other people using my internet connection?

Question

I'm no expert, so bare with me please. (try not to confuse you, or myself)
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Info:
i have a desk top PC on broadband
(not wireless or anything)
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1. can other people on my street/area, use my internet connection if they are wireless? (or would i have to have wirless too)
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2. If they can, how do i stop the thieving little b*****d's?
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Reason:
I have always had pop ups telling me, the security had blocked something accessing something or other and all was fine.
Now i have ZoneAlarm on here, which i have choosen to see the info of what it is blocking.
Most of them are fine (just asking if i want to allow M/F or IE access the Internet) when i load up.
But
there is one in particular, that only happens at evening/night (about 20x) which roughly says:
'ZoneAlarm has blocked blah blah accessing the Internet'
and it gives this number 192.168.1.1

3. can someone please tell me what that is, if it is not someone else trying to use my connection.
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Sorry for going on
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

No one can access your computer if it is not networked wirelessly. If you do set up a wireless network, be sure to secure it with a WPA security key. If you have nothing else but your own PC connected then I would suggest the 192.168.1.1 is YOUR IP address.
Nothing to worry about from what you have reported!

Answer 2

If you are using a router it is possible if it is a wireless router but unlikely as you would have to set up a wireless internet connection or a wireless area connection which would require a passcode or a WEP key to prevent others from using it so I'm guessing you are pretty safe.

Just as a precausion use the manual supplied with your router (if you have one to disable the wireless feature and that way the only people who can use your broadband are those that are connected to your pc using a ethernet or USB connection lead.

If you don't have a router you are 100% safe as you need a router for your braodband service to act wireless at all.

Hope I Helped :)

Answer 3

As the others have said, no one can access your computer on your street because you do not have a wireless connection.

The messages you keep getting from Zone Alarm are others trying to access your computer via your connection. Basically there are a bunch of people out there that will try use your computer to share files, music etc. Others try to get at your computer to see if they can find anything, passwords etc. Don't get paranoid, they have not singled you out, they have create programs that automatically searches the whole Internet to find open connections.

Wise move installing Zone Alarm, it will stop these.

You can turn the Zone Alarm messages they can become a pain after a while.

The 192.168.1.1 is your computers IP address, nothing to worry about.

Answer 4

If you have a wireless router and you haven't protected it from unauthorised use, the answer is, 'Yes', even though you yourself are not on wireless. That's because your router will present an open door through wireless even if you don't use it. If you do have a wireless router, configure it so that it has a different password from the default. Set up WPA or WEP security, disable broadcasting the identity of the network, asap.

Answer 5

The ip address you quoted is your own router address and if you enter this number into your browser search pane it will open your routers configuration page so that you may 'talk' with it, i.e. set security levels/set password/enable or disable wireless set up etc. quite safe.

No one is sharing your broadband illegally though there may well be others on your LAN but this will not use up your usage amount.
If you were wireless there are unscrupulous individuals who may well use your bandwidth if your security is not up to scratch to deter these people.

I myself, due to security issues switched back to an Ethernet connection 6 months ago and have not had a single hitch or attack.

Answer 6

It probably wont be people trying access your internet connection to use it, people can do that if you had a wireless network and were in range, Im sure it will be people or computers trying to access your pc through your connection, i wouldnt worry about it esecially when zone alarm is blocking access, zone alarm blocks loads of things and you get a lot of pop up windows genraly i just switch off the pop ups and it does everything in the background Cheers

Answer 7

If you have a router, the router will require a network ID key code, only peoplewho know this key can connect to your network and only if the router is wireless enabled

Answer 8

Other people with wireless devices can not use your wired connections. You have to be wireless for that. But someone might try to come to your system from different/same network.

Answer 9

Are you on a router? If you are the 192.168.1.1 is your router's IP address you can log into your router by typing the same IP address into your browser. From there you can enter your username and password which should be located on the router itself. And you can configure putting a WEP on it, and it will stop others from accessing your internet

Answer 10

I agree with Rolsy because you have'nt set up a wireless network and as for Zone Alarm i got tired of all the warnings and uninstalled it.