Comments on: Prevent someone else from using your wireless Internet connection

By: michelle

michelle — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:12:10 +0000

if i do this will, my ps3 internet stop working? + my laptop?

By: Lester

Lester — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:39:28 +0000

Thanks for the great tips! I have confidential data on my computers at home and need to make sure my wireless router is as secure as possible.

However, you forgot one important wireless security feature and that is Mac Address Filtering. You can use it to control which computers can connect to the network. Definitely worth reading into.

By: James

James — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:58:51 +0000

Can you please help me on locking/securing my wirelees router on my mac? I have a netgear router. thanx James

By: jhunyl

jhunyl — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:03:04 +0000

What can I do if the hackers changed the password on my router?? Is it still possible for me to access it???

By: John

John — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:07:00 +0000

At the picture where your at the wireless network settings it says “encryption type”. i changed it to none and then my internet stopped working.when i tried to fix it it needs my network security key.i dont know that.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:38:19 +0000

Ronnie, you could use some help from someone you trust in your area. It doesn’t have to be paid assistance, but that would make your solutions more professional. There are likely lots of computer geeks in your area that would help you just for the fun of it, or at least a few slices of pizza. You may want to ask around at your church or other social organizations.

You may not need something very sophisticated if you live in a very remote area. Much of the concern over WiFi comes from more densely populated areas, where people are likely to be close enough to your WiFi to hack away.

Just some ideas.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:28:51 +0000

This might as well have been in latin for me. It sounds easy, but when I get down to it things don’t look the same…..it’s all sooo confusing. My husband has no idea what he’s doing either. It’s like the blind leading the blind here. HELP! ilovecandles@ ymail.com

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:23:38 +0000

Good point Mr. Leblanc. I do this too with some freeware DHCP server, and I have NO dynamic address, only server-assigned IP addresses from DHCP.

By: Richard Leblanc

Richard Leblanc — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:58:27 +0000

Also if you have disabled DHCP on the wireless router and are running a dhcp server one of the connected machines you can limit the amount of available addresses to what you need locally. In my case for example I need one address for my daughters machine that is on all the time and a second address for a machine I use as a media station connected to the LCD display in the living room. So I have 2 address available only.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:23:27 +0000

If you want to figure out OpenVPN, you can also do OpenVPN to a wired Windows or Linux computer, and relay all your traffic through Openvpn (see: OpenVPN.net – freeware).

Another idea, secure all Wifi connections by assigning static IP addresses to the Wifi computers (consistent with the router’s addressing scheme), and then turn off DHCP server on the WiFi router. If someone breaks your encryption, then he will have to be smart enough to figure out your IP addressing scheme with DNS as well. Otherwise, DHCP gives away the farm.

Also, PLEASE do change the router’s default internal IP address. Everyone knows, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 or whatever your router defaults to.

Also, check for your router’s firmware updates on the manufacturer’s website. The latest firmware has the latest security updates. – Not for the faint of heart.

By: Ralph Law

Ralph Law — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:36:02 +0000

OMG.. this is helpful! My neighbor for the longest had his linksys router open to anyone who wanted to use it. I had to tell him about this link so he could lock it down. Thanks for the info, saves me time from explaining all of this to him in person. Just send him the link to this post!