View people using wireless networks?

Trevor451

Hey I suspect some people are using our wireless contention. Even though I know the network is pretty secure using WPA2 just to be safe is their any way to monitor the devices that are on the network? I am using the standard eircom netopia router thanks

MunsterCycling

Just check the LAN section under Statistics when you enable Expert Mode.

here:
http://ip address of you router/indexExptStatRES.htm?lanstatRES.htm

Replace bit in RED with your gateway address (router)

vibe666

it's far from impossible to break into a wpa2 wireless network to someone who knows what they are doing, but you can easily fix the problem with a couple of simple steps and with a couple of extra precautions (if supported by your router) you can make it very difficult for the attacker to get back in.

1. change your wpa2 passphrase to something very long and very random. HERE is a good random key generator that should do the trick.
   
   
2. change your wireless SSID to something completely different. the method used to break into your wireless network uses a pre-computed hash table which takes time to generate and is partly calculated by your wireless SSID and the data that is moving around your wireless network. change the SSID and he'll have to start from scratch and your new wpa2 key is going to make it very tough going for them.
   
   
3. if your router supports it, enable MAC address filtering. on it's own it isn't much of an obstacle as a MAC address is relatively simple to spoof, but think of it as putting an extra obstruction in an attackers way.
   
   
4. turn off SSID broadcast on your router. again, only a little obstacle, but they all build up into a big PITA for anyone trying to break in.
   
   
5. again, if supported, disable wireless admin access to your router so that anyone who wants to do any administration has to connect to it via ethernet cable, instantly making it next to impossible for anyone outside of your house to do anything dodgy on it. also, make sure you have an ethernet cable before you do this, or you'll lock yourself out as well.
   
   
6. if you have a very strong wireless signal everywhere you need it in your house, consider moving the router into a more central location in the building and then dialing down the transmit power on the wireless to a point where you still get a good signal inside, but that where the signal isn't broadcast to your whole neighbourhood. chances are that your intruder is a neighbour looking for free internet access, so as he's unlikely to go away or give up, just make it harder for him to get to you in the first place.

if that doesn't stop them, you might have bigger problems.

Trevor451

Cheers for that link, it works perfectly