Sharing your Wi-Fi connection with family and friends is normal and nice. But with strangers and without your permission, it’s dangerous! Here’s how to detect and block intruders.
Like many people today, you probably have Wi-Fi at home. A connection linked to your Internet box, which you obviously share with the other occupants of your home, your family and your friends, for Internet access. However, as radio waves circulate freely in the air, passing through walls, partitions and windows, it is entirely possible that someone outside your home also uses your Wi-Fi network without your authorisation. And so without you knowing it. Which can pose several problems.
First, your connection may be slowed down by this intruder, which can penalize you when you need speed to watch streaming, for example. Then, because it connects to your home network, this squatter can access any devices connected to it, including things like surveillance cameras. Finally, and above all, as it de facto uses your IP address – the unique identifier of your Internet connection – it is you who will have problems with the law if it engages in illegal activities such as pirate downloading, cyberbullying or worse.
To avoid this type of inconvenience, it is in your best interest to check the devices that are connected to your Wi-Fi network. An operation that is carried out by accessing the management interface of your Internet box, either with your Web browser, or with your operator’s dedicated mobile application. Once connected with your credentials, you must check in the appropriate section the list of devices that are or have been connected to your Wi-Fi.
Take a good look at the list of devices that use your network. They are often mentioned with their name in plain text, sometimes with a more technical reference called MAC address. If you find an unknown device there, someone is hacking your network. The simplest solution to exclude it is simply to change your Wi-Fi password for your box in the appropriate section. A measure which will obviously force you to also change it on all your devices. But it is still the most effective technique to put an end to piracy!