How to Control WiFi Access with Specific Device

This wikiHow teaches you how to control which devices (computers, phones, tablets, etc.) are allowed to connect to the Internet through your wireless hotspot. The implementation process will vary by manufacturer, but in general you can use the Linksys and Netgear instructions below to interact with most other router interfaces.

Table of Contents

With Linksys router

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Connect to the router using a web browser. You can access the router using the same router IP address as any website. Here’s how to determine the address on Windows and macOS:

On Windows:
- Open the Start menu and click Settings .
- Click Network & Internet .
- Click View your network properties at the bottom of the main pane. The IP address will be listed under the ″Default gateway″ header.
On macOS:
- Open the Apple menu and click System Preferences .
- Click Network .
- Click Advanced at the bottom of the right pane. You may need to click a connection in the left pane first to see this option.
- Click the TCP/IP tab. The IP address is the number sequence next to the ″Router″ header.

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Login with administrator username and password (admin). Unless you’ve changed the credentials, both username and password are admin . ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Find the MAC address of the device you want to restrict. A quick way to determine this is to connect the device to the router right away, then locate the device’s entry in the DHCP table. Connect the device first, next you will proceed as follows: ^{[2] X Research Source}

Click the Status tab at the top of the page.
Click the Local Network sub-tab.
Click DHCP Client Table . A list of all devices connected to the router will appear. IP and MAC addresses are also shown next to each device.
Copy the MAC address of each device you want to control and paste it into a text editor.

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Click the Access Restrictions tab. This option is at the top of the page. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Click OK .

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Create a new Access Ppicy list. This is a list that controls which devices on the network can access the Internet (or certain ports/websites) through this router. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Select the number in the ″Access Blocking Ppicy″ drop-down menu.
Enter a name for the list next to ″Enter Ppicy Name″ (for example: ″Block these devices,″ ″Allow these devices″).
Click Edit List .

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Enter the MAC address of the device you want to limit. Add each address to the line of the corresponding device.

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Click Save Settings .

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Click Close . So you can choose to allow or block these devices.

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Select Allow or Deny .

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Choose when to allow or deny these devices. To block these devices at any time of the day, select Every Day and 24 Hours . Or you can also choose a specific date and time to limit access.

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Restrict access to certain websites (optional). If you want to block certain websites from this list, enter the URL (for example, www.wikihow.com) in the ″URL″ space.

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Restrict access to certain apps (optional). To prevent these devices from using certain ports or applications, you can select the service from within the ″Applications″ menu and click the arrow to add it to the Blocked List″ column. ). ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Click Save Settings . The settings will then be updated, and the restrictions (or permissions) you’ve selected will start to apply.

To add another list, select another number from the ″Access Blocking Ppicy″ menu, create a new list name, and click Edit List to add the item.

With Netgear router

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Connect to a Wi-Fi router using a web browser. The easy way to connect to a Netgear router is to open a browser and go to Routerlogin.net. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Login with administrator rights. If you haven’t changed it yourself, enter admin as your username and password as password .

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Click the Advanced tab. This tag is usually located near the top-left corner of the page.

Different Netgear router models will have a slightly different admin website interface.

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Click Security in the left column.

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Click Access Contrp . This is one of the options located below the ″Security.″

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Check the box next to ″Turn on Access Contrp″. A list of all devices connected to the network will appear, in addition to links to see if the device was once connected but is now offline.

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Select access rules. Choose one of the following two options:

Allow all new devices to connect: This option allows any device to connect to the network as long as the user enters the correct Wi-Fi password. This option is for you if you want to block specific devices, but not all.
Block all new devices from connecting: This option does not allow any devices to connect to the Wi-Fi network (even if they have a password) unless you add the corresponding device’s MAC address to the list.

Steps

With Linksys router

With Netgear router

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