Yeah, I’ve read some threads like that too. This is understandable, since there’s a lot at stake when a stranger gets your online private information. But since this is your neighbor, I suggest calling the police should be your last resort. Reset your router or change password (I guess everything was provided for you in the discussion above)
@Reddecember If your neighbor is as creepy as you make him sound, you have more trouble than him just hacking your network, if I were in your shoes I would just move. I know that is easier said than done. I once had to move back to my parents home because of trouble with a neighbor of mine. The only other suggestion I could make that hasn’t already been suggested is to subnet your network (create two different networks one for Ethernet and one for wireless devices) but it isn’t thing you can do your self, and it might not be possible with your current router because it might not have the options, and your landlord probably doesn’t want you to install any Ethernet cabling, which is what has to be done if you where to get any benefit from it. If you are still interested, I would be willing to help you out.
check with the manufacturer of the router many of them offer the directions to disable the wireless function of the router.
wifi is convenient but because of multiple client capabilities its very vulnerable to intrusion.
ethernet can be hacked but its much harder to avoid detection as data collisions are quite noticeable.
also using program such as etherape, ethereal, and wireshark can readily monitor network traffic and allow you to print out reports. (this is evidence of tampering or hacking).
also ethernet cabling does not need to be stapled to the walls or trim.
the command strips works great without damaging the surfaces.
it doesnt take much to hold an ethernet cacle
www.grainger.com/product/5MVK0?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3P2Ehb7U3wIVAVuGCh3hhQRAEAQYBSABEgKlefD_BwE&cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI3P2Ehb7U3wIVAVuGCh3hhQRAEAQYBSABEgKlefD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!264955915895!!!g!439505055028!
Don’t be alarmist, wifi is fine, just update the firmware, use WPA2, and disable the stuff we all posted earlier in the thread.
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Lots of good stuff has already been said, but I will add that your circumstance and device symptoms makes hacking seem unlikely to be the problem. Sounds like your device has messed up firmware or is on its way out.
Https for local access is available on newer routers (especially enterprise ones). Asus, Netgear, Cisco, Linksys, etc, all have information on how to set it up. It’s a good idea to enable https, because getting into a network could be easy (using reaver for WPS attacks, or aircrack for WEP/WPA), but once on your network, if you send your admin pass over http, you’ve made their life that much easier. If they can’t get on your network, then it doesn’t really matter because normal http traffic would be encrypted anyways.
If you want to go the paranoid route and assume your router was hacked, then you should buy a new router. Get one that supports WPA3 (when they become available), or get an enterprise one which will have better support and more settings to let you turn features on/off.
Otherwise, I’d go to a friend’s place or a Starbucks and download the firmware from linksys’s website, verify that the hash for the firmware with another device, and flash the router with it. Unless the guy physically tampered with your router, this will undo anything they did. The most recent exploits for your device, that I could find in my quick search, seem to have been patched with Linksys’s most recent firmware for your device (which was back in 2017).
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wow I didn’t know that thanks.
Yeah I’m probably going to go and buy another router next week when I get paid lol. When you say
are you talking about logging into the router via the I.P. address, because whenever I go to change admin settings, the connnection is never encrypted. Even If I manually type https:// into the address. I just got the router last year and it doesn’t have a secure connection when connecting to it.> Blockquote
Maybe it has faulty hardware.
Yeah that’s what I thought I should do. I going to try to get another part time job so I can afford to do so. The thing that bugs me, if he is doing something illegal, then the last thing I want to do is let him get away with it.
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If you’re going to buy another router anyway, it might be worth it for you to go to a used computer store, get a cheap PC with at least 2 Ethernet ports, load up pfSense onto it, and then use your old router as an Access Point instead. Would factory reset the router, change username and password, then set it to AP mode
Unsure if this is an option for you though
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i dont know if this has been suggested as I havent seen it but what I did was to use just a modem and pass the internet through to a computer running pfsense and then pass THAT through one of the 5 ports that I have to a wireless router. actually, the modem is also a wireless router but i turned off the wifi, firewall, and basically all other functions so that it takes my VDSL or ADSL2 or whatever it is (i forget) and passes it though to DMZ to the pfsense box giving that all of the control…and then the SECOND router is just bridged with everything off (firewall, dhcp, etc.) and that acts as just a hotspot now…i can connect to the router with wired OR to the hotspot with hired now and in either case get the pfsense advantages…but i had a spare computer - anyways if youre familiar with it and have the hardware and dont mind the extra few cents on your electrical bill i would suggest it as it really is great…good firewall, ads blocked, monitors traffic and can do so much more but i only have SOME features enabled and used tbh
It’s important to keep peoples’ skill levels in mind when making recommendations. From his post this guy is obviously not a sophisticated user, and recommending he build his own pfsense router is crazysauce. He should do what we all recommended earlier, upgrade his router firmware and reset to defaults, and it’ll be fine.
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While I agree to some degree here, I wouldn’t fault anyone for encouraging another user to broaden their horizons. It’s a valid response to advocate that the OP learn a little bit more about computers and networking and possibly gain a skill level that would put his mind at ease. Additionally, he does qualify his suggestion by saying that he doesn’t know if that’s an option for him.
Be careful recommending that, whereas, not any old PC is going to be able to run pfsense now that it will require a processor with built-in AES-NI Instruction sets once 2.5 rolls out.
And it’s worth noting that not all general routers are not bad, as long as you tighten the security up. Know and implement the basics of that and there won’t be any problem. Oh sure that feature-wise some routers may not meet your requirement or just for your sake; satisfaction, but most high-end routers has that feature that may cater for your needs, plus the ability to install aftermarket firmware if you want to dig deeper into its usefulness.
The only time you could recommend pfsense, IPFIre, opnsense, or whatever is when people have the mindset of someone who knows networking. Plus, the hardware to run could be a little more when considering the cost + the technology requirements the user wants.
Forgot about the AES-NI update coming up, thanks for catching that!
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At the moment I don’t have an old PC in working condition, (motherboard’s fried and I think the power supply is going out.) but Ive always was curious about using one for a router.
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That is true I’m a newbie, but trying to learn new things luckily, I have this forum to look for help and support.
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Any good books on networking that you guys could recommend?
@Reddecember Anything that’s was written by Mike Meyers. I have one of his beginner courses on networking. I find his explanations are both fun and easy to understand. He has the ability to take a very dry and boring subject matter and not only keep you from falling asleep but makes you want to learn more.
There are some Youtubers that I have found helpful. I have included two I found helpful. I have found some of the videos put out by Danscourses are pretty good. The only one I found hard to understand was his series on subnetting but to be fair the subject matter is very hard to fully grasp at first. At least it was for me. I have included one of his videos on IP6 below.
Another Youtube the has a Networking series is Sunny Classroom. It was his video on Subnetting that filled in the gaps that I had with the one Danscourse did. I have included a Link below.
If you have any more questions on networks please fill free to ask, If I can’t answer it there is always someone else that can.
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Thank you I appreciate this!
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