Neighbor using my DSL network.

17 years ago

My neighbor recently fired up his laptop and realized he had access to my network. He told me because he didn't want to do anything to mess up my speed or connection. So far, I am not aware when he is on, and he really loves the high speed connection. He is a good neighbor and I don't mind him using my connection, but we both want to know if his use has any potential adverse reaction on my service.

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Comments (5)

bpgreen
17 years ago
You might be violating your terms of service by allowing him to access it.

A bigger concern is that if one neighbor is using it, others (not necessarily limited to neighbors) may also access it. If you have any shared resources, they'd all have access to them, so you'd need to be careful about what is accessible on the network shares.

If somebody uses it for some illegal purpose, it's possible that you could be held liable.

You should lock your network down so that others can't access it without permission. If you want to allow your neighbor to access it, let him know how to connect. But don't leave your network vulnerable to atttack.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
17 years ago
you absolutely need to lock down your network and make sure it is secure, if one neighbor is getting in then anyone driving by can also get in, that is not good. Be sure you set very very strong non-sense passwords on your router and your accounts.
Creating Uncrackable Passwords
How to secure your home wireless network
securing a wireless network
those might be helpful
I personally would never let anyone have access
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debo_2006
17 years ago
If one has Verizon Fio which is suppose to be a dedicated line, is the lock down still necessary?

Is this the same for Verizon DSL service which is also suppose to be a dedicated line, unlike Comcast who shares the lines with neighbors?

Thanks.
mudlady_gw
Original Author
17 years ago
I live out in the country and he is more than 200 feet from me. I was surprised that he could get on. There isn't another house near by and I do trust this man. He DID tell me he was using the service. He and his wife are quiet people and a lot of the time she is the only one home because his work takes him all over the country. I have been guilty of parking in the lot of a motel and grabbing their service long enough to check my email while I was on vacation. I usually get a decent motel that offers the service for free, but when I travel with a dog I often go to the really cheap, old motels. They don't charge an arm and a leg for the dog. As for my neighbor, we are terribly snowed in in this area and he has just arrived home. He has my snow blower and he is doing both his and my drives. I love living out in the boonies.
Elaine_Canada
17 years ago
With someone that you trust 100% - what would be the problem of encrypting your wireless signal, locking it down so to speak - and then giving him your password so that he could use it if you want that.

It would be like sharing the password with family and nobody else would have the password. If ever there was a problem of any kind, you could change the password and that would be the end of that.

Elaine

Neighbor using my DSL network.

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