Mode” menu, select the “MAC Filter/MAC Address Filtering” tab. On the Filter Mode tab, select Allow.
In the Wi-Fi router's memory, enter the MAC addresses for which you leave access to the wireless network. After this, no device will be able to connect to your network, even if the person knows your password. Using the tips from this article, you can conveniently see who is connected to the wireless network without your knowledge and block access to the free Internet.

The main problem when using a wireless Internet network is access to it by third parties. Additional devices reduce the amount of data transferred over a period of time. Therefore, they often enter “How to find out who is connected to my wifi” in search engines. In fact, everything is very simple.

Illegal connections cause the router to malfunction, namely:

• a sharp decrease in connection speed due to traffic consumption by other persons;
• restrictions on visiting certain sites;
• When you turn off all equipment from the network, the router indicator continues to blink or remains on.

All these signs indicate that the wifi channel is being used by someone else, secretly from the owner of the router.

How to find out how many devices are connected to my Wi-Fi

Determining how many connections a particular WiFi has is fairly easy. To do this, do this:

• type the IP address of the router into the browser text field (usually it is indicated on the network module body);
• enter credentials in the requested window;
• look at the number of all gadgets displayed in the interface by the network module.

More specific information can be seen through the “System Log”. The MAC addresses of all network devices are displayed here. All that remains is to compare the information with the list of equipment available in the house.

Checking who is connected to my Wi-Fi

If you do not have access to the network module, you should use third-party programs. The most common option for seeing who is connected to wifi is Wireless Network Watcher. The file can be downloaded for free on the manufacturer's website. The program scans a list of addresses on a given network and shows detected devices. The following are displayed on the screen:

• name of personal computer;
• network card details;
• unique equipment identifier;
• protocol address.

On each specific router you can view the list of clients as follows:

1. TP-Link. In the general menu on the left there is a section “Wireless mode statistics”. A MAC address filter will help you disable an unwanted device.
2. Asus. You must select the “Clients” item. A table showing all clients will be displayed on the right side.
3. D-Link. In “Advanced settings” you need to select “Station list” in the Wi-Fi item. You can disconnect communication with a third-party client by selecting “Disconnect”.
4. Zyxel. You need to go to the “System Monitor” section and select the “Home Network” tab. Below is a list of gadgets.

To find out which devices are connected to Wi-Fi unauthorized, you should turn off the radio modules on phones and tablets for a while. Next, on the keyboard you need to press Win + R (Windows logo plus the English symbol), and then cmd. Next you should enter ipconfig /all. This way you can find out information about your PC - network name and MAC address.

How to protect your Wi-Fi network from hacking

To prevent the transfer of information to other devices, you need to use the router control panel. The left device can be “Rejected”. This will mean blocking its connection to the Wi-Fi network.

There are other tips to help protect your network from hacking:

1. You must enable the MAC address filter and add only those devices that are allowed access.
2. You must not share your password with anyone.
3. You must use Wi-Fi protection with a long password with WPA authentication
4. It is recommended to hide the SSID. This will allow you not to display the distributed network, otherwise everything will be the same.

If you have other devices connected to your home network, such as friends or family, you need to create a guest network for them. Modern routers have a similar function.

Programs for monitoring connections

In order for the router to warn the owner about the connection of foreign gadgets, it is worth installing the Network Watcher program, which was described above. It is suitable for all Windows.

The SoftPerfect WiFi Guard executable file is also used to control the connection. It is a specialized scanner that checks networks after a certain period of time and gives a signal if an unknown gadget is found. You can download the program from the official website. The installation process is the most standard and straightforward. As a result, a window will appear to confirm the language.

In the program window you need to select your router, in the “Advanced” tab you can set an alert signal when connections are found. It is possible to scan the network for the presence of third-party users. You can add devices to allowed devices and remove them from the list by clicking the check mark.

By knowing which devices are connected to Wi-Fi, you can regularly use your home network without any interference. The main thing is to follow all the recommendations and distribute the router password only to selected people.

With the development of modern technologies, not only new opportunities appear for users, but also problems that can be caused by unauthorized connections. Traffic leakage is a fairly common problem that many users face, and naturally, a reasonable question arises: how can I find out who is connected to my Wi-Fi router? Connecting to a router can cause a number of problems, for example, a noticeable drop in speed, slow page loading. This problem is not uncommon if there is no security at all or a weak key, as is the case with WEP encryption. If you suspect that someone has connected to the router, you should first of all find out if there are additional connections and deny them access, in other words, block them.

Checking for additional connections is not difficult; even an inexperienced user can do it. To find out who is connected to your router, you should follow a few simple steps. The first thing that is recommended to do is count how many devices are connected to the wi-fi network, in addition to the computer, it could be a tablet. laptop, phone. During the test, you should temporarily disconnect all other devices and leave only your main computer or laptop.

Now you need to check your personal IP and MAC address. This can be done very simply, using the special command ipconfig /all, which must be entered into the command line on the computer.

Command Prompt Window

Next, you need to go to the settings of your wi-fi router. After opening the settings, you need to find the wireless Internet usage statistics section. In Russified versions, this section may be called “wireless network clients” or “wireless mode”. In this section you can view all IP addresses and find out how many devices are connected to the Rostelecom router. All that remains is to check these addresses with the addresses of your devices. If they do not match, then there is a third-party connection.

After finding extraneous connections, it is recommended to change the wi-fi password to a more secure one. The function of blocking unwanted clients is also available. But it is worth remembering that this is an ineffective option, since an attacker can easily change the address and connect to someone else’s Internet again. A more effective way is to use filtering by MAC addresses, allowing access only to certain addresses; the rest will be denied and connection will become impossible.

We identify “free” users

The above method will help you easily identify unwanted Wi-Fi connections. Don’t forget that router models differ and this process can be difficult for a beginner, so let’s take a closer look at the most popular and in-demand models.

D-Link Router

To see who is connected to my Rostelecom D-Link router, you need to use the web interface address - 192.168.0.1 It is recommended to go to “Advanced settings”, this key is located at the bottom of the window. Then go to the section Status - Wi-Fi Client - Station List. There is a “Disconnect” button next to the attacker’s address.

Router TP-Link

To check for unwanted connections to a router of this model, you need to use 192.168.1.1. In the menu that opens on the right side, you need to find the Wireless statistics section, clicking on it will open full access to devices using wi-fi.

ASUS routers

The web configuration address is the same as for TP-Link routers. In modern models, all Wi-Fi connections are reflected on the main page. Users can see the “Clients” circle; by clicking on it, they can see a list of all connection addresses to the router.

There are also special utilities that can be used to check for third-party connections to the router. They do not require installation and the whole procedure is quite simple; the only drawback of such a program is that it does not support the Russian language.

Disabling unwanted clients

It is possible to block access to detected third-party addresses in the router settings, but this gives absolutely no guarantees, since the attacker can connect again, but from a different IP. To find out and get rid of those who are sitting on my router for good, you should use MAC address filtering directly in the settings of the router itself. You need to allow access only to certain devices, then no one else will be able to connect.