Is someone stealing your wifi? Three key signs – and how to turn them off

HAVE you ever felt like you’re not the only one using your WiFi network?

They often won’t be if family and friends are also using the internet at home. But when you’re alone, is it suspiciously slow?

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Then you might not be surfing the internet alone.

what are the signs

There are a few telltale signs that there’s a parasite on your WiFi network.

The main one is when your WiFi is slow for no reason.

If you’re home alone, don’t download a new game or try to stream a movie—there’s little reason for your internet connection to lag.

If you’re suspicious, check your wireless router’s status lights.

However, this only works if all wireless devices are completely offline, and disconnecting all devices from the network might be difficult if you have many.

When no devices are connected to the WiFi, the lights should not flicker or blink.

If this is the case, someone else is probably connected to your network.

Modern routers are often accompanied by a mobile app that allows you to scan your network for devices.

However, if you have an older router, there are other apps you can use to detect free riders.

A reliable app is WiFi Guard, which is available for both Android and iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads.

The app provides users with a list of all connected devices so they can spot the ones they don’t see.

The most difficult way to verify that you’re not accidentally paying for someone else’s WiFi use is to log into the WiFi admin control panel.

You can do this by looking up your IP address in a web browser.

Your IP address looks something like this:

Then you need to enter the admin username, which can often be “admin” and the admin password.

From there, you can search for a network card, user log, or customer list.

How do I boot them out?

If you see an unauthorized device in the app or router admin panel, there is usually an option to block, lock, or unpair the device.

If you detect them with WiFi Guard, you won’t be able to boot them from the app.

However, you can change the router’s password instead.

However, this means that each of your devices will have to log in again with the new password.

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