I'm up at a minesite and in my hotel room some guy has a wireless router upstairs. It's unsecured/open, but it said "PleasePay$BeforeConnectionRm208". I tried connecting before paying but it wouldn't let me. So I go up to room 208 and this guy is like "yeah it's $10 a week" and then he tells me he needs my IP's from start > run > ipconfig/all. He said he needed my wireless IP too.
So I give hiim $20 and give him my IP's and he is like "ok it should be working in 60 seconds". And it does. I'm assuming it's just a program he is using to control flow of traffic to his network. I wondered why he didn't use a secure network and just give out the password, but then I realized that people would just give out the password and stuff and share it. So he is doing it this way.
It just seems fishy though. I've got Zone Alarm on my computer and I use all secure transactions for pertinant information. It just freaks me out maybe he is reading my emails I type or my MSN messages. Could that be??
2006-12-01 02:48:00 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Computer Networking
If your using someone elses network they can indeed use a packet sniffer to see what you are doing. I certainly wouldnt be accessing my bank account online while using an unsecured network. Definetly run a firewall on your end, whether it be zonealarm or Windows Firewall if your using XP. At least it keeps him from getting into your pc and only looking at your outgoing communication. Also I would make sure that any user accounts on your PC are protected with a strong password. So as to keep him from using the UNC path to access your hard drive. Also, I think I would disable File and Print Sharing while using a public network.
2006-12-01 02:57:10 · answer #1 · answered by bscottyd 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hahaha,
Sound like he has his own communication company. What he is doing is filtering IPs. He asked for your IP so he can tell the router to allow your IP access. I do the same thing, but I use the accessing computers MAC address instead because that is identified automatically by the router.
The reason he doesn't secure (encrypt) his network is because people would share the password and word would spread. Which gives him almost complete control of who can access.
Three things make sure file sharing is not enabled to valuable files on your computer and keep a close eye on zone alarm. Who knows who else is on the network. Don't send valuable unsecure e-mails or website forms!!! He could read that stuff!!!
2006-12-01 10:59:24 · answer #2 · answered by JTTech 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
From experience, I maintain a wireless network and share it with several people. I authenticate them and use WPA to secure the connection, but if encryption isn't use then ANYONE within range of the wireless network and a packet sniffer can see your data, not just guy running the set up. Now, it's not something the casual computer user can set up, but it is most definitely possible. If you are concerned about him reading your emails and IMs, use a public VPN service such as PublicVPN (http://www.publicvpn.com) or tunnel to your company's VPN if they have one. At least you know it's secure up to a certain point and ideally with people you trust. A firewall and SSL only protect certain traffic and it's good. But unless you encrypt your emails and MSN messages, anyone can see what you're doing/saying. I'd suggest a VPN if you really are concerned. Else, just be VERY careful about what you say over email and IM.
2006-12-01 17:22:04 · answer #3 · answered by William G. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No set up here. This guy's a genius though. The hotel probably has a LAN connection that this guy gets his business to pay the acess for, and he hooked a router to it and is getting paid.
I wouldn't worry too much. Keep your firewall working and don't share any files or folders that aren't password protected.
2006-12-01 10:53:02 · answer #4 · answered by Turd Ferguson 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If all he's using is a router to control the traffic, it's not likely that he's reading your emails. If, however, he has a server that is attached to the wireless router and is controlling all of the traffic coming and going, he most certainly can read anything you send through his system.
2006-12-01 10:53:00 · answer #5 · answered by Chris S 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
nah dont worry..ringgit = rm are you in malaysia? if u r..use the hotel LAN safer
2006-12-01 10:57:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋