How do I stop people piggybacking?

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by TheMozart, Jan 6, 2010.

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  1. TheMozart

    TheMozart Former Poster

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    I have a wireless router and I login to my router with Laptop + Vista.

    But my concern is that someone can now login to my Laptop using the Wireless on my Laptop and "piggyback" on me and use my internet. And also, I am worried they are able to login to my Laptop and browse my hard drive.

    1. Is that possible?

    2. If yes, what can I do about it?

    3. Cheers.
     
  2. CustomHVAC

    CustomHVAC Registered Member

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    For others to "piggyback" onto your internet service, they would need to access your wireless router (not really your laptop).

    If left "OPEN" then YES others can use your internet.

    Most routers have settings where you can;
    1. Allow only YOUR computer
    2. No Wireless at all
    3. WEP Encrypt your data
    (just to name a few)

    Look into locking down your router (changing the settings)

    Hope this helps,
    CustmHVAC
     
  3. noblelord

    noblelord Registered Member

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    WEP isn't really worth using. You should use at least WPA.
     
  4. TheMozart

    TheMozart Former Poster

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    I set my router using WPA-PSK and 8 digit password.

    So I understand that nobody should be able to login direct to my router.

    But my questions were:

    1. Can someone login to my Laptop and "piggyback" my internet connection that way?

    2. Is the data from my router to my laptop and vice versa encrypted or "open data" for anyone to tap into?
     
  5. hierophant

    hierophant Registered Member

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    And MAC address filtering, yes?
     
  6. TheMozart

    TheMozart Former Poster

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    What do you mean?

    By the way, I am using the Billion 7401VGP R3
     
  7. hierophant

    hierophant Registered Member

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    You provide a list of the MAC addresses that can connect. Supposedly, others not listed can't. What I don't know is how readily one can discover MAC addresses of connecting devices, and spoof them. I'm not saying that one can do that, just that I don't know.
     
  8. CustomHVAC

    CustomHVAC Registered Member

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    You need to go into your router & change your settings.

    Your router password only stops "others" from changing your settings.
    (if your router is OPEN - EVERYONE can jump onboard with you)

    Only you will know if your data is encrypted (again - it's in your router settings)

    Mac address - Is a unique # assigned to your laptop & you can - AGAIN CHANGE YOUR ROUTERS SETTINGS to allow ONLY YOUR mac address
     
  9. TheMozart

    TheMozart Former Poster

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    How do I know if its OPEN?

    And I did setup a wireless WPA-PSK 8 digit password. You saying that's only to stop someone login into my router, not protecting the Wireless? Because this was done in the "Wireless" section... so what's that all about if you are right in what you say?

    And what settings besides entering a password for the router, do I need to change to stop EVERYONE jumping onboard my internet connect as you suggest will happen?
     
  10. CustomHVAC

    CustomHVAC Registered Member

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    Once in your router - look at the settings (I'm am NOT familiar with your router)
    you may have to look over the settings to find it, look for things like ACCESS - WIRELESS - ETC. there usually aren't a million settings to sift though - you may have to: READ THE MANUAL
     
  11. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    TheMozart, first, under the VoIP Router Series section, here's the User Manual page for your BiPAC 7401VGP R3 router. I advise you to download the zip file now, unzip it and save the PDF in a folder somewhere. These manuals do disappear from Web sites as products become older and/or replaced by newer units. CustomHVAC is correct and you need to review that manual to really understand all of your router's security features.

    Your router has a built-in NAT Firewall (look at the Features & Specifications of the above router page), besides whatever software firewall you are using, and that's enough inbound protection against someone trying to get in your network, which is the way into your laptop. Read the Firewall and Access Control section (page 62 of your User Manual) to familiarize yourself with its settings and to ensure that the firewall is ON.

    Look at the Wireless Client/ MAC Address Filter section (Page 45 in your User Manual) and there you will find an explanation on how to allow specific devices, like your laptop, to access your Local Area Network.

    You have setup a WPA-PSK 8 digit password and to see if it's strong enough, use the Microsoft Password Checker. This Password Recovery Speed page might give you an idea on how to construct a better password, so no one can get inside your network.
     
  12. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    Excellent advice to the OP, JR.

    With some of the answers in this thread, I think sometime soon, somebody needs to post a good MAC address tutorial and FAQ. There is a big misunderstanding of what they really are. To be honest, I was a bit confused on just what all had a "MAC" address until an incident a few months ago regarding my router. I learned much of what I thought I knew concerning IPs and MACs were outdated and wrong...and I'm pretty darn tech savvy! Just goes to show. This place is a great place to learn as well as help others.

    By the way, in my city, my cable provider uses addressing that utilizes my ROUTER networking card for assigning the "public IP." My actual "public IP" that I've always thought of in traditional terms, is no longer passed through to the Internet. When I use a "Check My IP" type of service, I can plug in three different routers and get three different IPs to show up. They told me more and more cable providers are doing this. When it comes to MAC addressing, we might be talking Router or Modem or NIC or WiFi printer, Roku box, or anything else on the network. It's all quite complicated and not as simple as it once was. Bottom line is there are A LOT of "MAC addresses" so you can't really say "my laptop's MAC address is...."
     
  13. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Ok, let's keep it simple:

    1. The router ships with a default user name and password, which is often "Admin" and "password". Your defaults may be different, but whatever they are you want to change them, because the defaults are obviously insecure. Then no one but you can access the router configuration.

    2. By default the wireless connection broadcasts a default SSID, such as Netgear or Linksys and has no security enabled. You want to change the SSID to something that makes it easy for you to find your wireless network in the list of available networks, but don't include any personally identifying information (some people name their network "Smith Family", etc, not realizing that now everyone who sees the SSID knows their last name).

    3. Last you want to enable encryption on the wireless connection so others cannot access the internet through your router without your permission. WEP is easily cracked and shouldn't be used. WPA or WPA2 is what you want.

    4. The only way someone could access the internet through your laptop is if you intentionally set it up as an "ad hoc" network. By default that functionality is not enabled.

    Hope this helps...
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2010
  14. TheMozart

    TheMozart Former Poster

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    Ok, thank you everyone for your input. I learned a lot.
     
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