Stupid tenants.

[ralerin]

Tenant next door to us has a problem with her internet. She calls my father and my father passes the phone to me because he doesn't know anything about the internet.

"I want your number for the internet."

"Why?"

"I need it. Here, talk to my cousin."

"Hi. Listen, she wants the router number for your internet so she can use it."

"Why?"

"Her internet doesn't work."

"So you want to steal our internet that we pay for each month."

"It isn't stealing, you can connect 8 computers each month."

"But you're using our internet."

"Yes."

"So you want to steal OUR internet that WE pay for each month."

"Her internet isn't working."

"So you want to steal OUR internet that WE pay for each month."

"It isn't stealing. Look, if you don't want to, it's fine."

"Yes, not going to happen."

*click*

*sigh*

[BowserKoopa1]

Ok people, this is what customer service is for. If you are having a problem with your internet, freakin call them! Don't ask your neighbors if you can steal theirs. Nobody is gonna give you their routing number. Dumbasses.

[fma_fanatic]

I recall one friend who got bitchy one time because her neighbor locked down their wireless router. I asked her, quite innocently, if she'd asked permission to use the wireless.

She went on a very scary rampage telling me I was just as bad as the neighbor, that if they'd left the router unlocked anyone could use it, etc. There is a reason she is no longer my friend, and trust me, that little tirade was just the icing on the cake.

We've locked down our internet and I even set it up to be hidden from being found. So unless you know the name of our gateway and the access code, you won't be able to get onto it.

[Pixilated]

Okay, now I'm gonna double-check that my internet is locked down, although I'm fairly sure it is ...

Somewhere in that conversation, ralerin, you should've said, "Sure! The monthly cost is $XX; come over with half that in cash and you're in!"

I think what's stunning about this is not so much that the person wanted to piggyback on your internet, but their obvious attitude that they had every right to do so.

[EvilEmpryss]

Ok people, this is what customer service is for. If you are having a problem with your internet, freakin call them! Don't ask your neighbors if you can steal theirs. Nobody is gonna give you their routing number. Dumbasses.

Customer service can't help people who don't pay their bills. I'm betting that's why they want someone else's internet rather than getting their own fixed. I mean really, who pays for internet and then just says "Huh, it's not working. Oh well, I 'll use someone else's while I pay my monthly bill."?

Oh, and remember the rules of password safety: upper case, lower case, number, special character, and don't use your name or phone number.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Oh, and remember the rules of password safety: upper case, lower case, number, special character, and don't use your name or phone number.

Actually it's been proven that those "tricky" passwords are the hardest to remember and the EASIEST for computers to crack - and that's what does the cracking, not a person rapidly typing at a tiny laptop, but a computer program running an algorithm.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

We've locked down our internet and I even set it up to be hidden from being found. So unless you know the name of our gateway and the access code, you won't be able to get onto it.

I just had to install a new modem this past Friday (old one was on its way out and several years old) and set it up so it wouldn't be discovered by other computers.

Even worse, is apparently not everybody in my hood is doing that with theirs. My laptop can pick up several networks - including one that bascally named "fuckedyourmom."

Isn't there some kind of rule with the ISP's when picking out names to use online that one can't use a name that may be considered obscene?

[BlaqueKatt]

Actually it's been proven that those "tricky" passwords are the hardest to remember and the EASIEST for computers to crack - and that's what does the cracking, not a person rapidly typing at a tiny laptop, but a computer program running an algorithm.

I use stuff like "purplegorillahorseshoe991204"*

Random phrase followed by a date no one would know(such as the date my cats are due for rabies vaccine) in yy/mm/dd format.

*this is not a real password

[Javarod]

I recall one friend who got bitchy one time because her neighbor locked down their wireless router. I asked her, quite innocently, if she'd asked permission to use the wireless.

She went on a very scary rampage telling me I was just as bad as the neighbor, that if they'd left the router unlocked anyone could use it, etc. There is a reason she is no longer my friend, and trust me, that little tirade was just the icing on the cake.

We've locked down our internet and I even set it up to be hidden from being found. So unless you know the name of our gateway and the access code, you won't be able to get onto it.

Actually the claim that if they don't lock it down isn't unreasonable, but leaving it unlocked doesn't give you a lifetime pass to use it. Mine's password protected, but findable, and i'm not sure what i'd do if someone cracked it, prolly change the password, but likely not for a week or three just to reward them for being clever.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Mine is locked WEP-encrypted and if you don't know the password (a random string of hex-code) you won't be getting in too easily. Everybody around here has their wifi locked down, due in part to the fact that one of the major ISPs in the area has a cap on their internet and their customers get pretty majorly dinged if they go over.

My old network was WEP encrytped but the new one came with a Network Security Key instead of a WEP.

Still, they'd have fun trying to crack that code . . . some of those combinations the ISP's come up with are extremely difficult to key in, much less memorize.

[Catwoman2965]

My old network was WEP encrytped but the new one came with a Network Security Key instead of a WEP.

Still, they'd have fun trying to crack that code . . . some of those combinations the ISP's come up with are extremely difficult to key in, much less memorize.

Mine too, and its some random combo of letters and numbers and other gibberish. Thank god once I enter it on my laptop, kindle etc. its there until i take it away. NO way i could ever remember it!

[Shalom]

Google "correct horse battery staple" for enlightenment regarding passwords.

Also, as soon as I read the OP, my immediate first thought was "Sure her internet isn't working. Why? Because their next-door neighbor on the other side just locked theirs."

My wifi runs in silent mode, not broadcasting the SSID. Also runs WPA2, so you need three things to get on: both the correct SSID and passphrase, plus the knowledge that there's a network there in the first place. Problem is that if you happen to need to reset the router (which occasionally freezes for no known reason other than that it's a Westell), it reverts to WEP until I remember and secure it again.

(Of course if I do find someone mooching on my WiFi, I can do several things, ranging from sniffing packets to see if anything "interesting" goes by, to playing with routing tables so that all requests for, say, CNN are redirected to drudgereport or something equally memorable, to throttling the traffic and gradually increasing the restriction to levels where even the lowest resolution at Youtube won't play right. Use your imagination. What Would The BOFH Do?)

[Pedersen]

Mine is locked WEP-encrypted and if you don't know the password (a random string of hex-code) you won't be getting in too easily.

Bad news: Back in 2007, WEP was considered broken and dead. Why? Because it can be cracked in under 60 seconds back then. Proof: http://www.techexams.net/forums/cwnp...crack-ptw.html

Who knows how useless it is now? Upgrade to WPA2 which is noticeably better. Please.

[mhkohne]

Bad news: Back in 2007, WEP was considered broken and dead. Why? Because it can be cracked in under 60 seconds back then. Proof: http://www.techexams.net/forums/cwnp...crack-ptw.html

Who knows how useless it is now? Upgrade to WPA2 which is noticeably better. Please.

WEP is fine if your attacker is the knucklehead next door who can only barely turn on his television.

Interestingly my telco-provided router refers to WEP as 'accidental connection prevention' rather than as a security measure. For me, that's good enough, YMMV.

Also, some older equipment (Nintendo DS lite, for instance) doesn't know about WPA networks at all, so if you want to use it's network features, you need to keep WEP turned on.

[mhkohne]

(Of course if I do find someone mooching on my WiFi, I can do several things, ranging from sniffing packets to see if anything "interesting" goes by, to playing with routing tables so that all requests for, say, CNN are redirected to drudgereport or something equally memorable, to throttling the traffic and gradually increasing the restriction to levels where even the lowest resolution at Youtube won't play right. Use your imagination. What Would The BOFH Do?)

The BOFH would redirect them to goatse (for those who do not know what goatse is, it's a particulalydisgusting image that is distinctly NSFW. Wikipedia has a description, I think, without the image, if you must know).