- How Can You See What Devices Are Connected to Your Wifi Network
- How to Find My Router’s IP Address?
- On Windows
- On MacOS
- Use Your Wireless Router
- Using Command Prompt on Windows
- Third-party Applications
- Wireless Network Watcher (For Windows Only)
- Secure Your Wireless Network
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How Do You Get the IP and Mac Addresses for the Connected Devices?
- How Do I Identify Devices on My Network Using Mac and IP Addresses?
- What Should I Do if I Don’t Know One of the Devices?
- What Is a Good Example of a Strong Password?
- How To See Who Is Connected To My WiFi
- See Who Is Connected To WiFi With Your Router
- How to Find Your Router’s IP Address
- How To See Who’s Connected To Your Wifi Network
- Use a Network Scanner To See Who’s Using Your WiFi
- Secure Your WiFi Network
How Can You See What Devices Are Connected to Your Wifi Network
Is your internet connection slower than usual? It can happen because several people might have access to your wireless network.
So, if you have some nosy neighbors and suspect them of stealing your Wi-Fi network, then this article is here to help you find out!
We will cover some easy ways to track all the devices connected to your wireless network.
How to Find My Router’s IP Address?
Before you move on to finding out devices that connect to your network, we recommend that you first figure out your router’s IP address. In most instances, you can find it in the back of the router. But, if you are still unable to track it, you can always follow these easy steps.
On Windows
- Go to the Start icon and type in “cmd.” It will open up the Command Prompt.
- After it opens, type in the ipconfig command and hit the return/enter key.
- Under the Default Gateway, you can access your router’s IP address.
On MacOS
- Go to the Wi-Fi icon on the top-right screen.
- Click on the Network Preferences option.
- From the left panel, select Wi-Fi.
- Click the Advanced option from the bottom page.
Use Your Wireless Router
You can easily find out devices that connect to your Wi-Fi by tracking them from your wireless router’s IP address. This method is straightforward and doesn’t require any assistance from third-party applications.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
- Go to your computer or mobile device and open up your web browser.
- Type your Router’s Gateway IP address in the URL address field and hit Enter.
Alternatively, some Internet Service Providers also provide this access through their own router management application. You can head over and download the app. Launch it, Go to the router settings, and search for the Connected Devices option on your mobile or tablet devices.
Some apps can even have options of choosing to block devices from your wireless network. Make sure you consult your manufacturer or your Internet Service Providers for more information.
Using Command Prompt on Windows
At first glance, this method may appear cryptic for some individuals. Nonetheless, you can see exactly how many devices are connected to your wireless network.
Follow these easy steps and the commands below to access the names of the devices.
- Navigate to the search box on the far-left corner.
- Open up the Command Prompt by typing “cmd.”
- Make sure you Run this program as an administrator.
- In the command prompt box, type in a new command net view.
The process is complete! You will see a list of devices appear on the command prompt.
Note: If you have turned off your devices, they won’t be visible in the command prompt box.
Third-party Applications
If you find the above methods tedious, you can always opt-in by using third-party applications. Here is a simple process on how to use the application.
Wireless Network Watcher (For Windows Only)
Wireless Network Watcher is a small utility that scans your wireless network and displays the list of all computers and devices that connect to your network.
- From your web browser, go to the Nirsoft website.
- Scroll down the page and click on the Download Wireless Network Watcher.
- Click on the Install file option and follow the instructions.
- After the installation, navigate to the search box and type in Wireless Network Watcher.
- The utility will scan your network automatically and display a list of connected devices.
Secure Your Wireless Network
Cracking out a Wi-Fi password can be all fun and games. However, you should be aware that your personal and confidential information could get into the wrong hands.
We recommend that you always secure your Wi-Fi network by having a strong password that is hard to decipher. You can also change the Wi-Fi password regularly for better security.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Get the IP and Mac Addresses for the Connected Devices?
If you want to get the IP addresses and the mac addresses for these devices that are connected to your network, here is how to do it.
- Open up the command prompt utility by typing in cmd.
- Ensure you Run it as an administrator.
- Type in the command arp -a and push enter.
- You will see a list of IP and Mac addresses in the command prompt screen.
How Do I Identify Devices on My Network Using Mac and IP Addresses?
You can easily find out the information by pinging the device on your command prompt on your Windows Devices.
Here is a step-by-step process on how to ping the device.
- Navigate to the Start icon and type in cmd.
- You will see the command prompt utility and ensure you run it as an administrator.
- Type ping -a X, where “X” is the IP address of the item which you want to find.
Note: If you have turned off your devices, they won’t ping.
What Should I Do if I Don’t Know One of the Devices?
If you don’t recognize a device connected to your network, it can because you have forgotten. But if you think it is an intruder, then the first thing you can do is change your Wi-Fi password and then reconnect all of your devices back again.
What Is a Good Example of a Strong Password?
A strong password consists of 8 or more characters. Use upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols and have them all mix them up. Plus, we recommend that you have different passwords for every site, that way hackers can’t access all of your accounts if they get one password.
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How To See Who Is Connected To My WiFi
Have you noticed your WiFi working slower than usual? Before digging into how to boost your signal and improve WiFi performance, find out who is connected to your WiFi network.
Many devices in your house could be connected to your WiFi network, like laptops, smartphones, tablets, as well as smart bulbs, and home assistants. However, it could just be strangers logging in that’s causing your WiFi signal to lose speed.
There can be many different reasons why you’d like to know what devices are connected to your WiFi. Luckily, it’s an easy check. There are two ways you can go about this: Through your router’s web interface, or using network scanning software. For better results, try both ways and see if you find the same connected devices on the list.
See Who Is Connected To WiFi With Your Router
Your best option is to check your wireless router. You can do it in just a few minutes and don’t need to download any third-party apps to perform the check.
One thing you need before you do this is your wireless router’s IP address.
How to Find Your Router’s IP Address
In order to log into your router’s web interface, you’ll need to open a browser on any of your devices that are connected to your router. Then open a new browser tab and type your router’s IP address into the address bar.
Most routers have a default IP address of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. If you tried typing both of them into your browser and neither of them works, you can find your router’s IP address on the backside of your wireless router.
If you’re still not sure what your router IP address is, there are a few more ways to find it. Some are more complicated than others.
The easy way to do it on Windows is by using the Command Prompt utility. When you launch the utility, type the ipconfig command and press Enter.
From there, you’ll find your IP address under Default Gateway.
On Mac, click on the WiFi icon in the menu bar and choose Open Network Preferences.
In your Network settings, choose Wi-Fi from the left-side menu and click Advanced in the bottom-right corner of the window.
Then choose the TCP/IP tab in the next window. There you’ll find your IP address under Router.
How To See Who’s Connected To Your Wifi Network
Now that you have your IP address, open a new browser tab and type it in. This will take you to the router’s login page. Some routers will have admin and password as the default login credentials.
Alternatively, you can find those details on the backside of your router together with the IP address. If you have changed that previously, enter your new details to log in. If you don’t remember your username and password, you can reset the router and then use the default credentials to log in.
After you log in, you’ll need to navigate to the list of connected devices. Depending on your router, this information could be located in different places.
Some routers will have all the devices listed on the main page under WiFi.
On D-Link routers, you have to go to Status tab and find Wireless Clients to get the list of the devices.
On Verizon routers the section you need is called My Network. While on Netgear, you need to look for Attached Devices.
No matter what router you’re using, the list of connected devices normally offer the same information. You’ll see some sort of table that includes the hostname and MAC address for every device on the list.
When you see a device you don’t recognise, your first intention will probably be to boot it off your network. However, before you do that, make sure to check whether it’s actually a stranger feeding off your WiFi, or one of your devices that you simply didn’t recognize. A good way to do this is to compare the device’s MAC address from the list to the MAC addresses of the devices you own that could be connected to your wireless network.
Use a Network Scanner To See Who’s Using Your WiFi
Using your router’s web interface is the ideal way of checking who’s connected to your WiFi. However, there are other methods you can use. If your router doesn’t offer an option to see the list via its web interface, you can download software to your computer that will scan the WiFi network you’re using and list the connected devices.
There are quite a few different network scanners out there that you can use. To name a few tools that have proven its worth, we recommend LanScan for Mac, SoftPerfect for Windows and Mac, and Angry IP Scanner for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
The only downside is that these apps will only list active devices – the ones that are currently online. That means you won’t see any devices that are currently offline on the list.
Secure Your WiFi Network
In a situation where you need to give someone access to your local network, there’s a safe way to do that. At the same time, if you’re worried about someone hijacking your WiFi, it’s time to secure your network. Doing this will keep anyone from using your internet connection to perform malicious acts. It’ll also give you peace of mind.
Have you ever checked who’s been using your WiFi? What tools did you use to do that? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
Anya is a freelance technology writer. Originally from Russia, she is currently a full-time Remote Worker and Digital Nomad. With a background in Journalism, Language Studies, and Technical Translation, Anya couldn’t imagine her life and work without using modern technology on a daily basis. Always looking out for new ways to make her life and location-independent lifestyle easier, she hopes to share her experiences as a tech- and internet-addict through her writing. Read Anya’s Full Bio
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