Broadband theft! (1 Viewer)

steve55 · Apr 27, 2006

Im sure the guy that lives in the upstairs flat from me is stealing bandwidth from me!

Hava small network set up at home using a linksys wireless router:

Modem goes into the router then an ethernet comes out of the back into my desktop pc and then a wi-fi connection connects to a laptop.

When i first moved in here the property upstairs was empty and i had fast connection speeds but ever since people moved in upstairs (im told there students on some kind of computer course by the landlord) my connection speed has crashed.

So last night after getting very frustrated with how slow this site was taking to load i decided to turn off the wirless router and plug the modem directly into my pc. Suprisingly it shot up again to from 100 Kbps to 3709.1 Kbps a massive improvement

not only that but a few weeks ago i tried to set up a direct wireless connection between the laptop and desktop to share files and printer etc and a thrid computer showed up on the network during setup so decided to stop there.

Now the question is is there anyway i can see if someone is tapping in to my wireless signal and stealing bandwidth and if so how can i stop them?

For now the router is turned off and unplugged!

Cheers,

Steve

KC Foggin · Apr 27, 2006

Steve, I would definitely call your broadband company and report it. Our Broadband service (RoadRunner) is hot and heavy on just this type of theft of services.

jpoyner · Apr 27, 2006

Am told that this is pretty easy to do with a bit of technical knowledge and software widely available. Wonder just how many other people it is happening to?

JP

Andrew Rowlands · Apr 27, 2006

jpoyner said:
Am told that this is pretty easy to do with a bit of technical knowledge and software widely available.

It's a no-brainer - no knowledge needed, just a laptop or PDA with a wireless card.

Steve, you'll need to learn about how to secure your wireless network. Read your Linksys manual (it's probably on CD).

Some articles on wireless security:-
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/print/?TYPE=story&AT=39223889-39020430t-20000025c
http://www.uas.alaska.edu/cios/Publications/Wireless_Project/optionalsetup.html
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_03july28.mspx

Which model Linksys do you have? Sometimes you can turn down the power output enough so that your neighbours don't get your signal anyway - easy way out for some!

Cheers,

Andy.

steve55 · Apr 27, 2006

Wireless B braodband router 2.4ghz 802.11b
modek BEFW11S4

thats all thats written on the thing

Andrew Rowlands · Apr 27, 2006

steve55 said:
Wireless B broadband router 2.4ghz 802.11b
model BEFW11S4

That's good Steve, the S4 has reasonable security :t:

First you'll need to check you have the latest firmware, early versions are vulnerable - >How to upgrade the firmware on a BEFW11S4<.

Once that's been done, you can follow >Setting up Wireless Security<.

Ensure you connect to the router via cable during these stages and you have the manual to hand.

Andy.

steve55 · Apr 27, 2006

Excellent thanks very much!

I'll let you know how it goes and what my connection speed is like once the router gets turned back on

Cheers,

Steve

Keith Dickinson · Apr 27, 2006

I'm using wanadoo wireless and when I start to connect there are 3 unsecure networks in my immediate vicinity. Just out of curiousity I tapped into each one in turn....absolutely no bother...one of them gives a better signal strength than my wanadoo router! My PDA always wants to use this one rather than the wanadoo signal.
My question is how can I let these users know that their connection is vulnerable? I've no intention of stealing their bandwidth as all 3 are slower speeds than my own so no gain.

Andrew Rowlands · Apr 27, 2006

Keith Dickinson said:
I'm using wanadoo wireless and when I start to connect there are 3 unsecure networks in my immediate vicinity. Just out of curiousity I tapped into each one in turn....absolutely no bother...one of them gives a better signal strength than my wanadoo router! My PDA always wants to use this one rather than the wanadoo signal.
My question is how can I let these users know that their connection is vulnerable? I've no intention of stealing their bandwidth as all 3 are slower speeds than my own so no gain.

That's a difficult call Keith, what do you do here?

I suppose, if you know who the networks belong to, you could bring it up in conversation - bear in mind that they may get 'shirty' and accuse you of 'snooping' on them though ...

There are people out there that don't mind people using a little bandwidth occasionally, eg. checking email (me included) and others who deliberately share bandwidth (and costs) with neighbours.

griffin · Apr 27, 2006

I am on Wanadoo too and there are 3 other nearby networks inc 1 other Wanadoo available but have not tried to get on them (too honest) - do you not need a WEP key or authentication to do this ? I really don't like the sound of all this eg. someone stealing or breaching security, though being wireless is pretty handy.

Linz

Keith Dickinson · Apr 27, 2006

griffin said:
I am on Wanadoo too and there are 3 other nearby networks inc 1 other Wanadoo available but have not tried to get on them (too honest) - do you not need a WEP key or authentication to do this ? I really don't like the sound of all this eg. someone stealing or breaching security, though being wireless is pretty handy.

Linz

WEP key not with an unsecure network, as i said my PDA prefers the unsecure network. I had been using it for a short while before I realised that I wasn't getting a good speed with the downloads...then looked at the connection I was using and realised that I had got it wrong. That's when I looked at the other unsecure nets with my pc. It was a doddle connecting to the unsecure nets...no waiting for key verification and that sort of stuff. The wanadoo system that I use is secure..at least my neighbour tells me it's secure as he tried to hijack it as an experiment...I tried the same with his secure system and failed to connect.

Tannin · Apr 27, 2006

In the wireless world, you have only three choices:
(1) Endure bandwidth theft and horrendous security problems
(2) Become a geek - be your own wireless security expert. (Or hire someone.)
(3) Switch the bloody thing off and use a real network.

I don't know about real men eating quiche or not, but I'll tell you this for nothing:

real networks use wires

Andrew Rowlands · Apr 27, 2006

griffin said:
I am on Wanadoo too and there are 3 other nearby networks inc 1 other Wanadoo available but have not tried to get on them (too honest) - do you not need a WEP key or authentication to do this ? I really don't like the sound of all this eg. someone stealing or breaching security, though being wireless is pretty handy.

All security is turned off by default on every wireless unit I've used, Linz - it has to be to access and set it up. Once you've connected, you could then enable the security.

Joe Public can't be bothered with this security stuff, they don't want to learn about wireless security they just want to check emails, download a few tracks and chat on MSN! So long as they're running a firewall, don't have file and folder sharing enabled and don't have malicious neighbours, they should be safe - we hope!

Pinewood · Apr 27, 2006

Don't all these local area networks (LAN) using wireless have a password security system protocol in the set up, but most users simply do not bother with it? if it does, don't name your system and select the same name as a password. Passwords can be hacked, so you might have to change it often.

I had two co-workers, one who earned more than me, who did not bother with their own ISP's but insisted on free loading. I had another co-worker whose neighbors were using their own wireless LAN's but every once in a while his material would pop out of a neighbor's printer.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :brains:

PWG · Apr 27, 2006

I have a wireless connection and can see at least another two locally. Not knowing who else is out there I decided to get a bit more security. I bought the McAfee wireless security program which creates its own encryption keys in WEP then after a perod of time (adjustable by you) it changes them. Someone would have to go to a lot of effort to crack your encryption in a few hours only to lose it soon afterwards. They probably wouldn't even try and would move on to another network without security, there are a lot out there.

Lee Rogers · Apr 27, 2006

WiFi security

Steve,

As Andrew said it is pretty straight forward to configure security on your wireless router the fundamentals being:

Use encryption either WEP or WPA, some wireless adaptors on laptops, PDAs etc only support one form of encryption depending on their age.

Broadcast only on 802.11b or 802.11g methods, g is faster upto 54mbps and this will limit the number/type of people that can connect.

Enable MAC address filtering, this limits which physical machines can connect, ie. limit connections only to your MAC address and then noone else can connect to your network. MAC addresses can be spoofed but that's a different thing and extreme for the usual individual stealing bandwidth.

Change the SSID to something other than the default ie. "mygnetwork", and once you've configured your machines to connect to this network, turn off the SSID broadcast. This way your network won't even appear when people search for avaiable networks.

Not all of these steps are necessary and certainly the easiest and quickest to implement is the WEP or WPA encryption key.

With regard to plugging the network cable straight from the PC to the router it should be faster because you should get the full 100mbps as opposed to the 11mbps for 802.11b, or 54mbps for 802.11g.

Linksys should document all this in the booklet that came with the router.

Hope this helps,

Lee

Corax67 · Apr 27, 2006

I have the same issue as Keith, my PDA positively beams when I switch it on and it detects the wireless network in the house next to my fiance.

Tried to appoach the homeowner & he got shirty so let the subject drop. His potential loss, not mine.

Does seem all to easy for rhe nefarious to take advantage.

ashrich · Apr 27, 2006

WPA is the way to go , unless your equipment only supports WEP , wep is better than nothing , make sure it's as strong ( long ) a key as possible . Turning off the SSID does nothing for security as any decent packet sniffer software will still pick it up , it can cause connection problems for the wireless client and when configuring which channel to use to stop clashing of signals it helps to see how many other networks are around you at the time , MAC filtering can also help a little but only as part of your entire security setup .

Ashley

Mangetout · Apr 28, 2006

You should be able to tell if someone is using your router - most routers are set up to dish out dynamic IP addresses to the machines that connect to them, and there will be a list of connected clients (on my DLink model it's under 'LAN Clients' in the configuration pages).

Touty · Apr 28, 2006

steve55 said:
Im sure the guy that lives in the upstairs flat from me is stealing bandwidth from me!

Hava small network set up at home using a linksys wireless router:

Modem goes into the router then an ethernet comes out of the back into my desktop pc and then a wi-fi connection connects to a laptop.

When i first moved in here the property upstairs was empty and i had fast connection speeds but ever since people moved in upstairs (im told there students on some kind of computer course by the landlord) my connection speed has crashed.

So last night after getting very frustrated with how slow this site was taking to load i decided to turn off the wirless router and plug the modem directly into my pc. Suprisingly it shot up again to from 100 Kbps to 3709.1 Kbps a massive improvement

not only that but a few weeks ago i tried to set up a direct wireless connection between the laptop and desktop to share files and printer etc and a thrid computer showed up on the network during setup so decided to stop there.

Now the question is is there anyway i can see if someone is tapping in to my wireless signal and stealing bandwidth and if so how can i stop them?

For now the router is turned off and unplugged!

Cheers,

Steve

You'll need to read the manual. I set up a wireless network and was dead paranoid as we have about 20 students with laptops and wireless cards just beyond the door. Depends on your model, but find the configuration program via the "Start / All Programs" choice, log in into the configuration of the wireless... as default it often has user:admin password:admin (it'll usually take you to your browser) and begin to examine the various settings under 'security'.

Is it theft? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's the equivalent of dropping fivers in the street... only the honest will not pocket them. You're putting out an open service... the possibilities the radio field offers are not your 'property' even though you've paid for them - you've offered them 'openly' to all and sundry. It's rather like putting up a sign saying 'Free Beer'. If you make attempts to secure your link so that people have to use packet sniffers and break WEP then that's the equivalent of breaking and entering IMHO.

I reckon only the hardest-nosed will bother to try. I have friends you haven't paid for an ISP in two years because they have flats next to office blocks, one with a choice of 3 open wi-fi points,. If the IT people are so dumb what do you expect?

Last and not least. I'm wouldn't be so worried about bandwidth theft as much as WHAT they're doing with my bandwidth, quite frankly.

Broadband theft! (1 Viewer)

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