Is it appropriate of my landlord to ask me my IP address to connect to his wireless router??

Question

My landlord updated his virus software which then wasn't allowing my laptop to connect to his internet connection. So he asked me for my IP address and said he needed it to allow my laptop to re-connect to his wireless router.

And does this mean he can see what sites I visit, my email accounts, bank info etc???

Answer 1

No, I might not be a techie but it's ok plus you are getting free internet connections ;)

Answer 2

Certainly likely he needs the MAC address if he's restricting access to the router, and the IP is likely to be provided by his router (so an odd question to ask, unless he's not so hot on what he needs to know to restrict access - he's protecting against some neighbour using the connection, I guess).

I'm unsure about it being his virus software (why would his s/w need your IP address or MAC, unless he's using some sort of linux/Windows PC as a front end to his internet connection... sounds a bit odd and to be avoided, if so!)

As for what he can/cannot see, there is software available which can collect all packets transmitted over a LAN, so he could potentially see anything unencrypted. Services exist which would allow you to connect to websites etc with anonymity, but I'd just make sure that anything you use like online banking shows the 'padlock' to indicate it is a secure (https) web page before you enter information.


Does your landlord charge a fee for access? If you're really unhappy, getting your own line might be an option (and use an ethernet cable, not wireless) - he's not going to get anything off your internet link if you follow that route, but it is costly for line rental (unless you already have a landline/ cable phone service) and fees for the ISP on top.

If you're in the UK you may have various other options (eg if you already are subscribing to Sky) that include internet on top of phone line rental.

Answer 3

Are you sure the guy is asking for the IP address and not the MAC address? The MAC address is unique to your network card and often wireless routers will have an option to only allow specified MAC addresses to connect. While not a perfect solution (people can still spoof MAC addresses but not necessarily easily), it does offer security against the typical user.

The landlord asking for this information shouldn't be seen as a problem really. You are connecting to his/her wireless router and ultimately he/she is responsible for any activities done on that connection. By limiting who can connect, they can reduce the likelihood that someone will connect without permission and use it for illegal activies (like unauthorized file sharing/piracy).

*** Edit ***
Can he see the websites you visit - He can see that you visited a site, not necessarily the content of the site. He'll basically know that you visited and that is about it.
Can he read your email, view your bank accounts, etc...? Only if your visiting insecure sites that don't show up as https. Of course anything that is networked over lines that are not completely in your control have a potential for compromise. If you are really concerned about your network traffic though, avoid using wireless all together.

Answer 4

Just configure the router as a DHCP client. It shouldn't need a special setup. The model will see the router as a client. The router then supplies the other computers with an IP address using a DHCP server. When I was using AT&T DSL I had to go into my router and set it up is a DHCP client and enter my AT&T username and password and specify "Obtain IP address automatically" and then it just works.

Answer 5

Is it appropriate? Yes.
1. It's his wireless. Absent some contract, he can ask what he likes.
2. It matters little anyway. If you connect to his router, knowing your IP address is simple. It would only take a matter of seconds. So you're not telling him anything he couldn't easily find out.
3. I suspect he needed your MAC address, not IP address. Many security/firewall programs filter by MAC address. They can be "spoofed", but it's actually pretty hard to do from the outside.
4. Some security/firewall programs do filter by IP address; which is pretty useless, since spoofing an IP address is kid's play.
5. Every corporate client I know has a public IP address. Anyone can obtain their IP information easily. Having someone's IP address doesn't make them more vulnerable. If it did, every company in the US would be hozed every day. The vulnerability comes from not having proper security for your systems; not having the IP number available.

Answer 6

It is appropiate for him to ask, otherwise how will you connect if he doesn't specify it in his router settings. By asking you he is probably just specifying to his router what IP's to accept. This way he can setup a certain amount of DHCP users. He can still see your MAC address either way so if he is doing a combination of mac address filtering and Static ip configuration then he is keeping alot of unwanted people out. All you have to do is not share anything over the network, you'll be alright and keep a firewall running monitoring any unusual port requests from computers on the network.

Answer 7

He needs your IP address to allow you to connect to his router. Just make sure your firewall is turned on and you will be fine if you are worrying about him accessing your computer. Honestly he can get your IP from looking at the router logs but it is NO big deal for hime to ask because his router is the one assigning you the ip address. It should be 192.168.x.x depending on the router.

Answer 8

No, because his router would be giving you the IP Address. IP Address is just your ID on the internet.

IP addresses are nothing. They aren't secure and are open knowledge. You can't hack someone by having their IP address and there really isn't anything you can do with an IP address.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Address

Answer 9

You IP address will be assigned by the router (if the router is set up to DHCP). Its only an internal address anyway (192.168.something). Maybe he is setting it up to only allow static IP's to stop others from using the network.

I would say its not a problem. Your not giving away any personal information.

Answer 10

no its not appropriate to tell ip address. beacuse through ip addresses computers are hacked. if you tell your ip address then it will be easy for him/her to hack and destroy you computer if he/she knows hacking. so dont tell you ip address.