Find List of Devices Connected to Your Wireless Network

Technology 1 Comment

When you broadcast your home Wi-Fi SSID, other people are able to view it when they turn on their Wi-Fi option in their devices. You are able to secure your Wi-Fi network by setting WEP or WPA security. When you turn on your security, people must enter a security key to be able to connect to your network. If they somehow come across your network access key, they will be easily able to use your internet connection.

You do not want unknown people to use or rather misuse your internet connection. For this you have to keep your Wi-Fi network secure. But if you suspect that someone has been freeloading off your internet connection, then there is a way to find it out. You can discover the devices connected to your Wi-Fi internet router. If you find a device that is unknown to you, then you can be sure that other people are using your internet.

To find out the current devices that are connected to your wireless network, follow these steps:

Finding out Default Gateway to Access Your Wireless Routers Configurations

  • Open the command prompt in Windows. For this, go to your start button and type “cmd” without the quotes. Then open cmd.exe.
    cmd-prompt
    Alternatively, you can also press your Windows Key + R to open the “Run” dialog box and then type “cmd” to access Windows command prompt.
    run-command
  • In the command prompt type, ipconfig
    ipconfig-command
  • You will be displayed some information. Scroll through that information to find the one that says “Default Gateway” and find the number that corresponds to it. In my case it is 192.168.16.1 but in most cases it is 192.168.1.1.
    default-gateway-command-prompt

Modem Configurations to See the List

  • In the address bar of your internet browser, type the Default Gateway address 192.168.1.1 or something else that we got from the previous steps.
    192.168.16.1
  • You will be required to provide a user name and a password for access. If you have not set this already, it might be username: admin, password: admin or username: admin, password: password by default. You can check your router’s guide for this.
    router-authentication-required
    You will now reach your router’s management screen. Every router’s configuration options are different. This is because the software that powers the router is different for every case. Even the configuration interface for routers of a same brand can be different.
  • Browse through your routers configuration option to find the one that lists IPs connected to your modem along with their Mac Addresses. It is usually under LAN settings or Advanced settings. This might take some time, but if you don’t find it, go through every options and links present. You will come across it eventually. Just don’t make any change in settings.
  • In my case for “Trendchip Solutions” it is under Interface Setup > Lan > DHCP Server.
    dhcp-server-ip-pool
  • I have to click on “Current Pool Summary to bring out the list. Here’s my list:
    dhcp-ip-pool-list

You can see from the list above that there are four devices currently connected to my Wi-Fi network. Their host name is displayed for me to identify what those devices are. There are two Android devices, one laptop and an iPhone connected to my network. Lucky for me, I can identify all those devices as authorized. Their local IP addresses as well as MAC addresses are also shown along side their host name. You can use those Mac Addresses and block their access to your modem. If you have a frequent problem of unknown devices being connected to your network most of the time, specify only certain Mac Addresses as authorized devices. This option is also available in your modem’s configuration screen.

1 Comment

  1. Marek says:

    I am confuses, on the 19.09.2021,I noticed 6 devices connected to my router. I cii d not challenge anyone because Bay Rand names have not been display

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