who is connected to my wireless network?

Hi,

firstly, sorry if this has been asked and answered before, i did a search but couldnt find exactly what i was looking for.

i have a wireless home network (1 belkin wireless adsl router, 1 pc and 1 laptop) which is protected (wpa). I think i should be secure, but i'd like to be able to see if anyone is using my broadband from next door or a car parked outside, not that i'm overly paranoid or anything

i looked at an app called AirSnare (http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/index.html), and that looked good but it didnt work with my network card, so was a dead end. Are there any other tools available that can monitor who is connecting or trying to connect to my wireless network?

thanks in advance, lee

 

Hi Lee,

One way to protect your wireless network is to make sure that you don't place an access point next to an outside wall which if you do will broadcast signals to the outside - not inside - of the house, and you will be better able to reach all of the PCs in your house. Also, centrally locate your wireless access point so that all of your PCs get reasonable throughput.

As for who is connected, you will need to get a tool that matches processes vs tcp and udp endpoints - maybe TCPView from: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/TcpView.html

-- Tom

 

Lee,

This is a high dollar solution, but it is relevant. RFProtect.
Here is another write up on it.

 

I tried this out but due to my lack of knowledge I could never get the computers to see each other. What is a radius server and how does one set one up. ( I am a simpleton and need a simpletons guide I am afraid)
I am willing to give it another try with a little guidance.

Rollers

 

To find out who is connected, you might check the log of the access point. There will be an option to show accepted and rejected connections. Every line in the log shows the MAC address of the connecting computer. You will find your own systems too, of course and once you know their MAC addresses, you could lock down your access point to allow only your own MAC addresses.

Radius is a bit more challenging. In fact, it requires a trusted computer (usually a radius server), that knows all the systems that are allowed to connect. Radius is used in professional surroundings.
There seems to be service that you might use at home: check Lucidlink. I have no experience with this product, but it looks promising.

 

I did try the lucidlink product......and there is an auto config to it........if you are lucky enough to have one of the few routers that it lists, otherwise its manual configeration.........and that seemed more like rocket science.
I did email their support and got quick responses as they thought I was going to buy, but as soon as they found out I wanted to set up the free version.................guess what...............I never heard from them again.
If you can set it up it is most probably an excellent product, but I do not know enough to set up radius servers etc and could not get the computers to even see each other let alone communicate with it.

Rollers