My neighbour asking me to install his wireless router on my computer.Is it safe to share my internet?

Question

My neighbour asking me to install his wireless router on my computer.I have heard sharing internet with someone with wireless router is not safer.should I proceed with him and let him setup a wireless router on my computer?I have verizon dsl on my computer tho.Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Just like anything, there are the goods and the bad when you let someone share your internet connection. To me it sounds like he wants to take advantage of your internet connection so he doesn't have to pay for internet. You need to ask your self, "do I really trust this guy"

You are responsible for your internet connection. That means you have to follow the rules and regulations that your agreed to do when you signed up for internet. There are certain things that are illegal to download. If he downloads something like a movie for a peer to peer site and your isp notices it, you will be the one to get in trouble.

If you are going to let him share your internet, make sure You get full access to the router so you can block peer to peer downloads and agree that you only have the right to log into the router and change settings because you will have the password.

Your internet might get a little slow too if he is using it and downloading big files. And as far as him being able to hack into your computer, yes it is possible with the right programs and knowledge.

  

Answer 2

No i don't think you should my cousin used my sisters computer for his zune and her computer stop working!

Answer 3

Don't.  There will always be issues about who controls the administration of the unit; if it breaks down in the middle of the night, will he bang on your door demanding you get up and fix it (or let him in to fix).

Too many entanglements...

Answer 4

NO! They slow your internet down, and if you are going to make them pay atleast half or something! :)

And I'm pretty sure they can give you viruses. (Not 100% sure.)

Answer 5

Is he going to pay you for the use of your network?

Wireless is "secure" IF you do the following -

You also want to ensure that you can use WPA2 with AES and TKIP.  NOT WEP!  WEP is a joke!

Make your PreShared Key LONG and complicated (no words in the dictionary, random if possible, special characters, numbers, letters (upper and lower). DONT use WEP... its worthless.

Change the default password on you WAP.  Most people forget.  You also want to make sure that it cannot be configured remotely or via the wireless (do all your configs directly connected to it).

Many WAPs (priced higher) allow you to turn down the reception. This means you will lose range, but others outside that range wont be able to access you.

Turn off SSID. If your not broadcasting your network's name, it makes it difficult to find it without scanning for it. However, some gaming systems need it turned on to find the network.

Another layer of defense is MAC address filtering!  If your not going to have a lot of guests on the WAP, it is really imperative to use!

I put the word "secure" in quotes because your most precious protection with anything dealing with networks is Physical Security.

As soon as you hook up a wireless access point, you lose that! I now have physical security from the range of the WAP and I can passively listen from MUCH MUCH farther away.

EDIT - Dalton, you are correct.  Users on the same "private" network have a MUCH greater chance of getting a virus.  The router and ISP have things in place to try and get rid of some of these.  WHen you are directly connected, you dont have a lot of these things to protect you.  

I have been testing a product called ThreatFire and am happy to report that it is a GREAT enhancement to any AV.  It is behavior based and does not work of any signatures or definitions!  I highly recommend you use something like this with a PAID for AV with a neighbor you only somewhat trust.

Another thing to look at is what he might be using the internet for.  If your neighbor downloads child p**n, YOU could be the one liable for this action.  Especially to prove that it was him and not you!

Answer 6

exactly what reason do u need to have this done?Is it because hes too cheap to pay for his own internet?I dont recommend having this done since he can access your computers through the open unencryted network.It s easy for hackers to log on and hack your computer/network.It is not a safe idea at all.Your neighbor can get you in trouble if he misbehaves and steal information using your connection.I WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT TO DO IT

Answer 7

You can share the connection BUT do not enable File and Printer sharing. you want to only enable ICS (internet connection sharing)

If you are just sharing the wireless router, it'll be ok.

Answer 8

In the IT field I have heard some of the same problems,  you don't want to be a bad neighbor, but the issue is bandwith(something like a party line) not much you can do if he is downloading large files and that can be bad if you use a slow connection like a 1.5Mbps connection, another issue is if you have shared folders or files on your computer(I assume that he is not very technical or he wouldn't be using something as unreliable  as his neighbors connection) so this may not be an issue, I would also suggest that if you two were to go into a setup such as this, ask for a contract and he pays for the service that you are going to provide for him(that way if he doesn't pay you can change the passkey) If he does not think that this is fair, you can always ask him to provide service and that you would be happy to pay him half under the same type of contract(usually people balk at this point) I understand you would like to be a good neighbor but I would not allow my neighbor to use my car without some way of making them liable if there were an issue to arise.

I hope this helps Good luck.

Answer 9

I you are going to share the bill sure.There is nothing unsafe,sharing the internet does not mean you are sharing your computer too(unless you enable file sharing) he can download 100 viruses,it does not affect your computer.Only if he download all day from file sharing programs it will make things slow for you ,or else ,for regular surfing you will notice no difference.