June 21, 2008
I can see my neighbor's wireless signal. If I hop on, can they see me?
Yes and no. This has always been an intriguing issue. With the penetration of broadband Internet into people's homes and the maturation of wireless networking technology, more and more households are setting up wireless access so that multiple computers can share one Internet subscription.
Most wireless access points are configured from the manufacturer with generic passwords and no encryption. This enables full access from any machine, but results in your home network being vulnerable to unauthorized access from others in near proximity to the router, i.e., neighbors.
It's just not the free access to your Internet connection that is the issue — there's also the potential that someone could gain access to your computer files that may include tax information and personal data. For that reason, I highly recommend securing your wireless network by creating an encryption key that only authorized computers can access. Your router's user manual will provide instructions on how to do this.
So, if you hop on to a wireless network that is unsecured, chances are, no, they can't see you, since there should not be a noticeable drain on the bandwidth. Additionally, users with newer computers running Windows Vista can configure their settings so that their computers cannot be detected on an unsecured network. Cool, eh?
But computer users who suspect someone might be accessing their network and who know where to look on their network settings may be able to see another computer or laptop on their network that doesn't belong to them, and that may lead to a not-so-neighborly knock on the door!
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