DescentBB

i just discovered this occurring this morning, i have a wireless network at home using a belkin 802.11b wireless router and happened to log in to it and discovered there were 3 connected clients. one being me, the second being my laptop and third being someone with a hostname of "bigdaddy".

now, i've tried locking him out using the MAC filtering so only my comp and laptop can access the network but when i check my dhcp client log, bigdaddy is still connected.

tried using the lan client restrictions and entering the ip listed by the dhcp client log but no go. bigdaddy is still listed.

tried changing the ssid and channel, but nope, he's still there.

wtf can i do? this is driving me crazy!

set up the mac filtering, change your SSID, change the admin password.

Once all is set. TURN off THE ROUTER

wait 10 minutes then turn it back on and say buh-bye to Bigdaddy

did you hear cusing from nextdoor. .

bubbas tips are good so far, but never use a wirless router without at least wep-encryption. a 802.11b router will most likely not support stronger encryption-methods, but if you enable wep 128 (64bit keys) your friendly neighbour will have a hard week to connect and use your dsl again.

basic tips (basic security) for any wlan-router:

-change the admin-password, use a strong password. not "1234"
-enable wep-encryption (128 if possible) its not 100% secure but the offender has to sniff pakets for days, probably fo weeks to get the final wep-key.
-if stronger encryptions like wpa are avaible, use them instead of wep.
-enable mac-filtering (not very strong,but adds a lil security) mac-adresses can be faked easy.
-ssid: use a crazy ssid and hide it if possible (some routers support hidden ssid´s)

short said, simple wep128 encryption will keep 99,99% of the dsl-stealer out. mac-filters are mostly useless but add some little extra security.

thanks guys!

all is done and he's already off my dhcp list

turing router off now

I always assume encryption is a given in any Wireless enviroment. if you do not use it then...well you need to be leeched from!

[offtopic]Bubbalou - You need to email me ASAP. Dammit don't you ever check your messages?[/offtopic]

heh, too true bubba and i have learned my lesson. now i just need to get my laptop internet access. locked myself out somehow

w00t! got it working!

Don't forget to check for updated firmware for your router. (and enable WPA atleast since WEP can easily be cracked in a few hours if your leach knows what he/she is doing)

This could also be a case of someone not turning off the "Wireless Zero Configuration" service and getting on your network by mistake. If this is the case, then I suggest you have a chat with the offending neighbor about this.

I dont know if this would be a feasable solution for you, but it works well for me.

In addition to the MAC filtering, SSID Bcast disabling, and WEP protection, see if you can afford to set up a more robust DHCP server somewhere other than the wireless router instead. A windows or *nix box instead. Define a scope that would be acceptable, but only specify an IP address range and a subnet mask, no routers, no DNS servers. After that is done, disable the DHCP on your router. Then, set up static bindings for each of your machines that do include a gateway and name server. This will ensure it so that if you have friends over to lan, they will still get ip addresses and can play over your lan, but they'll have to get your explicit permission (in the form of a DHCP server static mapping) to access the net. And same with the dude next door. Even if he breaks through all that security using kiddy scripting tools, he'd still have to manually input the address info and whatnot to access the net. So if you want a little more protection, set the router to use an address other than the first useable ip or the last availible ip, which is what routers usually set themselves to by defualt. Heck, use a HUGE subnet (10.0.0.0/8 perhaps? With the router on something like um, 10.238.177.68. Yeah, he'd never find that, har)

Or, if you dont have friends over, just set up static mappings and use the highest possible subnet to accomidate your needs. I.E. If you only have a few comps, use 255.255.255.248 (/29, 6 useable hosts total).

Maybe I'm just anal retentive. If you dont understand what Im talking about, just disregard it all

heh sounds like a plan avder but i think i understood about 1/2 of all that was said but i like the direction it was leading

Ok, what did you understand?