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Q: I have a Netgear router that I bought a few years ago. How can I find out whether or not people are logging on to my network? I have both bands password protected.

– Judie D.
Navarre, Florida

A: As with most technology questions, there are several possible answers to yours, Judie. Checking for uninvited network activity sounds like a relatively simple concept, but putting it into practice requires you to have some knowledge about your network configuration, and networking in general.

The ideal way to check what is connected to your network is to use your router’s network interface. To do that will require you to determine your router’s IP address if you don’t already know it. Windows calls your router the Default Gateway and you can find out its IP address right from your computer by executing the command “IPConfig/all” from a command prompt. Once you have the router’s IP address, simply enter it into your web browser’s address bar and your router’s network interface should be displayed. You will need to know the administrator password for your router to gain access. Hopefully you changed it when you initially installed the router. If not, you can do a web search for the factory password.

Your Netgear router should have a link in the side navigation panel labeled “Attached Devices”, which displays exactly what its name implies. Other manufacturer’s routers have similar functions, but the access method and name varies. On Linksys routers, the function is often under Status->Local Network->DHCP Clients Table. D-Link routers contain a list of connected devices under Status->Wireless.

Another way to examine your network is to scan it with specialized software on your PC. One such tool is Wireless Network Watcher, by NirSoft. It displays a comprehensive list of all the devices connected to your Wi-Fi.

One final word: The best way to keep unwanted people off your network is to implement not just passwords, but encryption. All modern routers support various encryption methods, some of which are obsolete. Unfortunately most equipment manufacturers don’t tell you which ones are best, but in this case, I will. If you’re using WPA2-PSK encryption, along with a good passphrase, you can feel confident that you’re secure from all but the most cutting-edge knowledgeable hackers out there, and those type of people aren’t very likely to waste their time and talents trying to hack individual residential accounts for little or no payoff.

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Q: I have used AVG Free for several years and just learned of a feature that seems to be a help when downloading programs. It is under AVG options > Advanced Settings > Computer protection > Antivirus > (check) Report enhanced set of potentially unwanted applications. This stops downloading and alert you to the downloading of other than the programs you are trying to get. Is this a sound procedure?

– N. S.
Lubbock, Texas

A: Whether using this feature is “sound” is a matter of personal opinion. The key to deciding is to understand what the feature does, and the impact of setting it one way or the other. Potentially unwanted programs, or PUPs are software that can act in a very similar manner to viruses or spyware. However, PUPs don’t try to hide or replicate themselves like most malware. They appear as “legitimate” software, often installed as part of another program. This is one of the reasons why I am always saying to read every single dialog box carefully when installing software, although even that is not 100% effective. Many programs give no warning during installation that another piece of software is being installed, or the warning is buried in the End-User License Agreement, which almost nobody reads anyway. Once a PUP is installed, most antivirus programs won’t trigger on it during the normal scanning process.

The feature of AVG you inquired about attempts to detect PUPs and report them to you. The impact of turning it off is that you won’t get these reports. The impact of turning it on is that you may get annoying false reports if AVG triggers on legitimate software. If it makes any difference, once you’ve told AVG that a given application is okay, it won’t trigger on it again. So, if you can live with that, I would say this is definitely a “sound procedure.”