Seeing other computers connected to wireless

cattie

I've got a couple of foreign students staying with me temporarily at the moment. Both have laptops & connect to my wireless router.

As I'm in the habit of turning of my router when I've finished on the web, I'm wondering if there is a way of me checking on my computer to see if any of these students are using the internet before I switch off?

I've tried asking them to ensure they come down & turn of router when they have finished, but it falls on deaf ears. Being able to visibly check if anybody else is connected would be a help.

posted_2

Does it matter,(apart from saving a tiny amount of electricity), they are designed to be left on.

Most routers have lights that indicate wireless traffic

macman

You are very trusting, as anything they download or view is being logged against your IP address by your ISP

gaming_guy

there should be an option in the routers admin pages to do a scan of all the devices connected to the router.

on netgear routers, you will find it marked as attached devices in the admin pages

cattie

Thanks gaming guy, I'm a bit of a dummy so can you tell me how to access the router's admin page please? My router is a Thompson speedtouch if that helps.

weegie.geek

gaming_guy wrote: »

there should be an option in the routers admin pages to do a scan of all the devices connected to the router.

on netgear routers, you will find it marked as attached devices in the admin pages

They'll be connecting automatically and staying connected whether they're actually using the net or not though. As long as their laptop's on (doing work, watching a film, playing a game) and they haven't manually disconnected from the network or turned their wireless off, they'll still be connected, so being connected != using the internet.

I don't turn my routers off. They use such a tiny amount of electricity, and the convenience of the connection being ready whenever I want it outweighs any cost.

bob_a_builder

The bigger moneysaving in the long run will be likely be had by paying attention to the issue which "Macman" raised in Post 3, rather than worrying about minimal extra electricity costs

macman

bob_a_builder wrote: »

The bigger moneysaving in the long run will be likely be had by paying attention to the issue which "Macman" raised in Post 3, rather than worrying about minimal extra electricity costs

I would also be concerned about whether my own files were being shared across the network and if so can they access them? If you want to allow them to download god-knows-what onto their own laptops that is their risk, but do you want them possibly infecting your own PC?

weegie.geek

bob_a_builder wrote: »

The bigger moneysaving in the long run will be likely be had by paying attention to the issue which "Macman" raised in Post 3, rather than worrying about minimal extra electricity costs

macman wrote: »

I would also be concerned about whether my own files were being shared across the network and if so can they access them? If you want to allow them to download god-knows-what onto their own laptops that is their risk, but do you want them possibly infecting your own PC?

Have some perspective, people. The OP has people living with her. The least of their worries are that the visitors will download something they shouldn't have, or land them with a virus.

If I trust someone to live in my home, I trust them to use my internet connection responsibly. I think that's pretty implicit.

Anyway, this is all conjecture, scaremongering nonsense. The OP had a specific query, and now you're putting it into their head that these foreigners are stealing their files, giving them viruses, and downloading child !!!!!!.

Daily Mail readers, perhaps? :rolleyes:

macman

I think we were simply pointing out the potential dangers of allowing unfettered access to your network. If the OP doesn't know how to access their router interface, then it's unlikely that they've considered the security implications of wireless, or secured their network properly-or they have relied on someone else making those decisions for them.
It's entirely up to them to decide what to do with that info. If they don't want to grant web access after a certain time of night, then the simplest course of action is to simply switch off the router at that time.

cattie

Thanks for all your input here. Saving electricity isn't the reason I like to turn the router off when nobody is using the internet. I do it as I saw a post on here not so long ago recommending turning off the router as a means to stop people riding onto your network for free & perhaps trying to gain access to your computer files.

I do have WPA security enabled, as recommended by my isp provider & understand this is the preferred mode.

I trust my students to be only using the internet to keep in touch with family & friends & to help with their studies, otherwise I wouldn't have elected to go wireless.