3 Ways to Find out Who’s Connected to Your Wi-Fi Network

By Sergio Velasquez
4 Min Read
Using Wi Fi on iPhones and Tablets Credit: Sfio Cracho / Shutterstock
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Do you feel your internet is slower than it should be? Or maybe you notice something odd happening to your connection? If you suspect someone is using your internet, that’s definitively something you’ll need to check out. Not only can it affect your internet speed, but it could also cause harm to you or your loved ones.

Whether or not you think someone might be stealing your Wi-Fi, it’s always important to check who or what’s connected to your network. Someone connected to your Wi-Fi router could access other devices that are connected to the same network. At best, someone tries to prank you and print a funny message on your printer. At worst, someone gains access to all of your information on your computer and every other device.

You should always aim to keep your Wi-Fi network as secure as possible. But even if you do that, there’s no harm in checking every now and then to see which devices are connected to your router.

Maybe it sounds complicated, but checking who’s connected to your network is as easy as tapping a few buttons from an app. Here we’ll show you three ways you check to see which devices are connected to your Wi-Fi network.

What You’ll Need to Know: MAC Address

Before we start, you’ll need to understand what a MAC Address is. And just in case you were thinking about it, no, it has nothing to do with Mac computers.

A Media Access Control Address, or MAC for short, is a unique address every device has. It helps identify different devices that are connected to the same network. Knowing what MAC address your device has will help you identify it faster. Here’s a quick guide on how to find the MAC address of the most common devices.

Find the MAC Address of Your iPhone or iPad

  1. Go to the Settings app.
  2. Select General.
  3. Tap About.
  4. Scroll down to the bottom. Your MAC Address is the one next to the Wi-Fi Address.

Find the MAC Address of Your Mac Computer

  1. Go to System Preferences…
  2. Click on Network.
  3. Click on Advanced… located on the bottom right corner.
  4. Click on the Hardware tab at the top, and you’ll see you’re Mac’s MAC Address.

Find the MAC Address on Windows

  1. Click on Windows Start menu or hit the Windows Key.
  2. Go to Control Panel.
  3. Click on the “View network status and tasks” option. It should be right below Network and Internet.
  4. Now, click on your active network. It will be next to the “Access type connections” section.
  5. A new window should open. Click on details.
  6. Look for your computer’s Physical Address. That’s your Windows computer MAC Address.

Find the MAC Address on Android

  1. Go to your Wi-Fi Settings.
  2. Tap on the three dots on the upper right corner and select Advanced.
  3. Scroll down, and you’ll see your MAC address right at the bottom.

It’s important to note that every device shows a MAC address. Don’t think just about your computers or your devices, every printer, smart TV, gaming console, and even your Google Chromecast will appear on the list of devices that are connected to your router.

With that in mind, I’d recommend you to disconnect as many devices as possible, to avoid thinking there’s someone stealing your Wi-Fi when it was actually your smart fridge.

Check Who’s Connected to Your Network Using Safari

You can actually see which devices are connected to your router through your router’s settings page. You can access this page by typing your IP Address into Safari or any other web browser.

The most common IP Address is http://192.168.1.1. Copy and paste it into your browser to see if it works. If it doesn’t work, you can follow these steps to find your IP Address. If it does work, follow these instructions:

  1. Log in using your username and password. If you’ve never played around with these settings, you can try Admin for the username and “password”, “admin”, or “1234” for the password. You can also try leaving the password field blank.
  2. Once you’re in, look for an option that says something like “connected devices”, “attached devices”, “wireless” or something similar. This option’s name will depend on your router, so take a look around until you find the list of your connected devices.
  3. Once you found it, you can check every device that’s currently connected to your Wi-Fi network.

Check Who’s Connected to Your Network Using LanScan

If you don’t want to mess with your IP Address and or your router’s settings, an easier way to check for intruders on your network is by using an app.

The app I’ve used in the past is LanScan. Its logo is a bit creepy, as the duck is staring straight at your soul, but the app gets the job done. LanScan has a Pro version, but the free version should be enough if you’ve disconnected all of your devices, or if you know the MAC Address of every connected device.

  1. First, open LanScan on your Mac.
  2. Click the Start LanScan button at the top left corner of the window.
  3. You’ll see a list showing all the devices connected to your network. You’ll see their MAC Addresses, IP Addresses, and even their hostname.

Check Who’s Connected to Your Network Using Your iPhone

Using your iPhone to check who’s connected to your network is, by far, the easiest and most convenient way to do it. You’ll also need to use an app, and for this, we recommend Fing.

Just like LandScan, Fing can scan your network and show every device connected with just a simple tap. Plus, it doesn’t have a creepy duck glaring at you. Which, to me, is a big plus.

  1. Open the Fing App.
  2. Tap on Scan for devices.
  3. You’ll see every device that’s connected to your network. You can see their name, IP Address, and MAC Address.
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