internet moocher

[mrderisory]

I looked everywhere for the best place to put this... this is probably still the wrong place but nothing else seemed to fit.

Ok my neighbor upstairs is using his NETGEAR router to leech off of my internet and I am pretty sure he is trying to download massive files (movies?) because my internet entire computer will slow down to nothing @ time, where it takes literally one minute for Ichat to open and closing a tab on safari causes the beachball of doom.

Now those may be entirely two seperate problems but I need to know how to stop this sucker from connecting to me. My download speed is supposed to be 5-6 mbps.. (roughly) and its probably like 5-6 kbps when my airport card shows his netgear in my window as an option to connect to.

Thank you for whomever helps me, sorry if this is the wrong place.

 

[jsw]

First, make sure you're using encryption (WPA2 Personal is a good choice).

Second, for more security, enable MAC filtering (MAC, not Mac, where you tell it which MAC addresses are allowed).

Third, make sure your router password is changed to something secure.

Which router(s) are you using?

 

[epochblue]

Don't forget to a) change the SSID you're broadcasting, and b) turn off SSID broadcasting. He can't connect to something he doesn't know about.

All of jsw's suggestions are excellent too, though.

 

[iJawn108]

All excellent suggestions, make sure you use a decent password.
If your router had DMZ enabled, turn it off. Double Check which ports you need and if you are using a torrent client maybe change which port is being used(49125-65535 are good). if you are using only wireless g make it accept only g and it will cut out b users(he could be).

 

[mrderisory]

I am using Linksys router.

Thank you guys alot for the suggestions, how do I go about setting the Password, enabling MAC filtering, and the SSID options....

I feel like a total computer newbie. 😱

 

[Sdashiki]

as its been mentioned, nothing beyond:

SSID broadcast off
MAC filtering

needs to be done.


if no one can see your network, and you only let in 2 MAC IDs (or however many computers you have on your network) then how can anyone mooch!?

I am using Linksys router.

Thank you guys alot for the suggestions, how do I go about setting the Password, enabling MAC filtering, and the SSID options....

I feel like a total computer newbie. 😱

most likely there is an IP address for your router.

with a computer hooked up to the router, type in 192.168.1.1, (might be different, google your model)

this will bring up the routers "settings" in a web browser format. if you have to type in the user/pass its probably "admin/admin", again google.

there should be tabs in the settings, one for wireless, inside should be these types of settings (SSID and MAC filtering).

DO NOT CONFUSE THE WORD "MAC" with Macintosh computer. It is NOT one in the same, and many get confused. MAC ID is basically the strange range of letters and numbers that is unique to every networkable device (anything with an ethernet port etc).

 

[jsw]

I am using Linksys router.

Thank you guys alot for the suggestions, how do I go about setting the Password, enabling MAC filtering, and the SSID options....

I feel like a total computer newbie. 😱

I'd look at the manual if you have one, but, assuming it's a relatively recent version of the WRT54G (see manual here or at the Linksys/Cisco site), set your browser to point to http://192.168.1.1, and leave the username blank and use 'admin' as the password.

If this does not work, odds are they guy reset your password, in which case you'll need to physically reset the router (see manual, but basically you press and hold the tiny recessed reset button on the back).

If you can log in, you should have no problem seeing the places to reset the password, disable broadcast of the SSID, and set up a list of MAC addresses.

For SSID: there should be a "Wireless" tab, in which there's a "Basic Wireless Settings" tab, in which you can rename your network as well as disable broadcast of the name (meaning you'll need to type it into your Mac and it won't just "appear").

Also in the Wireless tab should be a "Wireless MAC Filter" tab. Select it, select "Wireless MAC Filter : Enable", and select "Permit only PCs listed to access the wireless network". Then click "Edit MAC Filter List" and enter the MAC addresses of your systems (you can find your Mac's via System Preferences->Network->Show: Airport->Airport tab->AirPort ID - among other ways). It's of the form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.

 

[Objectivist-C]

as its been mentioned, nothing beyond:

SSID broadcast off
MAC filtering

needs to be done.


if no one can see your network, and you only let in 2 MAC IDs (or however many computers you have on your network) then how can anyone mooch!?

Both are trivial to work around. Use WPA/WPA2.