Our free "What your network sees" tool uses your own visit to show what the operator of the Wi-Fi you're on could record: the site's name, the server's address, when you connected and how much data moved. It's calculated in your browser from timing data the browser already has, and nothing is sent to us. It can't tell whether you're on a VPN, which DNS server your phone uses, or what other apps are doing.
"The Wi-Fi owner can see what you do" is one of those claims everyone has heard and few people can picture. Can they see my messages? My passwords? The videos I watch? To make the answer concrete, we built a free page that shows it with your own visit: What your network sees. Here's what it does, how it does it without collecting anything, and where its limits are.
What the tool shows
Open the page on any network and it builds a small "hotspot log" from the visit you just made:
| What it shows | Where it comes from | Can the network see it without a VPN? |
|---|---|---|
| The site's name | The name lookup (DNS) and the name at the start of the secure connection (SNI) | Yes, on most devices and sites |
| The server's address | The connection itself | Yes |
| When the visit started | Your browser's timing data | Yes |
| How much data moved, and how fast | Your browser's timing data | Yes, the size and timing, not the content |
| The protocol used | The browser's record of the connection | Yes |
| Your device type, roughly | What the browser reports about itself | Often, from other hints in your traffic |
| The page, and anything you type on it | Nothing: HTTPS encrypts it | No |
A switch lets you compare the same log with PryVPN: the site names, addresses and per-site timing disappear, and what's left is one encrypted connection to a VPN server and its total size. You can also type a site you might visit, such as a bank, and watch what a network would log. That part is a simulation that runs in the page; what you type isn't sent anywhere.
How it works without collecting anything
We wanted a privacy tool that practices what it preaches, so the design rules were strict:
- Everything is calculated in your browser. Browsers already keep standard timing data for every page they load (the W3C Navigation Timing and Resource Timing specifications): when the name lookup started and ended, when the secure connection began, which protocol was used, how many bytes arrived. The page reads those values from your own browser and turns them into plain language.
- Nothing is sent to us. The measurements and anything you type stay on the page.
- No trackers, no cookies, no third-party scripts. Like the rest of pryvpn.com.
- No location lookup. We don't convert addresses into a place or an internet provider.
What it can't know
Honesty about limits is part of the tool. From inside a web page, it can't tell:
- Whether you're on a VPN right now. From the page, both look the same. That's why the comparison is a switch, not a verdict.
- Which DNS server your phone uses, or whether it encrypts lookups. An honest DNS leak test needs its own DNS server, which we don't run for the website. The PryVPN app has a leak test for that; our leak test help article explains it.
- What other apps on your phone are doing. It only sees this browser tab.
- Whether this particular network is a fake one. A look-alike hotspot shows the same log.
Why the site name still leaks on HTTPS
The most surprising line for many people is that the network can read the name of an HTTPS site. It happens twice:
- The DNS lookup. On most devices, the question "where is example.com?" travels unencrypted to the network's resolver.
- The start of the secure connection. To reach the right site on a shared server, the browser names it in the TLS handshake (Server Name Indication, RFC 6066) before encryption starts.
Encrypted DNS and Encrypted Client Hello close these gaps, but most phones and sites don't use both yet. A VPN closes them now, by moving all of it inside one encrypted tunnel. Our guide to what your internet provider can see explains the same issue one level up.
Two more free tools
The same page family has two siblings, built the same way:
- What is my IP shows the address websites see and checks whether your browser leaks another one through WebRTC. It shows your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses with the country and city each points to, straight from our own servers, which answer without logging or storing them.
- VPN blocked on Wi-Fi asks what you see (a login page, a timeout, some sites failing) and gives you the steps for your case.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to use the tool on public Wi-Fi?
Yes. It only reads what your browser already knows about the visit, and nothing is sent to us.
Does the Wi-Fi owner really see all of this?
A network operator can record these things if their equipment is set up to log them, and many routers and hotspot systems can. Whether a given café does is another matter. The point of the tool is to show what's possible, not to guess what one network does. Our article on what a Wi-Fi owner can see goes through home, work, hotel and campus networks.
Will the tool show different results with a VPN?
The page itself can't detect the VPN, so it shows the same measurements. Use the switch to see what the network would see instead: one encrypted connection, and no site names.
If the log makes you want to take the Wi-Fi out of the picture, join the PryVPN beta.
Sources
Spotted a mistake? Write to support@pryvpn.com and we'll fix it and update the date.
