No matter how well you have secured your Wi-Fi network, you never know for sure whether someone can secretly surf your wireless connection. Fortunately, there is a way to see which devices are connected to your network. Wireless Network Watcher maps everything.
Step 1: Wireless Network Watcher
Your home network consists of a collection of devices that are connected to each other, both wired and wireless. These are, for example, your modem, TV, NAS, smartphone(s), game console, tablet(s) and your computers. Wireless Network Watcher is a handy program for snooping around the network to which your computer is connected. Contrary to what the name suggests, it also works with wired equipment. Once the program starts up, you will see a list of network devices. Also read: 5 indispensable tools for your WiFi network.
Step 2: Are all devices mine?
Wireless Network Watcher shows the IP address, Mac address, device name and sometimes even the brand/type of device for all devices. The program is not only useful for checking whether all devices are really yours, but also helps outside the door. Wireless Network Watcher makes you aware of potential risk situations of public hotspots (free wifi). If a hotspot is set up correctly, you can use the internet but you will not see any other people's equipment. Perhaps the other way around is even more important: they don't see you (except for the hotspot's administrator). Do you see other equipment? Then this can be a potential security risk if you don't have your firewall in order or visit unsecured websites. Caution is advised! A VPN service offers a solution and ensures that you can connect securely over an insecure (Wi-Fi) network.
Step 3: Automatic Control
You can have Wireless Network Watcher automatically 'strip' your network via Options / Background scan. Because Wireless Network Watcher performs checks on your network, the program may be flagged as suspicious by some security software. Wireless Network Watcher only works under Windows. If you're looking for a similar app for your smartphone, try Fing. The app works with iOS and Android. Fing does the same as Wireless Network Watcher and makes it easy to map network equipment.
