Is there any way to do this? My internet seems to be working slower than I expect, and I’m wondering if it’s because my WEP has been broken…
My base station came with such a tool. The software that came with your wireless router should be able to, at the very least, tell you what clients it detects.
There are more sophisticated tools out there, but I’d try starting with the management tool that came with your router.
My router does allow me to see what IP addresses it has assigned, and the name of the computer the address is assigned to, so I can see exactly what computers are using the router.
In addition to using a WEP key, though, you can limit what MAC addresses your router can “talk” to. A MAC address is the ID of a network card, and it is hard-wired into the card, so it can’t be changed. If you set up the router correctly, it will ignore any network cards that don’t have an authorized MAC address.
You can also change the key whenever you want, especially if you think it’s been compromised.
Slow internet connections, though, are more likely due to spyware or other processor-intensive processes, like anti-virus scans. Run an anti-spyware scan on the computer, and make sure that any automatic scans are set to run at times you aren’t likely to be using the computer.
While the cards are supposed to come with unique MAC addresses, most cards allow you to temporarily change it to whatever you want. It’s probably not a good idea to rely on the addresses exclusively, but then again, you never suggested that. Every little bit does help.
Use WPA to secure your network if possible. WEP is easily compromised and can’t be relied upon. This article points out the weaknesses inherent in other methods such as MAC filtering.
If your access point doesn’t support WPA, consider buying a new one. They are dirt cheap right now.
While that is a possibility, you might look at another possible cause. I’m using cable broadband service, and occasionally I’ve had unexpected slowdowns in my service. After verifying that my router was undisturbedd and that no spyware or viruses were on my machine, I powered off my cable modem and powered it back on again. This has done the trick every time. (This was suggested by my cable company’s tech support people.)
If you’re using cable internet service, gie it a try. It couldn’t hurt.
Sorry for the typos on the last post. Must be fumble fingered today.
The problem with WPA is not the router, but rather that I have to support an old laptop running Win 98, and I really don’t want to deal with getting WPA to play nicely with everyone.
The reason why I’m suspicious is because my speed seemed to be dropping to about half the normal speed only after my new neighbours moved in, and they happen to be IT ex-pats. Now, I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but it would be nice to find out for real what’s happening.
I’ve checked the DCHP page, and it only shows the correct clients. I’m not sure if simply assigning yourself an IP address avoids having to show the IP on this “report”, though…
When people are talking about using the stuff that comes with the router, do you mean that the router comes with software that deals with this sort of thing, or to check the router settings/diagnostics pages?