Once you’ve given someone your Wi-FI password, they have unlimited access to your Wi-Fi and can join your network on all their devices. Unauthorized access can slow down your network speeds and open major security risks. In this tutorial video, we will see who is on your Wi-Fi network, how to lock it down quickly and take steps to prevent unauthorized access in the future.
Option 1: Change Your Wi-Fi Password
The easiest way is to change your Wi-Fi password which will forcefully disconnect all devices from your Wi-Fi network. You need to reconnect to the network again by entering the new password on the device to be connected. This means those who do not have your new password won’t be able to reconnect to your network.
Let’s see how we can change a router’s Wi-Fi password which may vary a little in the brand you are using right now.
Step 1:
Login to your router which usually means typing in a specific IP address into your browser. It is often 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254 or maybe something different. If the browser doesn’t respond, just see it on the back of your router somewhere along with the login admin/password or you can google it.
Step 2:
Type in the username and password and click on the OK button. If someone has changed these detail, then you’ll need to do a factory reset.
Step 3:
Just lookup up the place where you can change your password which may be under Wireless Settings/Security/Advanced, or there may be a specific option/button to change the password.
Step 4:
Then find the Wi-Fi password boxes and change and confirm your new password.
Step 5:
Save settings and exit/log out from the router.
Step 6:
All the devices should now have to enter the new password you set to access the Wi-Fi.
Option 2: Use MAC Address Filtering on Your Router
This can be a good option because some routers have access control features that can manage which devices should be denied or allowed to connect to the network. Every wireless device has its unique MAC address and using it some routers let you set a whitelist of only approved devices and prevent other devices from connecting in the future.
However, let’s see some general steps for filtering MAC addresses on a router.
Step 1:
Login to your router with your router’s admin and password.
Step 2:
Once you are inside, find the list of connected devices by MAC address under Device/Wireless and sort out which devices you want to Kick OFF from your network.
Step 3:
Once you have sorted this out, you are looking for MAC filtering settings, it’s often under Wireless, Devices, Advanced, Security or something similar.
Step 4:
Select or enter the MAC address of the device you want to kick off the network and select the Deny/Disable/Block option.
Step 5:
Save settings and exit from the router.
Step 6:
The disabled devices are now blocked from accessing that Wi-Fi network.
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