There are several reasons why you may want to track your router history and monitor your internet activity. For instance, you may want to avoid visiting harmful websites, or you intend to control the bandwidth usage even if you subscribed to one of the best home WiFi plans offering unlimited data. It can also be that you want to increase your productivity when it comes to using your internet. This article lists down how you will track your router history and monitor your internet activity to foster your goals.

Check your router logs

• Access your router settings

One of the primary ways for you to track your router history is to check its logs. In this case, you only need to log in to your router by entering the IP address in the browser address bar. However, for you to be able to access your router settings, you have to know your IP address. You can do this by running the command prompt and executing the IPCONFIG command. The default gateway is your IP address.

• Log in with your credentials

Make sure that you have the necessary administrator username and password. In case your router is still running with a default username and password, you will be able to use Admin as the username and Password or 1234 as the password. These are the most common default router credentials. Suppose your router has already been previously configured and the login details have been changed. In that case, you need to restore your router to the default settings if you don’t know the updated router credentials.

• Inspect user activity

As soon as you have successfully accessed the page, locate the administration dashboard because this is where you will be able to find the Logs section. In case this feature is not yet activated, you only need to click Enable. From there, your router will already record each IP address visited by any computer or device connected to your network. Then, on the Logs page, click the Logs button, and your router will display all of the IP addresses it has recorded.

Aside from accessing the router logs, you can also monitor user activity more discreetly. Access your router settings and enter your credentials. From there, you should be able to inspect user activity easily.

Inspect your browser history

Another way for you to monitor internet activity is to inspect your browser history. In this case, all you need to do is open your browser and access its history logs. You can do so by pressing the keys CTRL+H on your keyboard. The great thing about the logs is that you will be able to organise them by date, last visited, or site.

If you are still using Internet Explorer, you can subsequently access the same logs by clicking Tools and Internet Options. From there, click Settings and View Files to open the temporary internet files folder. However, you have to take note that this doesn’t include the cookies and other information extracted from different websites.

The Bottomline

To track your router history and monitor your internet activities, you can either check your router logs or inspect your browser history. Both can provide you with insights as to the websites you have visited. Rest assured that when you take the time to track your online activities, you will reap the many benefits that come with it, including being able to maximise the features of the best home WiFi plans in terms of data usage.