How to See Who's Connected to Your Wi-Fi (and Block Them)

Your router keeps a list of every device on your network. Open it in the router’s app or admin page, match each entry to something you own, and block anything you can’t identify. If a stranger really is connected, block them and change your Wi-Fi password.

This guide is based on eero, Google, Netgear, ASUS and Apple support documentation. It is not a hands-on test.

Step 1: Open your router’s device list

Google’s list includes devices that “used the network within the last 30 days, including ones not currently connected,” so an entry there doesn’t mean the device is online now. Netgear notes a device’s IP address can change when it rejoins, while its MAC address “does not change.” Eero says devices that haven’t connected in seven days drop off its list automatically.

Step 2: Identify unfamiliar devices

Most unknown entries turn out to be your own devices. Work through them:

• Smart home gear. Plugs, bulbs, TVs, speakers and printers often show a manufacturer name or a string of letters and numbers. ASUS’s client details include the manufacturer, which helps.
• Phones and laptops with private addresses. Apple says its devices identify themselves “to each network using a different Wi-Fi address” and may rotate it. On networks secured with WPA2 or stronger, Apple devices use a fixed private address by default; on weak or open networks, it rotates every two weeks. So the MAC address in your router’s list may not match the one printed on the device. On an iPhone, open Settings, Wi-Fi, then tap the More Info button next to your network to see the address it uses.
• Turn things off one at a time. If you still can’t place an entry, switch off or disconnect devices one by one and watch which entry goes offline.
• Rename what you’ve identified in the router’s app, so the next check is quicker.

Step 3: Block what you don’t recognize

• eero: find the device under Devices, open it, tap the more options icon in the top-right corner, then tap Block device. Eero says blocking “disconnects the device and prevents it from rejoining your network, even if the correct password is entered.” Blocking isn’t available when eero is in bridge mode.
• ASUS: in the web interface, click the device under Network Map, Clients, turn on Block Internet Access and click Apply. In the app, open the device and tap Block. ASUS says a blocked device “cannot connect to the Internet.”
• Netgear: the Attached Devices list shows whether each device is Allowed or Blocked. Look for access control settings on your model to block a device.
• Google Nest Wifi and Google Wifi: Google’s device-list help page doesn’t cover blocking. If you can’t block an unknown device, change your Wi-Fi password instead.

Step 4: Change your Wi-Fi password if someone got in

Blocking stops one device. If someone outside your household had the password, they can connect again from another device, so change it. Every device in your home will need the new password afterward.

While you’re in the settings:

• Use WPA3, or WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode, if your router offers it. See WPA2 vs. WPA3.
• Turn off WPS, which lets devices join without the password. See should you turn off WPS and UPnP.
• Give visitors a guest network instead of your main password. See guest networks for smart home devices.
• Change the router’s admin password too, and work through our router hardening checklist.

If your router no longer gets security updates, see is my router still getting security updates.

Fact-check notes

Bottom line

Check your router’s device list every so often and name what you recognize. Most unknown entries are your own gear, especially Apple devices using private addresses. If something truly isn’t yours, block it and change your Wi-Fi password.