Do you feel about someone stealing your WiFi? You are the one who is paying the internet bill, right? Then why are you sharing your wifi with others? This will slow down your internet connection. These days all of us are using Wi-Fi. We use it at home, at offices or coffee shops and even in dorm rooms. With the availability of laptops, tablets, and smartphones, Wi-Fi has a great tool to keep these devices connected to the Internet. But there is one issue with using Wi-Fi: stealing. If you are not careful with your Wi-Fi network, it will be too simple for someone to steal it.
Is someone stealing your WiFi Network?
The best way to check whether someone is stealing your wifi is to unplug or turn off all those devices and then watch the wireless signal light on your router. If the light continues to flicker, this can be an indication that someone else is using your Wi-Fi.
However, this technique would only work if you can be sure that all wireless-capable devices you have are powered down, which might not be very easy to do in many homes. So, we have mentioned two in-depth methods for checking for Wi-Fi thieves, no matter what setup you own. Here is how to find if someone is stealing your wifi.
Method 1: Use an app
The first method to check for someone stealing my wifi issue is to search through an app. Several apps are available to provide automatic searches for unusual devices that have been logged into your Wi-Fi network. You can check those devices, especially if they’re connected at odd times of day when no friends or family are over, can provide various clues.
Here are a few of the apps that can help you to pinpoint problems.
1. Wi-Fi Thief Detector
This app is easy to install and is designed to produce fast results. Wifi Thief detector app will show you how many devices are there on your router and help you spot devices that do not belong there. It will also connect you with your router settings so that you can quickly make the changes to protect your Wifi router.
2. Paessler PRTG Network Monitor:
This app is a full suite of wifi router management tools, it includes automatic detection of strange traffic, analysis of how your internet network is being used, and other in-depth details. It might be a bit much for the average worried wifi owner, but it is an excellent tool for small businesses that are concerned about someone hopping on their network without permission. We recommend you to stick with the 30-day free trial, which should be enough to root out any of your router problems.
3. Wi-Fi Guard
This is a handy yet versatile app that is available for iOS and Android. It has a pleasant minimalistic layout that allows you to check out all the devices that are connected with the network and check out for anything suspicious. You can also take a look at the details of any suspicious smartphones, tablets or computer and receive notifications about any new device that has just logged into your network.
4. Wireless Network Watcher
This is an independent software that is designed to help users of Windows and MacOS devices to watch for suspicious wireless activity and monitor all currently connected devices.
5. Fing
Fing is an iOS download and is focused more on mobile-oriented protection. It allows you to see immediately all the connected devices, which type of devices they are, the nature of their connection with the wifi, their MAC address, and so on. You can also check the Wi-Fi connection behaviour to observe particularly during the busy times that could indicate someone else is hopping onto your network.
Method 2: Check administrator logs
If you believe that someone is stealing your Wi-Fi, you are required to log into your router’s administration page. Most of the people can do this by typing 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 into the space given in the address bar.
Once you have access to the admin page, you will need to find the page listing the various Media Access Control (MAC) addresses connected to your computer. The location of this page will change depending on your wifi router, but you might find it under wireless configuration section, wireless status, or in the DHCP client list on the page. You can use this list to count how many devices are connected with your wifi router. If you can see six MAC addresses — any Mac device connected to your network will have its own unique MAC address — but if you see only four devices in your home, somebody is probably stealing your internet connection.
Note: Old mobile phones, gaming consoles, the Wi-Fi-enabled cameras, and other connected devices might show up on your MAC address list.
How can you Secure the Wi-Fi Connection?
By using the technique mentioned below you can secure your Wi-Fi connection and avoid being a victim of Wi-Fi hacking attack:
1. Password Protect the Wi-Fi Router
After following above checks if you are confirmed that someone is stealing your WiFi. The first thing you are required to do is password protect your Wi-Fi connection with a complex and strong password. This should be done to stop anyone from hacking your internet and stealing Wi-Fi bandwidth. Once the password has been set up, remember, you should change it monthly. This method will help you to always stay one step ahead of the Wi-Fi hacker.
Moreover, you can also try to use WPA2 or WPA security. As these settings will make the wireless connections strong and difficult to hack.
2. Change the Name of Router
You should change the router name to something suspicious. You need to avoid keeping default names or obvious names for your router. If you want to choose the router name, then you can do so from the wireless settings menu.
3. Change your Wi-Fi Password
If you suspect that someone might have hacked your Wi-Fi and is stealing your Wi-Fi bandwidth even after you are the one who is paying the bill. You need to change the password immediately. Once you have done this, all of the unwanted connected devices will automatically be disconnected.
4. Take help of Mac Filtering
This one is the safest method to keep hackers away from your Wi-Fi. Mac filtering allows you to block device unique hardware addresses. This hardware address is given out by the manufacturer.
By using these techniques you can easily check whether someone is stealing your Wi-Fi and keep the hackers away.
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