Wireless Internet Hacking!

Techy_1

I found that AVG was not running and had not been updated in ages so I went to download the updates manualy.
As soon as I did this the connection dropped again and reconnected for a few minutes, when I tried to get the Anti-Virus updates from avg.com the connection dropped that second.

I was getting around 430kbs on wireless so I bypassed the router and went direct to the modem and got a stagering 1.3mbps. Connection was fine via modem over ethernet. Seems to be anti-virus related. I happens on my wife's laptop also so thats why I thought hacked network. We both have avg 9.0 so could be an out of date version.

Solair

It can't just be AVG. It's only a virus scanner / firewall.

You must be running *something* on both machines that is causing this.

Are you sure you didn't install some proxy software for watching BBC iPlayer or something like that?

Are you running any P2P file sharing software?

Something is using your connection via your PC.

Kynareth

Techy_1 wrote: »

I found that AVG was not running and had not been updated in ages so I went to download the updates manualy.
As soon as I did this the connection dropped again and reconnected for a few minutes, when I tried to get the Anti-Virus updates from avg.com the connection dropped that second.

I was getting around 430kbs on wireless so I bypassed the router and went direct to the modem and got a stagering 1.3mbps. Connection was fine via modem over ethernet. Seems to be anti-virus related. I happens on my wife's laptop also so thats why I thought hacked network. We both have avg 9.0 so could be an out of date version.

If you have AVG 9.0 update it, it is out of date to my knowledge.

And MORE THAN LIKELY. Your wireless adapters just arn't that great at picking up a signal, or your router isn't that strong (or is getting a LOT of interference) if your connection being slow is the reason you thought you were being 'hacked' then I'd suggest standing beside the router while using the laptop just to see if you get the same signal strength as you do when you are plugging it in directly.

Also if you get 1.3mb/s when you're plugged in directly I take it that is the speed you are paying for?

Razzuh

I'd agree it's very unlikely that anyone is even trying to hack your wifi regularly and so persistently, not if you have WPA2.

I had the same problem with my wifi connection constantly dropping recently. It turned out to be interference that was causing the router to drop connections. I changed the wifi channel from 6 to 13 and the problem went away.

I suggest you get a better anti-virus anyway in case it's a virus (Avira is a good free one at the moment, or Microsoft Security Essentials, get rid of AVG anyway).

Then try changing the channel on your router. You can download software such as inSSIDer to scan for wireless networks in your area and see a nice graph that will show you quickly what parts of the spectrum are most crowded. Pick a channel that is at least 6 away from what you're on now and with as few competitors as possible.

Razzuh

Razzuh wrote: »

I suggest you get a better anti-virus anyway in case it's a virus (Avira is a good free one at the moment, or Microsoft Security Essentials, get rid of AVG anyway).

Agreed. The last good version of AVG was 7.5, it's been muck since. Too bloated.

About the Sky boxes, the Ethernet port actually is in use now for Sky Anytime Plus but is only available to Sky Broadband subscribers in the UK. Nevertheless, if a cable is connected to the box it could still try to do something with it.

Henree

Techy_1 wrote: »

I found that AVG was not running and had not been updated in ages so I went to download the updates manualy.
As soon as I did this the connection dropped again and reconnected for a few minutes, when I tried to get the Anti-Virus updates from avg.com the connection dropped that second.

I was getting around 430kbs on wireless so I bypassed the router and went direct to the modem and got a stagering 1.3mbps. Connection was fine via modem over ethernet. Seems to be anti-virus related. I happens on my wife's laptop also so thats why I thought hacked network. We both have avg 9.0 so could be an out of date version.

I guarantee you that if you take off AVG (use an AVG uninstall tool if you get an error) and install and run a full scan of Microsoft Security Essentials (free anti virus and spyware) , your problems will be no more, 100%..........AVG is your problem............................

mach1982

Just to let you know that it doesn't matter what encryption WEP/WAP2 it can be cracked , and MAC filtering no good either , as you can just spoof the MAC address.

mach1982

mach1982 wrote: »

Just to let you know that it doesn't matter what encryption WEP/WAP2 it can be cracked , and MAC filtering no good either , as you can just spoof the MAC address.

I've never heard of any real world scenarios where WPA-TKIP has been hacked, though it has been done in lab conditions. WPA (and especially WPA2-AES) is very difficult to break if you use a random key consisting of mixed case letters, numbers and symbols.

dub45

mach1982 wrote: »

Just to let you know that it doesn't matter what encryption WEP/WAP2 it can be cracked , and MAC filtering no good either , as you can just spoof the MAC address.

If you are going to make sweeping claims like this which will cause concern to a lot of people will you please back them up with some authority for you claims?

Amalgam

mach1982 wrote: »

Just to let you know that it doesn't matter what encryption WEP/WAP2 it can be cracked , and MAC filtering no good either , as you can just spoof the MAC address.

What a load of cobblers.

WPA2 is secure.

WPA2 is vulnerable under very restricted scenarious, for instance, the use of extremely short plain text keys that are dictionary vulnerable, other than that, it is secure.

Some university work has been done on 'small packets', but that avenue, for use by the everyday script kiddy, is useless.