Neighbor stealing internet service

[Jimmy9190]

I am working from home now. I have a spare bedroom my gf and I use as an office, it has her personal computer, my personal computer and now has my computer from work all in the same room. I have an internet modem from my ISP, and a router with one wireless output and 4 wired outputs.

Trouble is, every morning about the same time, around 9:30 my work computer loses its connection with my office server. My work phone is also run through my work computer and it either shuts down completely or works very intermittently. I lose all connections to my work email and operating systems. I called my ISP yesterday, they helped me reset my internet security settings so the modem and router will always recognize my IP address. I also called my work help desk, they went in remotely and checked a few things, said it looked OK and told me to de-frag last night when I logged off. I did that, and same thing happened again this morning. I lost my phone and internet connections beginning at 9:30 and it lasted about an hour. All systems work fine now, and they worked fine the rest of the day yesterday and last Friday too.

I think I have a neighbor who may be getting online through my wireless output from my router. Is there any way to verify that, and if so how can I stop him from doing it? I think that is what is dragging my system down.

Thanks for any help or ideas on this. I am pretty much computer illiterate.

 

[saaber1]

maybe try turning on mac ID filtering. this let's only specific devices -that you type in the mac address for- connect to the router. also you can add a unique password for wpa2 as well as an admin for the router.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Can't you password protect your router?

 

[Cristobal]

Possibly he/she crunched your password. On the other hand I wonder if it is just outside interference. In my apartment building there are 31 computers online, with various accounts at this moment with wireless; and I get interference from tine to time.

 

[hate2work]

You can password protect your wireless service, I've never done it but it can't be that hard. Google and see what you get. When I'm on my laptop using wireless it shows all the diff connections available to me, as none of my neighbors or me have any kind of block on the signals.

It may also be a neighbor that uses the same service provider as you and is hogging resources because he's doing something like downloading videos or something at that time of day.

 

[tinmanSC]

It's hard to believe that one additional connection from outside the house would cause your network to go down. But if this is a concern, make sure you're running a secured wireless network by either running WEP or WPA encryption. All access points (which happens to be built into your router since it's wireless) have some kind of wireless encryption. Do you have to enter a key to log onto your wireless network? If you are already running encryption, then I'd look for another cause. It's probably not your neighbor jacking your connection.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I am going to look online and see if I can find out how to put a password on my router. I think I threw away the owner's manual for it. With a password on it, will each computer ask me for the password when I boot it up, before I can get online thru the router? And I am assuming it would do the same for the neighbor who might be stealing my internet service?

Thanks.

 

[friendly_jacek]

what is your modem? Cable? what DOCSIS version? I had lots of intermittent connection problems and the ISP techs could not find anything wrong. I replaced my modem with DOCSIS 2.0 compatible (the old one was only DOCSIS 1.1) and no more problems.

Interferences like faulty microwave or such can also bring the connection down.

 

[PandaBear]

What is your wireless router? Is it the older models that only has WEP? If so those are already cracked and useless. You should use at least WPA2 nowadays.

On the other hand, it may not be that someone is stealing your internet. If you have cable modem in a crowded area, it is likely your ISP oversold the services and your neighbor that shares a line with you consumed the majority of the bandwidth.

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
I am going to look online and see if I can find out how to put a password on my router. I think I threw away the owner's manual for it. With a password on it, will each computer ask me for the password when I boot it up, before I can get online thru the router? And I am assuming it would do the same for the neighbor who might be stealing my internet service?

Thanks.


It's just a one-time key you enter. When you first connect to the wireless Windows will ask you for a WEP/WPA or Wireless key or pass phrase. I forget the terminology it uses. You enter it once and Windows will store it for future use on that PC. Any PC can connect also, but they will need the key.

 

[Dave Sherman]

My router will show DHCP clients that are connected. If you see more DHCP addresses assigned than you have computers, then somebody besides you is using it. Like others, use WPA and set a password to log on.

 

[sangyup81]

did you change your channel?

also, download a program called WirelessMon which will detect how many networks are using each channel so you can put your own on an empty one

 

[eljefino]

NetStumbler is good like wirelessmon, pretty cool, you can walk around your house with your laptop and see a real time graph of your strength.

I +1 on the MAC address filtering. Most routers show connected computers by MAC address. It's usually on a label on your wifi device; if it's not (in windows at CMD) type ipconfig and it should tell you.

 

[unDummy]

If you're using it for work, disable the wireless. Make everything wired and go from there.

Another option is to upgrade the router to a higher quality one. Sounds to me you have a bum router which is common enough.

If you're lucky, your current router might have a bios update. Check the manufacturers website. When its done, walk through all the wireless settings to secure your wireless.

Freeloaders typically use your internet connection. They won't purposely take you down. If they did, you'd would know it and make changes to prevent it from happening, which would make it more difficult to freeload.

 

[aaxb970]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Can't you password protect your router?


+ 1

 

[Tyler99]

I had the same problem last year when I bought a new Linksy's router. I called Linksy's and told them the problem. They had me access this website and told me how to password protect my router. It was very easy. Just don't remember the website. Depending on when you bought your router, it still may be covered under warranty. Call the manufacturer of the router and tell them what is happening and that you want to lock your router. They will check the serial date and purchase date to see if warranty applies. If warranty lapsed, there may be a $20-25 fee associated when help.

 

[mongo161]

Originally Posted By: tinmanSC
It's hard to believe that one additional connection from outside the house would cause your network to go down. But if this is a concern, make sure you're running a secured wireless network by either running WEP or WPA encryption. All access points (which happens to be built into your router since it's wireless) have some kind of wireless encryption. Do you have to enter a key to log onto your wireless network? If you are already running encryption, then I'd look for another cause. It's probably not your neighbor jacking your connection.


+1 If you can't put a "Password" in WEP or WPA, since you threw out the manual and CD, then invest in anew wireless Router and set it up for a password. In fact, today at 4PM, pacific time on Amazon, they will have a lightening deal for a Buffalo Wireless Router. It might be to your advantage to check that one out and see if it meets your needs.

 

[rshaw125]

I am password protected. But when it is busy around here with loads of people on line my service sometimes kicks me off. For instance today everything is fine and dandy yesterday, President's day holiday, it was bad. Kids at home online, Parents working from home Netflix etc.I was kicked off 3 times before 11:00 AM.

 

[jimvegas]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
What is your wireless router? Is it the older models that only has WEP? If so those are already cracked and useless. You should use at least WPA2 nowadays.


I had a similar problem. My old wireless card for the laptop only supported WEP so that's what I was using. Neighbor cracked it and I didn't know it until I got a 'cease and desist' letter from my ISP. Seems they were using my connection to download illegal movies over a bittorrent.

Also I had been having to reset my router alot...

Now using WPA2 with a 60 character password, crack that!

Now I hardly ever have to reset the router anymore either.

 

[mongo161]

An open portal for a wireless Internet connection is an invitation for disaster. Some may think that an unsecured Internet connection means "Free Internet Access". It's best to secure your connection and stop any potential problems from occurring.