Is there a way to display what computers are using my DSL’s wireless connection? I’m thinking of the “Display Wireless Networks”, but in reverse. I have reason to believe a couple roomates are using my internet connection without paying for it, which I consider stealing. I’d like to put a password on it also, if possible, since the “key” is written on the wireless router (modem?).
Thanks in advance for any help!
You have to have access to the router and probably the computer it is connected to as well. It varies by make and model and you didn’t give that. On my Linksys 54G model, you just open a browser window and type 192.168.1.1 in the address bar and it will bring up a password window. I have little idea what that is for you but you can search the web for your model’s defaults. That will take you into the control panel for the window to let you see and do everything you asked about.
A low tech way to do it is to just check if the router light is blinking when nobody is using it, indicating that some unknown computer is transferring data.
I don’t really know what to google, so I’m not finding any relevant sites. The model is a 2WIRE 2700HD-G.
When you say “the computer it’s connected to”, do you mean my computer, or theirs?
I think they’re doing it when I’m not home, as well as coming into my room and using other stuff. I think I’m going to have to put a lock on the door to my room! 
With a Linksys, that’s next to useless. According to the routing table on my Linksys there is one computer attached to it. Yet, in reality, there is the one (wireless) that it lists, along with the one I am using, two TiVos, a VOIP phone and another router. I’ve never understood why it doesn’t list anything correctly, but I wouldn’t trust it, at least not on a Linksys. Someone else mentioned the blink test. Unplug everything but the WAN wire from your router and watch it for a while, if it appears to have heavy traffic, you need to look into it. If it blinks a little here and there, it’s probably nothing.
Oh, I missed the part about them being roommantes. If it’s that big of an issue, just take the modem with you when you leave, problem solved.
I would recommend enabling WPA encryption with a decent passphrase. Something in the range of 30-40 characters can be easy to remember but nearly impossible to successfully crack. You can also “1337ify” the phrase to make it even more resistant to a dictionary attack.
I wouldn’t use a passphrase, from what I’ve read, not everything parses it the same. You’re better off just entering a 28 digit hex key, and there are plenty that are easy to remember but hard to crack, for example, you could use 12345678abcdef12345678abcdef, easy to remember, hard to crack. Just make sure you tell your computer NOT to remember it.
On my router, you can see attached devices by logging into the router (192.168.1.1), and then navigating to “attached devices.” That should show you every computer connected to your router. This is for a NetGear router. Your mileage may vary.
That’s for WEP, where the key ultimately has to be a certain length of hexadecimal numbers. That’s where the problems you mention arise, not everyone uses the same algorithm to convert a string into a WEP key. A WPA key isn’t a fixed length and isn’t limited to hexadecimal.
I don’t know all the ins and outs of wireless, but whenever I visit my folks, my BIL has to enable “broadcasting” so my computer can pick up his wireless. Then I have to enter a key. Without broadcasting enabled, his network doesn’t even register on my list of wireless networks. Have you tried disabling broadcasting?
The other approach, that most wireless routers have, is to limit the router to only accept certain MAC addresses. Essentially you tell it to only talk to the network card in your laptop & no other.
Once set, that’s pretty rock solid security unless the roomies can log on to the router & change it. So don’t write the password to the router on a sticky attached to the router.
If they are techies they can defeat that by spoofing their MAC address to be the same as yours, but that takes skill & warez & would only work when you weren’t trying to use the wireless connection as well.
If you couple MAC address filtering with a good WEP/WPA key, you’re gonna stop anyone who’s not ultra motivated & ultra ski!!d.
Can you elaborate on your first paragraph? As of now, I don’t even know what MAC means! I think I will try to set this up, if I can figure out how. This is how a buddy I talked with today’s connection is set up, and it seems to work, as he lives in a densely populated area.
I have absolutely zero confidence in their ability to crack anything, as the reason they’re borrowing somebody else’s laptop is because I had to completely password protect mine. They would just come into my room and log on when I’m not home, and basically click on any link which looked cool, i.e. all the “free laptop”, etc. links.
I appreciate all the replies, and when I get home tomorrow I will certainly google all of them for more information. Not only protect my connection, but to fight my ignorance as well.
The key to many things here is to learn the funtions of your router…if you have a consistent work schedule you can even set it to block web connections while you are gone on many decent routers.
Mac addresses are like a serial number for your network card. If only certain “serial numbers” are allowed, another computer cannot log on to the network no matter what.
Um, these don’t sound like decent roommates!
Lock the door and look for better accomodation.
Glad to help, but …
Consumer routers are a bear to tech support remotely because in the interest of making things “simple” for the consumer, the marketing types that rule the UI design replace all the technical terms with “easy” terms. But no two manufacturer’s use the same terms. So unless I have the same make & model as yuo or they publish a comprehensive PDF manual that I can download & read, I can’t just say “click this, then this, then …”
Sorry.
So my advice is to root around in the little website that controls the router looking for something like “MAC filtering” or “connection filtering” or such. It is probably under a category like “security” or “LAN”
A MAC address looks like this: 12-87-A5-C7-56-D8. In other words, 6 sets of 2-character entries separated by “-”, where each character is either 0 through 9 or A through F. If you see a page with info shaped like that on it, it MIGHT be the page you’re looking for. There are probably several other pages in the UI that have MAC addresses, so finding that is not a sure sign that you’ve found the right page.
If you do have a manual (paper or pdf) try reading it. It may not help, but it can’t hurt. There may also be rudimentary help within the web UI of the router.
You think? PLEASE put a lock on your door or just shut everything down when you’re not home. Send me a PM and I’ll tell you why I say this. I don’t want to put the details up for everyone to know as, sadly, someone might think it’s a “good idea.”
Could you be a little more specific? My parents have a Linksys 54G as well, and I have always been a bit concerned about their security.
Assuming you are on an unlimited"plan - what difference does it make? As I only use my wireless for general desktop research and the like, and my e-mail is not top secret or sensitive, I don’t bother with whether or not someone else can access.
Depending on your provider, an easy way may also be to logout of your internet account each time you leave the house (or switch off your modem). If your room-mates are as clueless as you claim, they may not be able to trouble shoot this.