If on the Wi-Fi network you have set up at home or at work you discover that there are users connected without your approval, then you should take drastic measures.
Of course the most effective and reasonable way to kick someone off your network is to change the password on your router.
However, there are other methods, such as MAC address filtering, and ways you can configure your network to prevent the same phenomenon in the future, such as setting up a guest network.
Read: Wi-Fi: Basic concepts and how it works
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Discover unwanted visitors
First of all, to kick someone off your Wi-Fi you have to find them first!. The simplest method is to check the current DHCP table in your router's settings menu. There you will find a list of each connected device, with its MAC address, as well as its assigned IP address.
But if you want a more detailed analysis of connected devices, you can use third-party tools to monitor your network. There are too many out there and you we suggest you try Fing. Works on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac environments.
The truth is that in a typical home the connected devices on the local Wi-Fi network start to grow rapidly due to the existence of many IoTs. This makes the task of investigating which connections are "legitimate" and which are not even more difficult.
The suggestion is to create different networks for your IoT devices and different ones for real users. This will give you ease of device identification and better management of them.
But let's say you found the intruder. What can you do? Here are three ways to kick unwanted users off your Wi-Fi network.
Change your Wi-Fi password
The easiest and most secure method is to simply change the Wi-Fi network password on your router.
This will forcefully disconnect all devices from your Wi-Fi network, even your own. You will need to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network by entering the new password on all your devices. Anyone who does not have your new password will not be able to log in.
If you have multiple devices, reconnecting them will be a headache. If you didn't enjoy the process of typing the Wi-Fi password into your smart TV with its remote control, you probably won't enjoy it now either. But unfortunately it is the only real, foolproof method.
Even if you can blacklist a device on your router so it can't reconnect (a method we'll discuss below), someone who knows your Wi-Fi password could still connect to you with a new device .
To change your password you will need to do it through your router settings. You can also change the Wi-Fi network name, i.e. the SSID, or make it hidden (although this won't stop a smart hacker).
Note that the Wi-Fi password to connect to the wireless network is not the same as the router's administrator password (to log in and make configuration changes). If you do not know the administrator password for your router, you may need to reset it to factory defaults.
Use MAC address filtering
Some routers have access control features that can manage which devices are allowed to connect and which are not.
Every wireless device (as well as wired) has a unique MAC address. Some routers allow you to have a "blacklist" of unwanted devices, ie devices that each have a specific MAC address.
In short, you simply define which MAC addresses corresponding to specific devices are not allowed to connect to your router.
Not all routers have this option. But even if you can use it, it's not completely safe because as we said, it's not best for a third party to know your password. Leave that if he wants he can change the MAC address on his device and log in again.
The filtering solution is useful to disable a device temporarily, maybe your kids device like a tablet, knowing they won't get past the scope of MAC address blocking (although the new kids are pretty tech savvy)
To see if your router has this feature look under related settings such as “Access control”, “Wi-Fi filtering” or “MAC filtering” to find the option.
It is also worth noting that many Wi-Fi mesh routers, which are often designed for ease of use with simple menus and options, you won't even find a MAC filtering option.
Finally, some routers have a "white list" of MAC addresses, such as the Huawei EG8141A5 router offered by Inalan, where you can write a list of devices that you allow to connect to your network. All others will be rejected.
Remove the Wi-Fi network from the unwanted device
In the unlikely event that you have access to someone's device, you can simply remove the saved password from it. For example, you can tell an iPhone to forget the network or delete its saved Wi-Fi network profile.
On almost any device, you can open the Wi-Fi menu and set it to delete a known Wi-Fi network.
Deleting or “forgetting” the Wi-Fi network might work if you're dealing with a toddler's tablet or something, but it's a little less reliable when dealing with older kids or adults. They are probably more power users than you!
Software to kick users out of a Wi-Fi network
We don't list it as a fourth option because it's not an option we recommend. But we're including it here so you know.
If you search the web for software or tools to help you kick someone off your Wi-Fi, you're bound to come across a mix of legitimate apps and malware.
You'll find people recommending software like Netcut, JamWifi, or other tools that can send packets to connected devices on your Wi-Fi network, telling them to disconnect. These software tools basically perform a Wi-Fi deauthorization attack.
This is not a real solution. Even after you deauthorize a device, it will still try to connect. This is why some tools will continue to send “deauth” packets continuously if you leave your computer open.
This is not a real way to permanently remove someone from your network and force them to remain offline. And if you're in an environment running network tools like this, you really need to evaluate the network security and the knowledge of the IT technician.
How to prevent such situations in the future
To avoid such unpleasant situations in the future, where you will be playing cat and mouse with the hackers in your area, we have some simple practices to recommend.
Use a guest network of your router
If you're giving a guest access to your Wi-Fi network, you can make this process much easier for yourself by setting up a guest Wi-Fi network on your router.
The guest network is especially common in work environments, as it is isolated from the servers and computers of a company and all it offers is a simple internet connection. This method protects a business from hacking or ransomware attacks.
Otherwise, once you give someone your Wi-Fi password, they can connect to your Wi-Fi network on all their devices connected to it.
The guest network is a separate Wi-Fi network with its own SSID and password. For example, you could have a network named “Iguru_Guests” and another named “Iguru_internal”. You will never give your guests access to your main network and this is one of the most compelling reasons to enable the guest network.
Many routers offer this feature, calling it "guest network" or "guest access" in their settings. Otherwise you can use a second router that will only serve guests and that will be connected to the main router.
Your guest network is a very flexible practice as on the one hand it will not be connected to your servers and your shared folders, but on the other hand you can change the password as often as you want without disturbing the rest of your infrastructure. You can also turn it on and off at will.
Set up a secondary network for smart home devices
If your router supports multiple SSIDs, in addition to your main Wi-Fi network and a secondary guest network, you can go a step further in making your life easier. You can create a third-party network for your smart devices.
This third network, let's call it “Iguru_IoT”, to keep the naming convention we used above and define this network as being for IoT devices, will be for any device that isn't a computer, phone, or tablet, or mobile device that you use outside the home.
By setting up your network this way, you'll have one main network for your laptop, phone and mobile devices. Then you will have a guest network for house guests. And everything else, like your smart TV, vacuum cleaner, smart thermostat, outlets, lights, intercom, etc., will be on the Wi-Fi Internet of Things network you've set up.
In addition, many IoT devices do not work on 5G networks and require 2,4G networks, which means that if they are all on one network, the setting you will have to make on your router will not allow the "fast" devices to connect at their maximum speed.
Keep your router's firmware up to date
If the person who has connected to your network without your approval is not a member of your household or a guest to whom you have previously given your password, then you have bigger problems to deal with.
There's a chance your router is old and using outdated Wi-Fi security standards like WPA. You need a modern router that gets its firmware updates, can have the best Wi-Fi security like WPA3, and isn't vulnerable to known exploits.
Hopefully, changing your Wi-Fi network password is all that is needed to solve your problem. However, if you have an ancient router, there are many signs that you need to upgrade your Wi-Fi router.
Important update thank you very much!!!