topic Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please in My Router

I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Paul2025 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:22:53 GMT

Hi there,

I need to prove that I was at home at a certain time of day and on a certain day, can my router log show if I was at home and active or not? Laptop and or phone connected to the internet, and /or website activity?

Thanks to anyone that can help me.

Kind regards

Paul

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

jab1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:29:34 GMT

@Paul2025 Unfortunately I don't think your router, or any connected devices, could prove that - not enough to give you a legal leg to stand on, anyway.

The router does not record such detail, and a phone/laptop can/could be used anywhere.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Paul2025 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:32:37 GMT

There is a Router log, I've found that in the home page, you have to click on something to take you to a second page, I just don't understand what it says in the log.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

jab1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:35:44 GMT

I agree there is a router log, but that only reports what is happening on the router, which does not include what you are actually doing.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:01:27 GMT

@Paul2025

According to the various pop-ups trying to sell me a VPN that sometimes appear when I'm on the internet, my "ISP knows everything that I do online", which I assume means what sites I visit etc. These pop-ups also display my external IP address.

So, my ISP can link my broadband connection to a particular website on a particular day and time.

The question is, do the ISP know which device was used within the home network to access that site? If they knew the MAC address of the device then they might be able to link the two. In theory, (though not in practice in my experience - but that's another story!), every single device that can connect to a network has a totally unique MAC address that is not replicated on any other device anywhere in the world.

So, if Plusnet are able to see the MAC address of each device and what sites they are connecting to, you might be able to prove that you were at least within range of your home WiFi network.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Paul2025 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:06:18 GMT

Thanks for the reply, I'm not over bothered about websites visited etc, someone has implied that I was somewhere when I wasn't, I just want to prove that I'm at home working

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

jab1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:06:51 GMT

Some of those 'pop-ups', which fortunately don't plague me because of the way I'm set up, are a little, shall we say, disingenuous - the only people who can request them are the police/security services, and then via the courts.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

jab1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:09:55 GMT

@Paul2025 wrote:

Thanks for the reply, I'm not over bothered about websites visited etc, someone has implied that I was somewhere when I wasn't, I just want to prove that I'm at home working

I doubt, unless it is an official individual - the police for instance - who are making these claims, that Plusnet have the authority to release the data.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:18:45 GMT

@jab1

"I doubt, unless it is an official individual - the police for instance - who are making these claims, that Plusnet have the authority to release the data."

Probably not generally, but I wonder what GDPR regulations say about it?

AIUI, under GDPR, anyone can request from any organisation, a complete record of all of the written data that is held about the person making the request.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/subject-access-requests/a-guide-to-subject-access/

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

MisterW — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:23:12 GMT

So, if Plusnet are able to see the MAC address of each device and what sites they are connecting to, you might be able to prove that you were at least within range of your home WiFi network.

No they can't. All traffic going out of your router, as well as being encapsulated in a PPPoE protocol, will have the MAC address of the router.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

jab1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:26:23 GMT

@Anonymous - I am aware of the GDPR, and agree with what say, but from reading about peoples use of those regulations, it appears it is a long-winded exercise, and some organisations are a little less than forthcoming.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

pvmb — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:40:03 GMT

@Paul2025 wrote:

Hi there,

I need to prove that I was at home at a certain time of day and on a certain day, can my router log show if I was at home and active or not? Laptop and or phone connected to the internet, and /or website activity?

Tricky!

Just some random thoughts:

When you were at home working, how was this done? Were you using a laptop or a (non portable) desktop?
Was it connected to the router by Wi-Fi or cable? Do you leave your PC powered on all the time or boot it up in the morning when you start working - are you the only person who has the PC account password? Do you leave your router on all the time or turn it off overnight? Did you have cause to log into the PN router using the admin password on the day concerned?

It would ultimately depend on the level of 'proof' the other party would accept.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Champnet — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:48:11 GMT

Logs, stats, devices, IP address, MAC address & browsing history. There’s nothing there to identify a specific individual.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

corringham — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:50:40 GMT

I'm not sure what the Plusnet supplied router logs. I use Ubiquity kit, and have a number of APs. From the logs I can track the movement of devices across APs, can see how active they have been, etc. It has been useful to locate lost devices on occasions, and to show the presence of an unrecognised device at the time of a theft.

However, that only shows a particular device is present, not that the user of that device was, or that they were working rather than replying to a Plusnet forum post (its my lunch break - honest).

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

RobPN — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:04:05 GMT

@Paul2025

You'd probably have thought of this yourself if you had them so I guess you haven't got any CCTV cameras around your home?

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Baldrick1 — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 15:02:53 GMT

@Paul2025 wrote:

Thanks for the reply, I'm not over bothered about websites visited etc, someone has implied that I was somewhere when I wasn't, I just want to prove that I'm at home working

Turning it around, if you were logged on to your employer's network then possibly they have a record of your IP address being logged in to their server.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

pjmarsh — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 10:26:03 GMT

Before you put too much effort into determining if you can get proof that your internet connection, laptop, phone etc... is showing usage, is that enough proof anyway for what you need? That usage could come from someone else using those devices at your home, and could possibly happen without anyone present (updates, or scheduled downloads or such like). As you've not said why you need proof you were at home, we don't really know how foolproof such evidence would need to be (and I'm not particularly asking you to tell us why), but I wouldn't want you to go to a great amount of effort to gather evidence that wasn't relevant.

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Townman — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:33:57 GMT

Sometimes, we put too much effort in to something, to deal with a perceived issue, which is not (or ought not) the problem which needs to be fixed. You've not explained the circumstances of needing to 'prove' where you were, so one can only guess from what has been hinted, that this is a WFH trust matter.

Perhaps the questions which needs to be asked here are...

Was the work which should have been done, done when expected to the required standard?
Does the WFH agreement require the work to be done from home, or could it be done from anywhere, so long as it gets done?
What records are there in the employer's systems which would answer the doubts for themselves**?

Might challenging the challenge be more effective, than trying to prove something difficult to prove? What is the real issue - were you obliged to be within the bounds of your property ... a kin to being under house arrest, but without an ankle bracelet?

**One consideration here is that given PN's residential (not supposed to be used for home working) services use dynamic IP addresses acquired from here and there, there might be difficulty in proving the location of the connecting IP address.

Hmmm might that be the issue here? The IP address identified by the employer is not thought to be in the right location? IP geolocation data is not as clean as many think it should be; different providers can report the same IP address as being in markedly different locations to where it actually is. Where IPv4 address ranges have been acquired from other owners, getting the IP geolocation data updated and those updates distributed can take an inordinate length of time ... sometimes years!

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Protech — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:25:10 GMT

IP address location information without additional evidence to support it does not stand up in court.

All it confirms is a device was connected using that IP address , which may or may not be physically located with any degree of accuracy (VPN/IP Spoofing etc).

Also it does not prove who was using that device.
As in this case
https://www.harewoodlaw.com/news/pzw8tdvvj5s3frdkxnrtlxqbajxnnd

If this is a WFH issue I would have thought that the employer would have enough information, as they tend to log everything in my experience

Key features of WFH employee monitoring software:
    Time tracking: Recording start and end times, breaks, and idle time
    App usage monitoring: Tracking which applications employees are using and for how long
    Website activity: Monitoring websites accessed during work hours
    Screenshot capture: Taking periodic screenshots of employee screens
    Keystroke logging: Recording keystrokes pressed by employees
    Productivity scoring: Analyzing employee activity to generate a productivity score
    Alert notifications: Sending alerts for suspicious activity or policy violations

Re: I need proof I was at home, can my Router log help me to prove this please

Champnet — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:47:32 GMT

Logs from devices showing date and times are also inadmissible in court unless it can be proved that the device timings are synced to an atomic clock.