Can Wi-Fi Owners See What Sites I Visit on My Phone? (And How You Can Prevent That)

July 31, 2025 By Johan Curtis No Comments 5 minutes

Your phone is connected to a home Wi-Fi if you are at home, and once you leave its vicinity, you connect it to a public Wi-Fi. If you are also someone who depends on a Wi-Fi network more than a cellular network for data roaming and internet browsing, then this blog will be of great help to you. 

Have you ever wondered if Wi-Fi owners can see what sites you visit on your phone? (and no, it’s not just your ISP but the public Wi-Fi owners). If you have asked yourself this question one too often, let’s give you an answer to that!

NOTE: Your online presence should never be compromised. If you are worried about someone, more specifically Wi-Fi owners snooping on your online presence, take your privacy into your own hands. Subscribe to the premium FastestVPN and mask your online activities from all sorts of surveillance and monitoring!

Dive into this blog to see how Wi-Fi owners and ISPs monitor your browsing and ways that you can avoid being monitored!

Protect Your Online Landscape With FastestVPN

Take your online landscape in full control of yours by blocking all sorts of attempts from third parties to ensure no one can monitor your activity while connected to the internet. Here’s what you need to do:

• Visit FastestVPN
• Choose a package
• Create your account
• Download the app
• Open the servers tab
• Establish a quick connection

Congratulations! Your IP address has changed, and your identity is now masked.

Can Wi-Fi owners see your browsing history?

Yes, a Wi-Fi owner, especially a public Wi-Fi owner, can see your browsing history. Not all of it, but parts of it. These include what sites you visit, the sites that you are trying to access and are unable to access, and how much time you spend on these websites. 

For example, a Wi-Fi owner will know that you visited Facebook; however, they won’t be able to see which meme you reacted to or who you texted on Messenger. 

This is a blatant attack on your privacy. To keep yourself safe at all times, especially on public internet connections, a FastestVPN browser extension works wonders for you, in masking your IP address as well as completely blocking any attempt of a Wi-Fi owner to see your activity on public Wi-Fi.

What can a Wi-Fi owner potentially see?

Let’s have a look at what a Wi-Fi owner can see about your activity on the network:

1. Your Visited Domains

A Wi-Fi owner can see what sites you visit on your device. However, they won’t see what exactly you did on those websites. 

2. HTTP Websites

If a website isn’t protected by a secure socket layer, your WiFi owner will easily be able to access the HTTP site that you visited. Always visit websites protected by HTTPS. 

3. Connection Time & Data Usage

A Wifi owner can tell how much time you spend on a particular website and the data you use on that specific website. 

How do Wi-Fi Owners See What Sites you visit?

Wi-Fi owners (or network admins) can see what websites you visit through three main methods. Here’s exactly how it works:

1. Inspecting HTTPS Traffic (SNI)

When you connect to an HTTPS site (e.g., facebook.com), your browser sends the Server Name Indication (SNI) in plaintext, exposing the domain. Wifi owners use software tools like Wireshark to sniff unencrypted SNI data. 

2. Monitoring DNS Requests

Every time you visit a website, your device requests its IP address from a DNS server. If the Wi-Fi in use is a corporate proxy, firewall, or enterprise router, it can log:

• Timestamps of visits.
• Full domains (e.g., youtube.com).
• Bandwidth usage per device. 

This is done easily if you are using an HTTP address instead of an HTTPS address. 

How to stop Wi-Fi owners from seeing your browsing activity

Wi-Fi owners, especially those maintaining and overseeing the network settings in cafes, coffee shops, etc., keep a lookout at what websites you visit while being connected to their “free” public Wi-Fi. This is absolutely wrong, and you should never let your privacy be compromised. 

To take control of your online activity, these three methods are the most secure ways to outclass a Wi-Fi owner:

1. Using a VPN

The best method to protect your digital footprint is with a premium VPN. FastestVPN encrypts all your internet traffic, reroutes your IP, hides the domain from being accessed, and completely blocks out any external agent trying to snoop in your online activity. 

2. With a TOR Browser

A TOR browser is a slower tool to reroute your IP address, hiding everything from the Wi-Fi owner. 

3. Enable DNS Over HTTPS (DoH)

This is a bit of a technical workaround. You have to open your browser settings and manually enable secure DNS in the settings. 

Additionally, in the beginning, make sure you opt for HTTPS websites rather than those with an HTTP in their URL. Moreover, limit the usage of public Wi-Fi.

The End

Wi-Fi owners can see what sites you visit on your phone and how much data you consume on these websites. This happens due to various reasons, but if you feel like your data isn’t compromised on a public Wi-Fi, then that’s where you’re wrong. To take control of your digital privacy, connect to FastestVPN, especially when browsing online on a public Wi-Fi. Continue your online activities without the fear of anyone snooping on you with the best premium VPN!