Most modern Web Browsers lets you delete browsing history or users can also use private, or “incognito,” modes that don’t store browsing history information. With some special Routers and your ISP may still be able to see what people are doing on your WiFi.
There are times when you would like to monitor Internet activity on your router. For instance,
- You are owner and wants to monitor your children activity on the Internet
- Sharing WiFi with your friends and would like to know if they can see your browsing session
- You just want to know what task he is done with your wi-fi, to keep yourself safe
So here are three ways to monitor Internet activity on your router. However, none of these methods is foolproof, i.e. they all have their pros and cons. And it goes without saying you should test these methods on your own network and not on others WiFi. Because that’s not just unethical but can also put you in legal problems.
How to See What People Are Doing on Your Wifi
All the following methods work on the same principle i.e. when the devices on your network connect to the internet, the data packets are broadcast over the air, and could technically be picked up by any host with the right tool. The following are some tools that let you monitor network packets. That said, let’s see how it works.
1. WireShark
Wireshark is a popular packet capturing tool, design especially to see what people are browsing on a network in real-time.
Once you start the software, it shows the IP address of all the devices on your network. Simply select the one – you want to monitor and launch the packet capture session. And that’s it. Within seconds, you will see incoming and outgoing data packets from the target.lthough this might sounds easy, it is technically difficult. For instance, the data you contain IP address and a lot of garbage information, and you need to make sense of that dump.
2. ZANTI (Android App)
If you are looking for how to check WiFi history on Android, zANTI is the answer. It is user-friendly than Wireshark and the best part is, since your Android’s network card is capable of capturing Wi-Fi packets (unlike most PCs), you don’t have to buy additional network gear to capture data of other people on your Network.
All you need to do is install this app on an Android device and run it. The app will scan the network and show you the list of connected devices. Select the one you want to monitor and start the man in the middle attack.
zANTI captures all the HTTP traffic from the target device in real-time. However, if you want to see HTTPS traffic then turn on SSL strip, this will avoid websites to open in a secure protocol.
3. OpenDNS
If you find Wireshark complicated, OpenDNS is for you. The logic behind OpenDNS working is simple. While trying to connect to the Internet, all your network traffic goes through the router, which then makes it go through your DNS provider to translate the domain name to its equivalent IP address. Right?
So if you replace your default DNS server provided (usually provided by your ISP) to that of OpenDNS, you can easily monitor your network traffic using OpenDNS’s control panel. This will give you a brief idea of what kind of sites people are browsing on your network. And not just that, you can even block certain content like adult websites, gambling, etc.To get started with OpenDNS, all you have to do is IP DNS add (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) and then create a free account on OpenDNS website. Once you log in, you need to link your router to your OpenDNS account, and that’s it. Now, you will be able to monitor your network from the OpenDNS dashboard.