Have you noticed that your WiFi is slower than usual? Before figuring out how to strengthen the signal and improve Wi-Fi performance, find out who is connected to your Wi-Fi network.
Many devices in your home can be connected to your Wi-Fi network, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, as well as smart bulbs and home assistants. However, it might just be someone else logging in, causing your WiFi signal to lose speed.
There can be many different reasons why you want to know what devices are connected to your Wi-Fi. Fortunately, this is easy to verify. This can be done in two ways: via the router’s web interface or using network scanning software. For best results, try both methods and see if you find the same connected devices in the list.
Find out who is connected to the WiFi using your router
Your best bet is to check your wireless router. You can do this in just a few minutes, and you don’t need to download third-party apps to complete the verification.
Before doing this, you need the IP address of your wireless router.
How to find the IP address of your router
To log into your router’s web interface, you need to open a browser on any of your devices connected to your router. Then open a new browser tab and enter your router’s IP address in the address bar.
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Most routers have a default IP address of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. If you’ve tried entering both of them into your browser but neither of them work, you can find your router’s IP address on the back of your wireless router.
If you’re still not sure what your router’s IP address is, there are a few more ways to find it. Some are more difficult than others.
The easiest way to do this on Windows is to use a command line utility. When launching the utility, enter the ipconfig command and press Enter.
From there, you will find your IP address under the “Default Gateway” section.
On a Mac, click the WiFi icon in the menu bar and choose Open Network Preferences.
In the network settings, select Wi-Fi in the left menu and click “Advanced” in the lower right corner of the window.
Then select the TCP / IP tab in the next window. There you will find your IP address under the “Router” section.
How to find out who’s connected to your WiFi
Now that you have an IP address, open a new browser tab and enter it. This will take you to the router login page. Some routers use an administrator account and password as the default credentials.
Alternatively, you can find this data on the back of the router along with the IP address. If you changed this earlier, enter your new login information. If you don’t remember your username and password, you can reset your router and then use the default login credentials
After logging in, you will need to navigate to the list of connected devices. This information may appear in different places depending on your router.
On some routers, all devices will be listed on the main page in the WiFi section.
On D-Link routers, you need to go to the Status tab and find Wireless Clients to get a list of devices.
On Verizon routers, the section you need is called My Network. While on Netgear, you need to look for connected devices.
Regardless of which router you are using, the list of connected devices usually contains the same information. You will see a kind of table that includes the hostname and MAC address for each device in the list.
When you see a device you don’t know, your first intention is probably to download it from the network. Before doing this, however, be sure to check if it is indeed a stranger feeding on your Wi-Fi, or one of your devices that you simply did not recognize. A good way to do this is to compare the MAC address of a device from the list with the MAC addresses of the devices you own that may be connected to your wireless network.
Use a network scanner to find out who is using your WiFi
Using your router’s web interface is the perfect way to check who is connected to your Wi-Fi network. However, you can use other methods as well. If your router does not support web browsing, you can download software to your computer that scans the Wi-Fi network you are using and displays a list of connected devices.
There are quite a few different network scanners that you can use. To name a few tools that have proven to be effective, we recommend LanScan for Mac, SoftPerfect for Windows and Mac, and Angry IP Scanner for Windows, Mac and Linux.
The only drawback is that these apps will only display active devices – those that are currently connected to the network. This means that you will not see any devices that are currently disabled in the list.
Secure Your WiFi
In a situation where you need to give someone access to your local network, there is a safe way to do it. At the same time, if you are worried about someone stealing your Wi-Fi, it’s time to secure your network This will prevent your internet connection from being used for malicious activities. It will also give you peace of mind.
Have you ever checked who is using your Wi-Fi? What tools did you use for this? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
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