How to Figure out If Someone Is Stealing Your Wifi

Stealing other people’s WiFi is, unfortunately, a common phenomenon. Anything to save money, right? But this sneaky practice causes WiFi speed to slow down considerably, and it’s not sustainable in the long run for anyone involved.

If you suspect that someone may be stealing your precious WiFi, there are a few ways to figure out whether that’s true, Lifehacker reports.

First, you can check the indicator lights on your wireless router. These lights show whether any wireless activity is happening on nearby devices. Shut down all of your own wireless devices — phone, laptop, TV, everything that can connect to the internet — and then see if the light is still blinking. If so, that means there’s another device on the network that’s not yours.

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Second, you can log into the router’s administrative console to see a list of devices on the network. To get into the console, enter your router’s IP address in a web browser window. Then log in — your router’s login information is usually included on its paperwork somewhere. Once you’re in, you’ll see a section called something like Connected Devices, Device Manager, or My Network. This will show you a list of IP addresses, MAC addresses and device names, which you can review to see if there’s anything that doesn’t belong to you.

Last, to take things to the next level, you can use an app that detects whether your WiFi is being leeched, such as MoocherHunter. This will actually tell you the physical location of the WiFi thief!