Any networking experts out there?

1. 84

   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   I need someone who maybe knows a bit about networking to advise me.
   
   I only have mobile wifi to access the net with as there are no fixed phone lines, and my bandwidth is limited.
   
   I am allowed to use 5 Gbs a month. If I use more than that, my connection speed gets slashed. It's suppose to only go down to ISDN speed, but as we don't get 3G here in the sticks, in reality it goes down to dial-up or less speed.
   
   So I am pretty careful what I use and don't download stuff etc
   
   I also run a handy little app called netmeter which monitors my traffic so I know exactly how much I have used.
   
   But I fear someone else is stealing my bandwidth. I'm seeing a lot of activity on netmeter, even when I am not doing anything, some days it is using up over 1Gb in traffic.
   
   Last Sunday, nearly 5Gb was used in the one day! It isn't me. I know there is is software out on the net for people to use to steal someone else's internet, and I suspect one of my neighbours is doing this.
   
   Can I find out who? Is there any software for me to install to stop this?
   
   It is killing me because my internet is crawling and I am trying to work. It is another week before my new month starts and I'll get a decent speed again. This month a massive 22Gbs has been used already.

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2. 61

   daisydesposted 13 years ago

   When I access the net from my phone, like if I am at my parents house they don't have internet. It gives me an option under settings to set a password. That way when someone tries to access it they can't due to the password setting. Do you have that option?

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3. 81

   WriteAngledposted 13 years ago

   I'm not sure how someone can steal mobile bandwidth, because you are going directly into the phone network, not going through a router. 
   
   Have you changed computer or changed anything on your computer?
   
   When I bought my current computer, my bandwidth usage suddenly shot up massively from what it had been. I had not changed anything about the way I used the computer consciously, but I suspect there are things set up under the surface that cause the computer to keep logging on to the Net for various reasons.
   
   I was on a bandwidth-capped plan at the time and kept exceeding it. Although my provider had been superb up till that point, they more or less refused to help me and said it was purely my problem. I ended up having to ditch them and get Sky TV and phone because this let me also have unlimited bandwidth for about the same price for all three as I had been paying my former ISP. I don't use that phone line as I already have another one, and I don't watch TV, but it was the only solution open to me

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4. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   You should also check for any automatic processes on your phone like software updates that run at night.

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5. 66

   2uesdayposted 13 years ago

   Hi Izzy when I click the icon for my internet connection I can see five other icons that are my neighbours, some say secure, others say unsecured. I think as daisydes has said it is made secure via having a password when you set it up. I think that you can alsocheck it it via either 'my computer' or the one that is the 'control panel' on the desktop.
   
   Not sure this info. is the same for you as here. I hope you can get it sorted soon.

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6. 84

   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   When I say mobile access, this is not a mobile phone access. I use the mobile network with a wifi handset.
   
   Not my preferred choice but there are no landlines here - so its that or nothing.
   
   I can access my own access using the IP address 192.196.100.1
   
   Unfortunately, I would need a degree in networking to make any useful changes. There isn't a simple password change option.
   
   This is what I hate about mobile phone companies. I can phone the help desk for free if I had a phone contract with the same company, which I don't. I use a different company so I have to pay for the privilege of having no-one  understand a word I say.
   
   Did I mention I was Scottish? I speak Spanish with a Scottish accent which seems to confuse everyone.
   
   So, I need to learn networking double quick, because this isn't fun. I'm paying for an access someone else is using and suffering reduced speeds when the bandwidth limit is reached.
   
   I WORK online. I need a decent access.

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   1. 78

      Greekgeekposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I know tech support often stinks, but try calling up your company and explaining the problem. There must be SOME way to trace what's using all that bandwidth. And they may know ways to set up passwords and protect you against people hooking to your network.
      
      A few years back I was in a hotel, and noticed my computer was running much faster than usual. I checked to see that I was hooked into the hotel network, and I was not— my computer had automatically hooked onto the fastest open network around me, and it was somebody's computer!
      
      Being chaotic good, I rooted around in his computer until I found his name and email, then contacted him to warn him his fly was unzipped and he desperately needed to set up some kind of password protection on the networking part of his computer. Alas, that stuff varies so much from computer to computer — I  know how to lock a Mac and its wireless router up tight, but not anything else — that I can't advise.

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      1. 84

         IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That was good of you!!
         
         Someone using your bandwidth doesn't actually matter for most folk. I am tempted to go online and download the software that cracks other people's access myself, simply because I know other people around me who barely use theirs.
         
         But I shouldn't have to, not when I am paying for my own, and it's not cheap.
         
         From what I have read up on, Windows does not give you the tools to check out who is using your wifi.
         
         Which of course explains why I haven't found them yet.
         
         Phoning Orange will be a last resort for me, I am a bit phone-phobic.
         
         I downloaded CommView for Wifi and InSSIDer 2.00 to tell me what I want to know, only to learn that a degree in Networking was a pre-requirement.
         
         Is there no software that is intuitive?

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