So I let my neighbors onto my Wireless network. What can they do?

Sure.

Having users on your LAN (your local area network), that you cannot monitor and be absolutely sure will not contract some malware or be compromised, you will have to treat your actual network as the open internet. The exact same network attacks could happen to you (actually more). So, you will have to ensure that your security is tight, so you will need to set your firewall as if you are exposed to a hacker's convention.

About the ssh/vpn tactics, that will help protect your privacy and your passwords that are sent in the clear. For example, wilders does not have a secure login with ssl (that I am aware of, please correct me if I am wrong). This means that all one has to do is setup a packet sniffer like wireshark, and they can see what your username and password are. What I suggest to alleviate the problem is to either find some way to isolate the wireless access points, or establish an encrypted tunnel from your pc to the router, thus making it so that noone can mess with your data. Even though this would be a bit hard to implement, if you aren't willing to do it, at least turn your firewall on to the highest settings, and remember that your traffic is a bit more exposed (or someone else might be after you start sharing your connection ).

Cheers,

Alphalutra1

 

That is correct, but I suggest that you DO SET a password on the guest account. This on top of disabling shared folders.
You probably could disable the server service, so that your computer isn't listening to the network.

Test this by going to your neighbour's computer and trying to connect to your own. (You have a great relationship with them, so they let you, right?)

 

You clearly haven't thought this through, have you? Just tell your neighbour that the signal isn't strong enough to pass through the walls but that she is welcome to come and use your PC any time she likes. Problem solved

 

Oh my!....Thats right. Can some one PLEASE teach me how to decrease the strength of my wireless signal such that it is only "usable" in the area around my bed.

I changed the guest and admin account names, put a pw on them, and then disabled every account except mine. Server service does not run and my pc's cannot be seen on the network. It has been suggested that in order to share files between my computers, I could use the bluetooth service?

 

You could setup a openvpn network between your personal computers.

 

Thanks for the suggestion,
OpenVPN really does open up a whole new can of tish for me. I think the simplest solution is bluetooth.