Somebody is hijacking my WiFi

[Juneaudave]

I had to set up WEP this morning on my WiFi...one of the neighbors apparently likes my connection. Now I wonder how long it will take them to crack the key!! This has been going on for a while, and wouldn't have been too bad, except I suspect from the amount of use, they were big into file sharing.

Seems too bad that you have to protect everything nowdays. Guess I'll have to start locking the doors at night, quit leaving the keys in the car, and pull the shades!!!

[Jiminsav]

Yep Dave, people will do that, but it's not actually stealing, since you had it out there for anyone to take, now, if they break your encryption, then, well, thats a shooting offense.

[Dewayne_Mellen]

Depending on your router you may be able to set it so that it'll only allow certain computers. I can limit who uses the router based on the MAC address of the computer.

[sdtripper2]

Dave:


WiFi security
You can lock your router down to all the computers you have and say one
extra IP address in case you have a visitor. That way even if they crack your
code they would have a tough time getting a hold of your IP address's. You
could also lock MAC addresses to the IP addys and then they are out for
sure. So narrow down the connections to your router for even more security, Dave.

Here is a link to a post I made some time ago.
Wireless home network setup for secure operation.
That whole thread is about best practices for WiFi.
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 5570#85570

I expect you have pissed off those that have been snaggle-toothing your
hard paid for bandwidth by having the gaul to cut them off from your free
service. Can imagine they are in a panic to get back on the bandwidth free
train.

WiFi alliance link:
http://www.wi-fi.org/knowledge_center/security/

[NightCap]

Also it makes it harder for them if you hide your network id from showing in the list of available networks.

[sdtripper2]

Also it makes it harder for them if you hide your network
id from showing in the list of available networks.

This is what you speak of NightCap:
4.) Disable SSID Broadcast = disable your computer’s Wi-Fi from
broadcasting its name out to the world at large for anyone to see and try to
attach to your network.

Again if you go here there is a few steps you can do to protect your WiFi.
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 5570#85570

[Juneaudave]

You know...I intentionally left my connection open, it's easier, and..ya know...I sometimes like to hit a hot spot, check the mail, do some browsing myself. And I am ok with that, if that what was going on. What ticks me off is a neighbor (who is too cheap to buy a connection in an upscale neighborhood) is going ahead and running downloads 24/7, thinking "Why should I pay for a connection, they will never notice". And what makes me madder...I can only guess that they are into file sharing. Who knows...they could be into spamming, be involved in some sort of illegal trade, or doing anything that might be linked back to my IP address.

Rant...rant...rant...

I can fix the security problem...I can't fix a society that thinks this is OK.

[asianflava]

Yeah, leaching somebody's wireless to check e-mail or browse is OK. When they are doing big downlodas, that is a different story.

What you should do is chop them off in the middle of a download. If you see your modem light flashing while you're not using it, just unplug it for a few seconds.

[alaska teardrop]

You know... What ticks me off is a neighbor (who is too cheap to buy a connection in an upscale neighborhood) is going ahead and running downloads 24/7. Who knows...they could be into spamming, be involved in some sort of illegal trade, or doing anything that might be linked back to my IP address.

:lol: Hey neighbor Dave, I swear it's not me! But should say, that I received an unsolicited live streaming video from your IP address titled 'The Wild New Women of Junueau' staring Sarah Palin.

Neighbor, Fred - still for

P.S. I would suspect one of those other Alaska dudes as your culprit. AlaskaJack, Wheeldog, Doug Hodder, but most likely - Rooster.

[doug hodder]

Fred...way beyond my capabilities...my idea of stealing someones communications is tying a string onto their cans and trying to listen in.... I always thought that WiFi stood for infidelity in a Wife! Doug

[Leon]

My modem has a switch on it that I turn off whenever I'm not using the internet. I had a neighbor use my connection so now I just turn it off and it does them no good. I don't see them pinging it anymore.

[Ira]

Guilty--but not yours, Dave.

[Arne]

on average, how far can someone pick up a signal?

With libraries, I often ask if they leave their wi-fi on at night. When I travel, my financial downloads have to be done after 7.30 p.m... most do, and I can sit outside the building and run the laptop off the battery and get what I need..

Often I will find several other wi-fi signals in the area, but rarely try to use them if the library is available. oh, my downloads take less than 1 minute.

If I had a neighbor doing extensive work on my wi-fi, I'd put up some aluminum foil facing them, which I think would mess up the signal enough so they could not use it, but not sure about that one.

[bledsoe3]

My modem has a switch on it that I turn off whenever I'm not using the internet. I had a neighbor use my connection so now I just turn it off and it does them no good. I don't see them pinging it anymore.

How can you see the "pinging you"?

[Juneaudave]

Most modems and WiFi setups have lights for transmitting and receiving...when you see those lights flashing, you know your internet connection is being used. Problem is, you can't really tell what is using it without a bit of delving in. Maybe it's your software getting an update....might be spyware or a malicious bug..might be your TiVo or xBox....in my case it was a neighbor having at my connection. You just need to eliminate what's accessing the connection one-by-one.

In the for-what-it-is worth category...I've cooled off now. I'm still ok with casual use. So far, putting encryption on seems to have solved the problem. What I have found out is that my WiFi is first generation, and the newer units have a lot of better ways to block un-authorized use.