Hasn't your brother got a lock on his wireless account, if not, why not?

Maybe the admins will move this to its own thread who knows.

This issue really should be on it own thread as it refers to not only a different topic of bandwidth sharing, theft and security but also has to do with another person having the issue all together.

First of all I would like to point out a couple things here. THERE IS NO SECURITY ON THE INTERNET.

When that happens again you might want to log into his router and find out who and what computers are actually using his connection. You may find out that there are no unauthorized users on your network at all. If that is the case then you should contact your ISP about getting more bandwidth if need be as it is not a security issue at all.

It is possible that the combination of computers (network nodes) is using too much bandwidth. Keep in mind it does not have to be a conventional computer to use bandwidth on your internet connection. It could be things like a gaming system such as a PS2/3 or xbox or even internet telephone services such as Vonage. It can be effected by anything you have connected to your internet connection or network.

I do not care what level of encryption a person uses to secure their wifi connection. If a person wants into the network it is as simple as having a few computers using a brute force attack on his network and they will be on most wifi networks in less then 10 minutes. Now having an authenticated network user on the network when the attack is happening will reduce that time dramatically.

The sad part about it is if you either do a google search for wep hacking or cracking you will find step by step instructions on how to do it and even youtube videos showing it being done as well.

There are very few legal uses for this type of information however if you were to go to your brother and ask his permission to try to access his network just to show him how easy you can. That would probably open his eyes to how insecure his connection and information really is on his computer and network.

It is a strong argument to run hard wire networks.

One of the best ways I have seen to secure a wifi network is by only allowing pre-specified MAC addresses access to the IP addresses on the network. and closing off all unused ports as well.

Now also keep in mind that many ISPs will throttle down bandwidth not only in peak hours but also if a single account is using more then average amount of bandwidth. The use of more then average bandwidth can be caused by many things other then multiple computers it can also be caused by downloading with torrents or large video or music files or playing online games. Basically any bandwidth intensive use on your connection is monitored by your ISP.

Get a secure wireless with encryption
Amen

yep, metal door is possible, microwaves and cell phones also use the same frequencies as wireless - elevators, anything between that wireless router and your pc, like tons of metal framed windows &c &c. most modern routers have the ability to direct the signal as well, for a list of routers and how to interface with them, a nice site to be aware of is portforwarding.com


for great and wonderful perfect passwords, I would refer anyone to https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

do not use wep, it can be cracked in less than one minute ! ! !

name the router something ominous, like, black hole, or, hacker trap, or dept homeland security, &c &c

My thanks to all you guys for your advice. I have decided to go hard wire broadband ( fiber optic) could not resist the £30 installation fee and £15 per month for TV,Broadband AND telephone service.

Late, but I had to throw this in:

A quick and cheap solution to a blocked wifi signal is to get a cheapie USB wifi 'dongle', and a six or twelve foot USB extension cable.

Instead of getting a movable, and usually expensive, external antenna, for around half the cost, you can move the whole blinking radio, including the antenna, around beams, up the wall, into a window, etc.

Check your local dollar stores for USB cables as well as 1/4" jack to phono plug cables (i.e., the cable to hook your computer up to your stereo, or vice versa)

The last three times I needed to work around wifi blockages, it cost under $20USD. A buck at a dollar store for the extension and $14.99 for a USB wifi dongle (on sale, but they are always on sale somewhere)

Maybe this will help someone else, and maybe you'll find it a good cheap backup to a hardwired connection. :)

Good Luck!

I have said cable (quite a long one) and a Netgear dongle, I am going to try this. I still have 14 days in which to cancel the hard wire installation.Thanks for your suggestion, thanks to all who responded.