How Did He Steal My Wi-Fi signal?

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triceretops

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We had a mother and son visitor over the weekend, and the boy brought his new tablet, or I-pod thingy with him. At the end of his stay (two days), my Verizon stats showed that I was up 75% of my usage ( I have limited broadband where I'm allowed only 5 gigs a month). If I run over my gig usage, there's a hefty fee installed.

On the last day of the boys' visit, I got a warning bar on my screen that notified me that another person was using my IP address. Sure enough, I caught the boy and his mother downloading music and YouTube videos, apparently having done this for the last two days, which used up massive amounts of data-streaming material. I didn't suspect anything, but noticed my computer was running really slow. I asked them if they had internet, to which they stated "no." I removed the battery from Wi-Fi device, and sure enough, I cut the internet off their tablet.

Now, to use my signal, would the boy or woman have to have copied down my password code on the back of my Wi-Fi device and imputed it into their system? Mine is a personal Verizon internet account, and I'm wondering if they just randomly picked up my signal. However, the mother had asked to use my computer several times during their stay here, and I was not in the room to see what they were doing.

Would this have to have been a deliberate intrusion of them to run off my internet signal by tapping into my security code? Or was his device already internet ready and he accidentally picked up my signal? It really pisses me off that someone would do this to me on purpose.

I need evidence that this happened to me so I have something to tell Version if there is a dispute regarding my over-usage.

Would appreciate your help on this!

Tri
 

fireluxlou

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Well usually people keep the same password or WEP Key as whats on their device. So yes all they would have to do is look at your router.
 

Charles Farley

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You say wi-fi device . . do you mean router? If you have password protection on your router to use the internet then yes.

This is theft and fraud. Plain and simple.

The code on the back of the device is your pass code to access the internet which you pay for . . if your signal is protected then they stole from you.
 

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Your router presumably wasn't running without a password, so unless it was running WEP and they cracked it (which is, I believe, fairly easy if you have a PC to run the software on) then, yes, they probably copied the key it shipped with off the back of the unit. It's unlikely your router came without the security enabled, and it's probably using the more secure WPA encryption.
 

ereadergold

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Hi Tri

It does indeed sound like they were responsible for your excessive bandwidth usage, it would only take a few videos to do this. I do a lot of video work and am constantly exceeding my 200 GB monthly bandwidth allocation!

A little more info regarding your setup would be helpful in answering your question. Do you have a separate modem and router, or is it a combined modem/router supplied by Verizon? And do you have the wireless signal secured using WEP, WPA or WPA2? If the setup is unsecured then it would be easy for anyone to share or steal it. You say you removed a battery, so I'm assuming some sort of portable device is being used here?

I'm not sure how detailed the Verizon records are, but the fact that they were able to determine another computer was using your IP address seems to indicate that they at least keep record of the MAC address of the computer. If so then their records will show the MAC address of the offending machine(s). In case I'm talking a bit too "geeky" here a "MAC Address" is a unique code assigned to every network access device on the planet (MAC is an abbreviation for Media Access Control, noting to do with Apple products!).

Sorry, I know this probably is not a great deal of help but if you can provide a bit more information about your setup I may at least be able to advise you on how to prevent this from happening again.

Bill
 

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Yup. If they needed a password to access your wireless network, then they would have needed to copy it down from your router/device... assuming you hadn't changed it from the one listed on the back.

If you don't need a password, and your wifi is visible, then yeah, they would have seen it and could have gotten onto it.

All apple i-products have built-in wifi, so all they need is an access point. (Some i-products also have G3, but they wouldn't need your wifi to download anything, then. They'd use a cellular network on their own account.)

A tech savvy kid would know where to find the code on a router/access point, though.
 

triceretops

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Yeah, my Wi-Fi device, I call it, is the router I presume. It's the size of a cigarette pack cut in half and has a charger cord for the wall outlet. It has an internal battery. The code is written on the underside of the device. And I have never changed that code, but am told that I can do such a thing for future protection.

This looks more like it was deliberate and behind my back, since they didn't ask permission or notify me of their actions. It just plain sucks, and it IS theft.

Thank you for all your comments and advice.

tri
 

benbradley

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We had a mother and son visitor over the weekend, and the boy brought his new tablet, or I-pod thingy with him. At the end of his stay (two days), my Verizon stats showed that I was up 75% of my usage ( I have limited broadband where I'm allowed only 5 gigs a month). If I run over my gig usage, there's a hefty fee installed.

On the last day of the boys' visit, I got a warning bar on my screen that notified me that another person was using my IP address. Sure enough, I caught the boy and his mother downloading music and YouTube videos, apparently having done this for the last two days, which used up massive amounts of data-streaming material. I didn't suspect anything, but noticed my computer was running really slow. I asked them if they had internet, to which they stated "no."
I wonder if they meant "No, we don't have a direct Internet connection, we're connected over WiFi." Regardless, they were being shitty. Then again, with so many open-to-the-public businesses having "free WiFi" (the local car repair place has WiFi!) it's easy to see where people feel they're entitled to it.
I need evidence that this happened to me so I have something to tell Version if there is a dispute regarding my over-usage.
I'm guessing what they would need to take you seriously is a police report where you filed criminal charges against them, and even then I'm doubtful. As far as they're concerned, you used the bandwidth, and you have to pay per the agreement. Those big companies are like that. They won't budge unless you end up owing thousands and your story hits the major media (start a Facebook-and-Twitter campaign and hope it catches on).
You say wi-fi device . . do you mean router? If you have password protection on your router to use the internet then yes.

This is theft and fraud. Plain and simple.

The code on the back of the device is your pass code to access the internet which you pay for . . if your signal is protected then they stole from you.
Using the password on the back of the router is about as secure as putting a house key under the welcome mat. If you don't change the password, at least take off the sticker with the password. An adjacent neighbor visiting could read it off and then access your WiFi from their home.
 

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Yeah, my Wi-Fi device, I call it, is the router I presume. It's the size of a cigarette pack cut in half and has a charger cord for the wall outlet. It has an internal battery. The code is written on the underside of the device. And I have never changed that code, but am told that I can do such a thing for future protection.

This looks more like it was deliberate and behind my back, since they didn't ask permission or notify me of their actions. It just plain sucks, and it IS theft.

Thank you for all your comments and advice.

tri

It's possible they just didn't think to ask. It's thoughtless - I always ask friends if I can log in to their wifi, because I'm generally polite - but not necessarily malicious. It's becoming the netiquette version of failing to ask if you can use the bathroom, or something.

This is all on a continuum of rudeness that needs to be weighted for things like if it's reasonable in their circs to assume that any given person has unmetered broadband, so your ireage may vary.
 

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I understand that back when local as well as long distant phone calls cost money, anyone who used your phone left money to cover the call by the phone. That was just a matter of manners.

Since Verizon knows when the kid's computer was in use I'd ask them to charge the kid's phone/puter for the amount he used. "Just to keep things organized."

If they just didn't think to ask, I'd expect them to be happy to pay for the use of the system.
 

cbenoi1

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Short of having a password-protected router, another behind-the-scene access culprit is called WPS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup

If the kid had physical access to the router, he didn't need any password. There is a button that activates the WPS mode and any device connecting to it within the next few seconds is granted access. No password.

WPS was supposed to be a means to simplify setting up a Wi-Fi network for the general users and ended up being a huge gaping hole in a router's protection.

==> Go into your router's setup and turn off WPS.

-cb
 
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cbenoi1

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In the same order of things, you may want to register your devices to the router and apply rules to them. For example, everything is granted to the device "Mark's I-Pad" while any other device cannot bring up YouTube, or whatever else is consuming a lot of bandwidth.

This is more complicated to achieve and requires careful reading of the router's User's Manual.

-cb
 

Charles Farley

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Using the password on the back of the router is about as secure as putting a house key under the welcome mat. If you don't change the password, at least take off the sticker with the password. An adjacent neighbor visiting could read it off and then access your WiFi from their home.

Yep.
 

sciencewarrior

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If they had access to your computer, they could have copied it from there: in recent versions of Windows, you can see the wi-fi password in the network configuration panel. It is extremely rude, but I wouldn't call it theft; as Stlight said, it's more like making a long distance call without telling the host first.

I don't know all the details, but it seems to me that the best course of action is to calmly explain to the mother that junior has been using up your monthly 5GB, and to civilly ask her to chip in if you run into overusage.
 

Charles Farley

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It is extremely rude, but I wouldn't call it theft; as Stlight said, it's more like making a long distance call without telling the host first.

If you pay for food and someone comes to your house and eats it . . .without your knowledge, it's theft . . . so is this.
 

onesecondglance

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If you pay for food and someone comes to your house and eats it . . .without your knowledge, it's theft . . . so is this.

No, that's being a bad (and rude) guest. So is this.

If you were on a water meter, and your guest ran a bath without asking first, then that's not theft. It's rude, and thoughtless, but it's not a crime.
 

benbradley

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No, that's being a bad (and rude) guest. So is this.

If you were on a water meter, and your guest ran a bath without asking first, then that's not theft. It's rude, and thoughtless, but it's not a crime.
Next time I visit someone I'll take their fanciest gadget. I can tell the judge "No, I wasn't stealing, I was just being a rude guest." Yeah, right.
 

Charles Farley

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No, that's being a bad (and rude) guest. So is this.

If you were on a water meter, and your guest ran a bath without asking first, then that's not theft. It's rude, and thoughtless, but it's not a crime.

It's not theft from the utilities company, the water is being paid for . . by you. It's theft from you, personally.

Water might not cost that much but 5 Gigs of server time, plus a fine for going over can run over $100 . . the "guest" might has well of taken the money out of your wallet . . it's theft . . period.
 

backslashbaby

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If you run over, you might be able to tell the company that you didn't authorize any IP address but your own. Call them on the phone and talk to someone. They'll probably give you a break if you have been a customer for a while, paid on time, etc.

Make sure to tell them that you are researching how to make it secure, so they know it's just a one-time thing.
 

sciencewarrior

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Next time I visit someone I'll take their fanciest gadget. I can tell the judge "No, I wasn't stealing, I was just being a rude guest." Yeah, right.

How many people have been arrested for running a bath? "Stealing" is a legal term with a very precise definition, and its misuse is one of my pet peeves.

As I said, if it happened to me, I'd ask the mother to cover the cost. If she gets offended and refuses, well, that's a small price for not having to host them again, right?
 

fireluxlou

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I think people are misunderstanding onesecondglance.

Obviously you are all talking about different levels of acquaintance and friendship with guests. I think they are talking more of their guest as someone they know well and is akin to friendship like family or friend, rather than a stranger guest.

The boundaries and what is acceptable as a guest is different, depending on the relationship you have with the host.
 

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I interpret that kind of theft of service as when I came home and found that my neighbor had trailed an electrical cord across our fence and was powering huge box fans from my porch outlets because he thought I was gone for the weekend.

Or like the time I came home and the other neighbor had spliced his telephone cable into my box so that my telephone service was servicing his house, too.

I've had lovely neighbors.
 

Charles Farley

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514.060 Theft of services.
(1) A person is guilty of theft of services when:
(b) The person intentionally obtains wireless communications services or access
to services by any of the following means:
1. Unauthorized interception of any electronic serial number, mobile
identification number, personal identification number, or like identifying
number;

but i hear you Heza
 
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