Wifi - a new network from neighbour

[phppete]

A neighbour has just got a new unprotected wifi setup, it appears in my airport extreme and I have already gained access to it and the Belkin admin page, I also managed to WEPA protect but I put it back to no password so they aren't locked out of their own network!

I tried accessing their desktop so I could leave a note to say they need to password protect their wifi network but was unable to. So apart from knocking on the doors of all my neighbours, how can I find out who it is?

I could have disabled the firewall, added a password and got up to all kinds of stuff, they are leaving themselves wide open. How far would a wifi signal reach? I cant seem to change the signal strength no matter where I go in my house. At least if my dsl goes down I can surf off their network :)

[johnfl68]

Typically wifi is about 150 feet indoors 300 feet outdoors. Going from building to building cuts this down, especially if there is a lot of metal in the buildings. If you are not getting any change in signal in your home, more than likely, they are right next door.

One thing to do would be to change the SSID to a message, I think it has a 32 letter max, so it has to be simple. A common thing for people who are leaving them open on purpose is to use their phone number as the SSID. Other than going door to door, this is about the only thing you can do.

John

[kitchin]

Don't mess with it, it isn't yours. That is my opinion.

[Buck]

My Wi-Fi Signal widget constantly picks up my neighbors Wi-Fi networks. On any given day I see 4 or 5 of them, most still named "Linksys" and unprotected. There's also a business next door that seems to have an unprotected network.

I don't do anything to them/with them, but it makes me laugh every time I see them pop up. And people wonder how they get hacked...

[phppete]

Don't mess with it, it isn't yours. That is my opinion.

I'm not messing with it, I would like to locate them and help them secure their network. Anyway, if I were nasty I would probably be in my legal right to do what I want, afterall they are sending a signal into my house and adding their SSID to *my* machines.

[Matt]

With the current head in the sand approach to fixing security problems, primarily by trying to legislate them out of existence, I would follow Kitchin's advice. You might think you're trying to help, but if you try to explain to this neighbor that his/ her network isn't secure, you might cause some problems. At the very least, you may end up with a very suspicious neighbor. Besides, maybe the neighbor WANTS an open network. If all of the machines on the network are secure, sometimes it's easier to leave the network open. Changing the default Linksys password would definitely be a wise move, however.

-Matt

[johnfl68]

A lot of people do not know that other people can access it remotely if they do not change the default settings. I have driven around my area and found numerous systems with the default settings.

It would be easy to do a quick write up explaining this, print some out, and drop them off at the neighbors house's. And if they wish to leave the system open, that is there choice. In fact I am thinking about doing something like this for the next newsletter at my apartment complex, as there are quite a few in here that are the default settings.

John

[kitchin]

I'm not messing with it...
Hi Pete, I was refering to Johnfl68's post about changing the SSID to warn them. Mainly. ;)

[kitchin]

If Windows Messaging was still wide-open, you could send them a nice pop-up.

[TVB]

http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=business&id=2423


UK Wi-Fi Freeloader Fined £500Mike Slocombe25 Jul 2005

A British court has fined a man £500 ($870, €720) for using a residential wireless broadband connection without permission.

[phppete]

http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=business&id=2423

Interesting, they even took his laptop and a fine, way too harsh IMHO.
Anyway, I wasn't wondering around looking for free access. On a Mac if you have your connection set to Automatic it will join the first network it picks up which in this case would be my neighbours. I have now changed that to select a specific network, mine. That feature alone shows how easy it is to connect to someone elses network purely by mistake.

Anyway, the open network now appears to be closed off and fixed, a guardian angel must have left instructions on their computer ;)