How Can You Tell if Someone Is Stealing Your Internet Connection?

It has become increasingly evident over the last few years that the internet is a crucial resource that everyone should have access to. In many respects, having access to the internet at home is as crucial as having access to other fundamental services like water and electricity.

Unfortunately, wireless internet isn't necessarily as secure as these other services, which means your neighbors could be using your internet service without your permission. We'll walk you through how to figure out if someone is stealing your internet and how to secure your connection if you suspect it's being used by someone outside your home in this article.

How can you know if your Wi-Fi is being hacked?

Accessing third-party software and monitoring your router are two simple ways to find out if a neighbor is using your internet (without addressing them). Here's how to tell whether your internet is being hacked.

Examining your network map and admin control

Finally, if neither of those alternatives works, you can look at the network map in your router's admin control panel. This map tells you which devices are now connected to your router, as well as those that have been connected in the past. Be warned that this is a more time-consuming process than the others because you'll need to know your router's username and password, as well as your IP address.

Although each router control panel is unique, here is a broad overview of how to get to yours. To begin, go to your router's online login page and input your credentials. Look for a section labeled "network map" or "router logs" from there. You should be able to view which devices or IP addresses are connected to your network once you've found that.

Checking the status light on your router, as well as the settings in the routers app and admin control

You can also check your router if you don't want to use a third-party tool. Here are three ways to check which devices are connected to your home network using your router.

Related: Small Business Network Security Checklist : WAN best Practices

The status light on the router

The status lights on your router should flicker when there are devices connected to it. As a result, it makes sense to turn off any internet-connected devices to see if your network has any illegal users.

Put all of your gadgets on airplane mode or turn them off completely to accomplish this. Check your router to see if any lights are still glowing after they've gone offline. If this is the case, your router may have been hacked or your network may be being used by a neighbor.

To find out which devices are logged into your router, you can use a third-party program.

There seems to be an app for everything these days, including detecting if someone is stealing your internet access. You can instantly view a list of devices logged onto your home wireless network with an app like WiFi Guard (available for Android and iOS). It could be a neighbor utilizing your internet without your permission if you see one you don't recognize.

Router application

Many modern routers include a smartphone app that allows you to set up your internet and monitor your account. Most of these apps will also include a function that allows you to see all of the devices that are connected to the router.

Log onto your router app and look for the list of linked devices to use this feature. Its location will vary depending on your router, although it could be referred to as a "clients" or "network" log. Once you've located it, go over the devices to see if there are any you don't recognize.

Related : How to Set Up and Optimize Wi-Fi Network for Small Business

How to remove devices from your router and Wi-Fi network

If you discover that someone is accessing your internet without your permission, you should immediately disable their access.

The simplest method is to change your router's password, which you can do once you've signed into the router control panel (as described above). After you've done that, you'll be requested to re-enter the password on every device on the network.

You should also upgrade your router's security system to WPA2 or higher if possible.