Today, we live permanently connected to the internet. To this end, home Wi-Fi has become a fundamental pillar, which hinders our leisure or our work when the connection or speed falter. If your wireless network starts to slow down than normal, it's common to suspect that outsiders are taking advantage of your router.
It is true that the sudden slowness of Wi-Fi may be due to a temporary connection problem, be it your own network, your operator, the sending device or the connected device you are using at the moment. But if you have already reset it or have contacted the technical service and everything is in order, it is most likely that a neighbor has access to your network and is using it. Checking it is very simple, as well as taking measures to prevent this from continuing to happen.
To find out if someone outside your home is using your Wi-Fi, you should check all the devices connected to your network. You can do this in different ways, such as entering the number combination “192.168.1.1” on the internet and then registering your router, or using a number of free websites or mobile applications, such as NirSoft's Wireless Network Watcher application for Windows computers; LanScan for macOS computers; or the Fing app for Android and iOS.
Once you download the applications or access the selected websites, you will have to enter your Wi-Fi username and password. From that moment on, you will access a complete list containing all the devices connected to your network, identified by names, IP addresses, MAC codes, brands or manufacturers. With this list in front of you, you will have to try to clarify which device or person they correspond to. Most will refer to smartphones and computers, but also take into account smart TVs, printers, video surveillance cameras and any other device that requires a network connection.
If by consulting the names, IP addresses or any other information on the list you cannot discover which device they correspond to, you can try disconnecting and reconnecting each electronic device in your home one by one and marking them on the list. This way you will check if there are any connected devices that you cannot locate, most likely being an external person, such as a neighbor.
To prevent your neighbor from continuing to use your Wi-Fi network, you must access your router's settings, which will vary depending on the model and manufacturer. In it you can update the operating system, so that it will probably implement new security improvements.
Also, you have to change the address name and password. Enter a complex, hard-to-guess password with multiple characters, matching uppercase and lowercase letters, and incorporating numbers and symbols. For greater security, renew your password from time to time.
