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Protect your Wireless Network

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Golferdow01

Golferdow01

East-Coast Living
OK so to set up the scenario, I came back to tOSU today and went to the computer lab cause I had some time to kill before happy hour and am homeless for another 2 weeks here. Anyways I locked myself out of the system with 10 incorrect password attempts (been months since I was on it). No biggie, I went to Starbucks on 14th thinking they might have a free wireless there.

So Starbucks wants me to install some software for a free 4 hour trial of their T-Mobile network, so i took it and before I installed it i thought, now lets see if there's any wireless networks i could get onto free (kids don't try this at home :)) Anyways I found one with a 3/6 in connectivity and hopped on it (no password of course)

Anyways to make a long story short, I am currently directly connected to their router and could wreak complete havoc if I was a dick. People, you NEED to learn how to protect your network from dangerous hackers. Yes i shouldn't be doing this, but I would never do something to harm a network.

I could currently(ranking from least bad to awful) A: Reset their router B: Set a password they wouldn't know C: Encrypt their network to only allow limited or no connectivity D:Allow only my computer's physical address too access the network

People, you seriously need to take care of password protecting or encrypting your network! I know some of you know how to do this but I'm sure many don't. If you have a wireless network then follow these steps to access your router's settings:

1. Go to "Run" and type CMD
2. Type "ipconfig"
3. Record your "Default Gateway"
4. Enter the address of your Default Gateway into your webbrowser
5. You will be prompted for a name and password. Most defaults are "Admin:Admin", some linksys routers are "Linksys:Admin" and some Motorola routers are "Motorola:Admin" If none of these work you will need to look up your default name and password in your manual coming with your router/wireless modem.
6. All router settings are different but peruse the different pages and look for keywords such as "Administration", "Security", "Password", or "Encrypt"
7. for God's sake put a password or encryption on your network so hackers can't get into it and steal your bandwidth or even worse hack into your router or even worse, hack into network places and access your computers.

I know this is lengthy but I recommend you all try this out if you haven't already set up protection. As I said, if I was a bad hacker I could wreck havoc on this poor household's network. I know I shouldn't even be on it in the first place but that is beside the point.

I hope this helps at least one person here protect their computer :)
 
LoKyBuckeye said:
I'll give you v$20 to shut them down :)

seriously... that info is good to know. I don't have a wireless network but I'll pass the info along to my Dad who does.
Click to expand...
Haha hardly worth v$20 but thanks for the offer...

Pass it along to him and anyone else you know cause bad things can happen when people are ignorant...

If you ever need a security admin on BP lemme know :biggrin:
 
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Last year I couldn't get onto my wireless network for some reason, so I just hopped onto another in the area that I thought was my buddies from across the hall.
Turned out it wasn't, so I decided to give them a little warning.
I changed their routers name to "I need a Password"
It was that way for a while too, dumbasses.
 
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Golfer.... everything in my house is either wireless or fed from a router, and I have no clue what you just said above. Think you could come to my house and make all my stuff safer? I have 2 PC's and an XBOX running off that damn thing.
 
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Thank god my brother does computer networking for the local county government and he set up my wireless router and passwords along with firewalls. Or else I would have no clue how to do what you just said to do :)
 
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ScarletInMyVeins said:
Golfer.... everything in my house is either wireless or fed from a router, and I have no clue what you just said above. Think you could come to my house and make all my stuff safer? I have 2 PC's and an XBOX running off that damn thing.
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I'd be glad to try and help you. One thing I don't currently know how to do is find out the MAC address of an XBOX but I think we could find a way to work around it. PM me about it sometime and I'd be glad to try and help :)
 
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I've been meaning to do this for a while now. For the last couple days my internet has been slow as hell. I followed golfer's steps to get to my router and saw an extra computer that isn't mine on the network and shut it out. Now only my computer has access :biggrin:
 
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what you said is pretty common sense. If you have a router, password protect and encrypt. The thing I worry about is people can hack into your laptop even if you are not connected. That is much worse, and little you can do about it.
 
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scott91575 said:
what you said is pretty common sense. If you have a router, password protect and encrypt. The thing I worry about is people can hack into your laptop even if you are not connected. That is much worse, and little you can do about it.
Click to expand...

If you're not connected, just disable the wireless. It'll make your computer more secure and save battery life. And check for driver updates for the network adapter.
 
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