How to See Who's Using Your WiFi (and Kick Them Off)
Quick answer
Your router's app or admin page lists every connected device. Match the list to your household — unknown names aren't always intruders, since smart gadgets label themselves cryptically — and if someone's freeloading, changing the Wi-Fi password removes them all at once. A strong password plus WPA2/WPA3 keeps them out.
Step 1: open the device list
Two routes, same information:
- The router's app (most modern routers have one — search your router's brand in the app store). Look for "connected devices", "clients" or "my network".
- The admin page: the address is printed on the router's label (often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1). Sign in and open the connected-devices or DHCP client list.
Each entry shows a name (sometimes), the MAC address, and whether it's on Wi-Fi or a LAN port — current devices, and often a history of what has connected before.
Step 2: work out who's who
- Count first. How many devices does your household actually own? Phones, laptops, TVs, consoles, speakers, doorbells, watches — smart homes add up fast, and a "mystery" list of fifteen usually just means you own fifteen things.
- Identify by elimination. Turn a device's Wi-Fi off and refresh the list: its entry disappears — that's the match. Repeat for anything unlabelled.
- Expect ugly names. "ESP-3F2A91", "smartlife-8812" or a blank name with a random-looking address is typically a bulb, plug or camera, not a neighbour.
Step 3: kick off anyone who shouldn't be there
- Change the Wi-Fi password. This signs out every device at once; yours reconnect with the new password, everyone else's doesn't. It's the only reliable way to remove an unknown device — some routers offer per-device "block" buttons too, but a freeloader with the old password returns after a block resets.
- Turn off WPS (the push-button pairing feature) in the router settings. Its PIN variant is a well-known weak door into otherwise-secure networks.
- Check the LAN sockets too if you're in a flat with shared walls and a socket in a communal spot — wired "guests" don't appear in the Wi-Fi list at all.
Step 4: keep them out
- A password nobody guesses — long passphrase beats clever-but-short. Not the one printed on the router.
- WPA3 if available, WPA2 at minimum. Very old routers offering only WEP or the original WPA are overdue for replacement — see do I need a new router.
- Change the router admin password from its factory default — otherwise the settings page itself is open house.
- A guest network for visitors (and smart gadgets): keeps your main password private and quarantines IoT devices.
Was anyone actually stealing?
The honest answer is usually no — slow Wi-Fi almost always turns out to be distance, interference or the plan itself. Measure before and after a password change with the Wi-Fi speed test: if nothing improves, your slowdown was never about guests, and the fixes live in how to improve Wi-Fi speed and why is my internet so slow.
Signs someone else might be on it
- The device count is higher than what you own, even after identifying the smart gadgets.
- The router's activity lights blink hard when every device in the house is off or asleep.
- Slowdowns at odd hours that don't match anyone in the household being online.
- The password has been shared widely — old tenants, past guests, a neighbour you once helped.
None of these proves anything on its own; together with an unknown device in the list, they're a good reason to change the password today.