I'm not sure where to post this, so whatever…

I live in a converted 3 apartment victorian house.
I have been sharing my DSL with my housemates for the last few years.
When Leopard came out, the Sidebar would show the shared connections, so I could see who was on when. I liked that.
Through various updates, etc., I have lost that ability. (leo 10.5.8)
Same with MobileMe. sometimes I see my work computer, sometimes I don't.

My question is, shouldn't I be able to see who's on my network and who's not?
It's so sporadic, I can't figure out how to troubleshoot.
Using Airport Express.

I would like to know how much bandwidth they are using and when they are using it.
How can I keep these settings consistent?

I'm to the point where they can just pay for their own connection…

THANKS!

Isn't there a way to see the IPs attached to the AP? Are they connecting directly to the AP, or are you sharing the access through your computer?

Thanks for the reply.
A lot of this interwebs stuff goes right over my head, that's why I rely on Apple to dumb it down for me.

I would assume they are connected to the Airport Express than through my computer.
How would I know the difference?

The Airport Utility shows 3 wireless clients, I would assume that is me and my two neighbors.

I gave them the name and password and they are connected. That's all I can tell you.
Sorry for not understanding…

I don't have an AP, but I can login to my router and see the connected IPs it hands out. There is also a log showing activity, but I've never checked to see if it breaks it out by IP - don't have the need. My wireless is encrypted and hidden and only my wife's Mini is connected wirelessly. Isn't there an AP utility in Applications > Utilities?

There are ways to see who is on the network either through IP Scanners, or like Michael mentioned by looking at the router to see what IP's have been handed out. If they have set their computer to connect with a manual IP you won't see that though, but may still be able to see who is connected wirelessly, and the IP scanner would show them too. Without running a server that is directing network traffic I don't know of any way to monitor actual throughput bandwidth though.

IP scanner link.

Edit - Make sure to set your IP range in the above app, x.x.x.1 to x.x.x.255. If you're on airport it's probably 10.0.1.1 to 10.0.1.255

Umm…
How do I log in to my router?
Yes, I have the AP utility, BUT WHAT IS TRYING TO TELL ME???
I think I just have to chalk it up to things I don't understand (and don't really want to).
Like I said, when they used to log on, I would see them shared in my Finder sidebar.
Loved it.

My D-Link Router is accessed via web browser url http://router's IP and logging in as Admin + password. I set those using those utilities provided in the web interface. I'm assuming that is what the AP Utility does with your AP.

It would be somewhere in the Airport Utility interface if it's there, try this link.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=329775

This link has a link to a little known Apple utility too, Airport Management Utility.


You can't get to it by router (base station) IP, 10.0.1.1, if you have an Apple Airport base station.

I don't know why they are not showing up in the sidebar though, did you check Finder/Preferences/Sidebar, Bonjour computers check marked?

OK, thanks.
Not having much luck figuring it all out, but I'll keep trying.
Both Angryip and the Airport Management Utilities crash on startup, so those are out.
Thanks again for the replies.

Well, all I was trying to do was be able to see who is connected to my network and when, using the Sidebar as identification.
After failing with the (much appreciated) suggestions, I have (sort of) figured it out!
I sometimes explore preferences and settings, from time to time.
I like to click buttons, hoping to figure out what they do.
So I have narrowed it down to two things…

1. Under Finder Preferences, I re-checked the Devices/(Show) Computer.
2. System Preferences/Sharing/Options, I re-checked the Share files using FTP and Share files using SMB.

Lo, and behold, the Sidebar is now showing my Shared connections.

NEXT QUESTION!

If I can see them, they can see me, right?
If they can see me, do they have access to my computer?
When I click on their icon, it says that the connection failed. That's fine.
I just want to make sure they can't connect to my computer without me knowing it.

Thanks again for the replies.