or you could just HARDWIRE your internet like i do...fiber optic DSL owns.

 

At the fraternity house the other day, couple guys were bitching about how whole damn house was using their wireless and wondered if you one could setup a password.

I laughed.

 

Well the first article is interest, I'd love to know what that neighbor was doing that slowed down there internet so dramatically.

I must agree with the article in full though, its very common. I run a small I.T. company and one of the many things I push is securing wireless networks. I wouldn't worry so much about people slowing you down as I would them doing illegal things on your internet connection.


Meth:
Most routers can show a DHCP list in their configuration software, it will show you what machines are connected.

Fear Itself:

What brand router? The steps differ a little bit on each companies software but it should be fairly straight-foward. Try taking a look at the documentation that came with it. Feel free to PM me.

 

SSID is essentially broadcasting your network so computers can see it - think neon sign in the desert. Once your computer is initially connected to your wireless router and set to automatically connect to it, turn SSID off so no one else can see it.

MAC addresses are like VIN on cars - unique to each computer. By assigning what computers are allowed on your network, even if a foreign computer gets onto the network, it can't use it. Think private parking garage.

WEP or WPA are encryption methods that scramble the signals OTA - over the air - so they can't be intercepted and easily deciphered. Think yelling at a neighbor, but using code words, so while other people can hear you, the don't know what you're talking about.

Also, I'll add you canlimit the number of connections you allow on your network. Default is usually the max at 255 or so, and no one has 255 computers at home. The more people using your connection, the slower its gets, so limit this number to what you expect to use. Also, if you can't connect, this is a good indicator that someone else is using one of your reserved spots. Think parking lot with limited spaces - if you have two computers at home, you should only open two spaces.

 

I personally pay for my broadband internet, but we have passwords and firewalls to prevent other people from bogarting my bandwidth. However, if you have a broadband connection and don't have a way to secure it, you're just asking to be abused. Rather than wasting time with a newspaper article, they could have just set up some basic security features that would've solved their problems completely.

 

AirSnare will sniff out ip addresses and mac addresses on your network. You can even send them an Airhorn which is an IM telling them "I know your on my network, Now get off". lol

 

YOu should jot down their license plate #!

 

My brother lives down town and before he could get his cable installed, we were jacking internet from about four different sources. People should really know how to encrypt these things or come encrypted as a default.

Sam

 

if the neighbors dont have the network key(WEP), how can they tap into your network? thanks

 

Casual surfers won't. but people looking to actively break in can tear down a code with software over time (hours to days).

Not to make you feel worse, but unless you have an encrypted connection from your computer all the way to the final server computer you're talking to, your data can be pulled out of the network anywhere, wireless, wireline, locally, or on the remote server.