Wireless Router being Hijacked by other User..

[Smafie]

Hello..

This may be a bit dumb, but i'm gonna ask anyway, seeing as i dont know what to do next..

I've noticed over the last week or so my Wireless Router is being hijacked by another wireless user somewhere nearby, thus rendering my use of the net inoperative via the logon (here in HK we have a logon method) until i physically pull the plug. It doesn't happen while connected but only if im not on it.

Looking at other threads i cant seem to find the solution to blocking the other users from my router (Linksys) I have seen something about MAC numbers but is there something im missing here which can prevent these others from grabbing my router. I also note that when i unplug my Router to clear the connections, i get a message saying there are other networks available, one was another Linksys and a 3com, so clearly i am picking up Other's routers as well..!

Im using Firewalls etc, but that is clearly not the problem, it's how to stop others grabbing my router.

Any suggestions would be helpful, as this is not exactly the best of situations at present..

Regards
Steve

 

[zephead]

if your router is in proximity with others outside your home someone could very well be tapping into your wireless network(they might not even realize it). do you have wep or wpa security in place? an option to further protect your network is to set up a mac address filtering scheme, providing the router with the mac addresses of all the computers you want to be allowed access.

looking at your dhcp clients table will list the computers connected to your router, btw.

also change that router password, if not done so already.

 

[Smafie]

Hi..

Yes im in a flat (well everyone is here) and that is what is happening. I've looked into this more and it seems that the guy who came to fit the Modem and set it up and also volunteered to do the router i might add, has set it up incorrectly. The modem is connected to a LAN port instead of the Internet port!

I think i ought to go through it all again and set the MAC addresses in myself.

Sadly i do not know what the WEP and WPA bits are, networking is not one of my most successful areas

I think i'll have to start again by the look of it.

Thanks for that.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Lots of info available here: http://www.homenethelp.com/

 

[Smafie]

Thanks again..

I'll check that out for sure. Any info re this subject is useful to me as i find it a little confusing at times..

EDIT - Since the last post i've been right through the setup and added the MAC addresses of the laptop and desktop to the list, changed the Channel and set it up for Wireless-G only. All successful except that it refuses to connect to the Interent on the proper Interent Port. Putting the cable from the Modem back to a Lan Port Does! Well i cant work that one out but at least it's online..

 

[Phantasm66]

You should ALL READ THIS:

http://www.wardriving.com/

http://www.wardriving.com/doc/Wardriving-HOWTO.txt

Necessary Equipment:

* Laptop Computer - At least a pentium 100 with a free PCMCIA slot and serial port for GPS.
* 802.11b-compliant wireless ethernet card
* The Software, Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac, everyone is supported.
* Optional: GPS receiver for location tracking.
* A way to get around, a car, bus, subway, walking, bike.

 

[Smafie]

Yes that's all a bit scary isn't it..

I've tried 3 times to enable a WEP but as soon as i save the configuration it disables the Wireless network completely and i have to start all over again. I dont know what im doing wrong, i've follwed the manual and the setup is straight forward enough, but it knocks it out..!

 

[Phantasm66]

I can pick up several wireless networks in the area, just sitting here at my window.

One has a linksys router, which just has default dettings.

Once I connect in just with normal DHCP/NAT, all that stuff, I can then open a browser to here:

http://192.168.1.1

and am presented with a dialogue box for username and password.

The router had the default hostname setup, so I looked up the default admin username and password for the router on the internet, which was of course unchanged from the original.

I can now remotely control this person's router, sitting here from the same desk that I am writing this post from.

Are you scared now?

 

[zephead]

wireless networks aren't known for thier security. that's why i favor hard wired stuff. even with all the precautions an encrypted and properly secured wireless network is hackable. what's scary is what i saw this january...

i was adding a wireless function to a local company's network. upon setting up the client systems i detected no less than 3 wireless networks from other business in or near the building that were wide open. not any security at all. i even connected to one and it let me by with no problem at all, giving me access to thier shared files and thier internet connection. these were just small businesses but there's no way that's safe.

 

[Smafie]

This is very true of course. A friend here has the same story at his office when he took his laptop and imediately had a connection from router located somewhere nearby!

In my situation here renting a flat i had little choice due to the location of the cable point and the room where the PC is, i didn't want cables running all over the place, and then using the laptop would mean another cable trailing across the floor etc. In the past i have always preferred cabled networks with a hub too.

I was aware there could be problem and once i spotted the additional devices quickly realised the danger. But being new to Wireless Routers i had to check it out. At least with the help and tips here i am able to deal with it.

As an aside, i cant make the 2 computers talk to each other for file sharing over this wireless network in spite of trying to several times! Is there any issue regarding protocols in networking this way that would stop this?

 

[zephead]

i'd look at the firewalls on said computers. what operating systems and service packs are they running?