Comments for How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

Comment from Bob Warriner on 2010-02-01

2010-02-01T11:28:26Z

My neighbour has an open system, when I (out of interest of course)I had a look at her router settings, I found my computer name under LAN clients, does that mean she would be able to access my computer?
Bob.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from snail on 2009-08-10

2009-08-10T22:26:06Z

if you know how many computers will connect to your network, can you restrict this number? Would such a restriction only be applicable, though, assuming all of your computers(full capacity of allowed connections) were filled and active at all times the network is active?
Also, a question about networks. I am connecting to the Internet using a wireless router which is connected to a cable modem. I have disabled file-sharing on my computers. Is this strictly a Wireless Internet Access point then? How can I tell if the computers which use this wireless access to the Internet are exposed or able to be explored by any other computers using this connection?

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from John Davis on 2009-07-25

2009-07-25T07:48:58Z

I filled a form with my phone number and house address.when connecting wireless.now anyone can look up my e-mail address and get my name,phone number and physical address.Is there anyway for me to erase,hide or change the information ?

No idea. It depends on exactly what form and what service you're talking about.

- Leo
25-Jul-2009

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Comment from Ahamed Bauani on 2009-07-23

2009-07-23T16:53:54Z

You may be surprised to know that in my country many ISP (They call them ISP) provide IP address to customer directly from there switch/hub with more then /29 subnet! Also many customer in same subnet and there is no protection at all! yes this is true. If asker is in this scenario, I would suggest him/her to change that 'unsecured' ISP. I worked for my Government's Cyber Security Department for while and found it is very common practice among ISP's in my country.
Bauani's Tech Blog

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Robert on 2009-07-22

2009-07-23T04:34:33Z

All of the comments are great and true.
Another way to secure your wireless is to Disable your SSID broadcast.
....Robert

This, too, may help prevent the accidental connection, but it is not "secure", in the sense that someone looking to sniff or purposely connect to your network still can.

- Leo
23-Jul-2009

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Samuel Fadeyi on 2009-07-22

2009-07-22T16:10:47Z

You still did not answer the question-how he knew his neighbor was using his IP address. I am curious to know that.

The questioner didn't say. My guess would be the most common: his IP address showed up in the headers of an email sent by the neighbor, but that's just a wild guess.

- Leo
23-Jul-2009

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Comment from Tony Huby on 2009-07-22

2009-07-22T08:35:43Z

I agree with Gary, I found the easiest way was to specifiy the MAC addresses in the router set-up. Most modern (last 5 years) routers seem to support this.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Gary Law on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T21:25:01Z

Another good tip to stop a neighbor using your IP address, is to set up an access list on your router, that is of course assuming that your router supports this.
An access list will allow you to limit the devices that can access your network by specifying their MAC addresses.

It's fine to prevent accidental connections, but MAC address filtering is not secure. The MAC address can be spoofed, and it's sent in the clear even on an encrypted conneciton.

- Leo
22-Jul-2009

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Tom Clark on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T19:45:52Z

If the neighbor is in fact sharing a wireless connection, and that connection is like my Linksys Wireless Router, the local router will get an IP address from the ISP and then assign a DHCP address to each unit on the local network. Commonly this is in the default range of 192.168.1.xxx. The 192.168.1.xxx range of IP addresses is "not routable" and will not be passed across the router to the outside world.

To the outside world (on the other side of the router from the local network) there is a single IP address assigned by the ISP to the router port directly connected to it. The router determines which local IP address is involved in the transaction and passes the traffic through to the appropriate hidden and non-routable local address. That is part of what routers do.

So from the outside world perspective, every unit served by the local router appears to be the same IP address that was provided by the ISP.

The result of all this is that anyone who sends an e-mail from the local network will appear to have sent from the same ISP assigned IP address that is assigned to the port on "world" side of the router and to be using the ISP assigned address. The 192.168.1.xxx IP addresses are not disclosed across the router to the outside world.

This is a probable answer as to why the addresses are the same.

The other comments about the neighbor's use of the same wireless network by design or ignorance are germane. Appropriate wireless connection security is the answer.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Robert Pereda on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T15:47:55Z

Another Point to Remember - Make sure you keep your Network Security password ID written down in a safe place in the even you forget it. Also, when setting up your encryption - make sure you do your homework first- as some older wireless cards may not be compitable with some of the newer encryption. If you like online games - check this out: [link removed]

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from Ken B on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T22:27:35Z

It still amazes me (though to a lesser degree) how many people simply plug in a wireless router and go. At the moment, my laptop sees three SSIDs of "linksys", all unsecured. Out of curiosity, I have on occasion, connected to one of them, brought 192.168.1.1 up in my browser, and logged into the administrator control panel using the out-of-the-box login and password. Good thing my morals prevent me from doing anything malicious.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Mark Jacobs on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T17:14:07Z

It's not so good that in the US, routers are often configured with unsecured wireless access and it's up to the user to create an access key. My Fritzbox router in Germany is preconfigured with a unique key printed on the router. The number can be read by anyone who has access to the router, but until I know someone has compromised this key (detached the router and copied the number) I'll stick with it as my kids are often changing computers and in spite of the small risk, the convenience is worth it at the moment.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from PaulM on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T15:36:37Z

Weeble - it's been done: http://ask-leo.com/whats_my_ip_address.html

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Weeble on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T12:27:57Z

Awwwww, how did you know I was going to suggest putting a hatchet in the neighbor's computer? :-D

A question that came to me in the first place was "how did the guy know his neighbor had used his IP address?" It's not exactly displayed by default in any email program (local or webmail) I've heard of. And since I have DHCP, I generally don't know what my IP address is at any given time; I usually go to http://www.whatismyipaddress.com if I even need to know. (Hey, Leo! Another tip! "How to find out what your IP address is!")

If only I had an article on that already. Oh wait! I do! What's my IP address? (That search function is a wonderful thing.)

- Leo
20-Jul-2009

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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Comment from AguilaFan on 2009-07-19

2009-07-19T19:02:35Z

"...important to note that your neighbor could be completely unaware...".
Excellent point, Leo. You truly stand out in the advice sector. That little comment probably has 50% of your readers relaxing. Put down the AK47s and tomahawks, folks, most things done by newbies are unintentional.
Amazing how many folks immediately think the worse. I run into this most of the time. It is never their "fault" for not following protocol or just simple tried and proven good computing steps.

Goos advice, Leo. Kudos.

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A comment on: How do I stop my neighbor from using my IP address?

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