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5 ways to detect and stop unauthorized devices on your home network
If you've been wondering what's hogging the bandwidth on your home network or been thinking someone might be freeloading on your Wi-Fi, you'll want to know how to find any unauthorized devices and kick them off your connection. After all, you never know what those devices could be up to, and you're on the hook if your network is used for nefarious deeds. Even if they're not doing anything of that nature, being on your network without permission is a big issue, as they'll be able to see your other network devices and possibly the traffic going through some of them. It's always good to know every device that's connected to your network, and these tips will help you ferret out unwanted devices and kick them out of your domain.
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Access your router settings
Compare known devices to the list connected in your router
Your router's admin pages will show every device attached to it, even if someone is trying to make things harder for you to see their device. Even better, newer routers have better lists of connected devices that match the MAC addresses to known manufacturers, so you have a better idea of what every connected device is. To find that list, you'll want to access your router settings and look for the connected device pages. Eero and other mesh routers will have nicely formatted lists with the type of device, the manufacturers, and the networking information you need, like IP address and MAC address.
If your router is older, you'll still get a list of connected devices, but it could take a while to match the lists of IP addresses to the physical devices on your network, depending on how many devices you have in your home. Or, you could use a third-party tool to find unrecognized devices, like Wireless Network Watcher from Nirsoft. If you find anything on either list that you're not sure what it is, the admin page should let you temporarily block that device from communicating over the network, at least until you've tracked it down and confirmed that it's something you own. If you find things you weren't expecting, then it's time to make some changes to your network settings to kick them out.
Change the default SSID
It signals to attackers that you might be an easier target
When you get your router from the ISP or store, it will have default settings for the admin password, SSID, and Wi-Fi password (if it has a Wi-Fi password set at all). None of these defaults should be left as the operating details for your home network. They are for easy installation for the first time, and after that, they should be changed to settings that nobody outside your household knows.
See, many routers use an algorithm (via RouterSecurity.org) to create the SSID and default password. A depressingly simple one, which uses the hardware MAC address of your router to generate the other details. That MAC address is visible to any device in the local area that's within the wireless range of your router, and there are many tools on the internet that replicate the algorithm used by the manufacturers, so really, anyone with a few seconds of time can get your default password. The manufacturers do it this way because it's easy for them on the production line, but that doesn't mean you should be using them at home. Change the SSID to something unique, and you can have some fun with it if you want with a Wi-Fi-related pun.
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Change your Wi-Fi password
They can't access what they don't have credentials for
The quickest way to kick unexpected devices off your network is to change the Wi-Fi password. Just head into your router's admin pages, find the Wi-Fi settings section, and change the password. That will kick all devices off your network, whether they were authorized or not. While you're on that page, make sure the encryption is set to WPA2 or WPA3 if your router supports it. That will give you the strongest encryption and the best chance of not having your Wi-Fi credentials figured out by hackers.
Older routers might have WEP as the default Wi-Fi encryption protocol. If that's the only encryption you can use, it's time to buy a newer router as WEP credentials can be cracked in seconds by modern hardware.
You should change the password even if you had a unique password that you set when first setting up the network, as you never know who might have had access. Maybe it was a friend or partner that's no longer in the picture, or anyone else you may have shared the password with. It's also worth thinking about setting up a guest network so that visitors can still use the internet without knowing the Wi-Fi password that all your devices use to connect.
Disable WPS
This easy pairing system is also easily bypassed
While WPS, or Wi-Fi Protected Setup, was a handy enough feature in its day to easily connect wireless devices to your router, it had plenty of security issues and has now been depreciated by the Wi-Fi Alliance. If your router is old enough to have a WPS button, it's time to enter the setup pages and disable the feature. That way, your network can't be easily hacked by circumventing the PIN code used by WPS. Newer systems like Wi-Fi Easy Connect aren't known to have security issues, so you can keep that enabled if you use it.
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Turn on new device notifications
If your router supports this, it's an easy win for security
Many modern routers can send notifications when new or unknown devices connect to your network. This is an important feature for network security, alerting you to possible issues as they arise, and one that should be enabled if your device supports it. It's a feature on every router I've tested that had app-based admin tools, but it's also found on prosumer and enterprise routers where security plays a much more integral role. It's not perfect, as many mobile devices use virtual MAC addresses and rotate them periodically, but if those are the only devices on your network that leave and rejoin, it makes it much easier to find if any unwanted devices are connected as well.
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Keeping unauthorized devices off your network doesn't have to be hard work
Keeping unknown or unauthorized devices off your home network doesn't just slow down your internet speed. It could be a big issue for security, as those devices can see the rest of the things attached to your network. They could even be siphoning off your data, leading to fraud, theft, and more. It's important to check your network for unwanted guests regularly, and to remove them immediately if spotted.