Can someone with a laptop steal my internet conection?

Question

I have a 2 wire modem and I have a netopia wireless that is connected to my computer in another room.I live in an apartment and every since my neighbors moved I have lost connection speed I was getting 6.1 mbps and now I only get 4.4 mbps I never had this problem until they (neighbors) moved in.

Answer 1

Possibly. Do you have a key on it, or can anyone connect? I reccomend putting a key on it, so only people who know the password (you) can access it.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure the 2wire routers already have a built in wireless connection. I'm not sure why you would need the netopia wireless router. what you need to do is verify that the 2wire actually has WIFI cabablities. IF so there are two sets of numbers under the physical 2wire router. I believe the bottom number is the WEP encryption to get into the wireless.  Here is the website that will allow you to configure the 2wire router. If all else you may have an open connection on your netopia.

http://support.2wire.com/?page=view&arti...

Answer 3

You can check all the machines that's currently connected to your router wired and wirelessly.

If there seems to be a mysterious computer connected, that would confirm your theory.. Set up WPA with a long passphrase. Disable wireless networking if you aren't going to use the wireless features on a personal computer.  

Answer 4

if you have a wireless router they can steal your internet connection. you have to put a password on your wireless network so they cannot access your internet.

Answer 5

Do you have a cable internet service provider?  If so, then odds are your new neighbors have cable internet service too.  Although cable internet service has a lot of localized bandwidth, you share that bandwidth with all of your neighbors.  The more neighbors who use that localized bandwidth, the slower your internet connection will become.  The only real solution would be to switch to a DSL ISP which doesn't share bandwidth with your neighbors.

Another potential problem could occur with GHz phones and GHz wireless routers using the same channel as your wireless router.  This causes "noise" and can slow down your internet connection.  You'll also notice that you will intermittently lose your internet connection.

If your neighbors are indeed stealing your internet bandwidth, you should be able to see it in your router stats.  You'll have to read your owner's manual to find out how to see all the DHCP Active IP addresses that are connected to your router.  If you see more than one connection, then you should be able to disconnect them and filter out that MAC address.  Look in your owner's manual on how to do that.

Answer 6

Yes, anyone can steal your internet connection and even with security if they really want it they are going to get it.

But the common neighbor is only going to steal your wireless network if you dont have any security (WEP, WPA, WPA2) and most of the time people just let Windows pick the best wireless network and they dont even realize thier using your network.

All-in-all secure your network and I think 2wire comes with defualt WEP or WPA (mine did).