Is Someone Stealing Your Wi-Fi? Block Them!
If someone is using your Wi-Fi connection without your permission, your Android could be seriously slowed down. Here’s how to block unknown users.
There are lots of reasons your browsing speed on your Android could be lagging. But one reason your browser could be slowing down is that someone is logging onto your Wi-Fi network without permission. We already told you how to prevent someone from breaking onto your home Internet network. Now, we’ll help you detect if someone has joined any network under your control.
To see who’s using your Wi-Fi
1. Connect to the Wi-Fi network you’re suspicious someone is using.
2. Download Fing. Fing is a Wi-Fi network-monitoring app that lets you see which users are on your network.
3. Once the app has downloaded, open it. On the home screen, you will see the name of your network.
4. On the home screen, you will see “Refresh” and “Settings.” Click on the “Refresh” button to see which devices are connected to your Wi-Fi.
5. After the app has finished the process (this often takes several minutes), it will bring up a list of all the devices connected to your network. The app will also tell you if the device is a smartphone or a PC, as well as when certain devices connect and disconnect from the network.
To block users you don’t recognize
1. If you see a device logged onto your network that isn’t familiar, write down the address that follows the device in the Fing app. This address will be made up of numbers and letters in the pattern xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.
2. Login to your router.
3. Once logged in, navigate to “Security.”
4. There, click “MAC Filtering.”
5. Click “Add Device.”
6. Add the MAC address of the device you want to block from the network. Once you’ve entered in the address, click “Apply” or “Save.” Now the offending device will be blocked from ever logging onto the network again.
7. In your security settings, change your password, as well. If your Wi-Fi has a password and someone was using it without permission, your password security might have been breached.
If no one is stealthily logging onto your Wi-Fi network and your Android is still running slowly, it’s time to try a different solution: PSafe Total. PSafe’s Internet Booster closes applications running in the background of your phone and speeds up your browser. All you need to do is click — and PSafe will do everything else.