Is Your Neighbour Stealing Your Wi-Fi Connection?

Published - 09 January 2018, Tuesday

Geek Team say having a Wi-Fi network brings with it the convenience of being able to access the internet from a place of convenience.

However, there is a downside for this type of connection. Unlike an Ethernet cable connection, your neighbour can steal your Wi-Fi connection thereby slowing down your internet speeds considerably.

This is not to say that you should not use a Wi-Fi connection. Rather, you will do well to check and see if your neighbour is sucking up your bandwidth leaving you with slow speeds. How then can you tell if your internet is being stolen and how can you deal with the situation? First, you need to inspect your network by following these easy steps:

Log in on the router and look out for the number of devices that are connected to your network. You can find the log in instructions for the router in the user manual or use Wireless Network Watcher, a program that lets you see the list of devices that are connected to your network.

Go through the list to identify the devices that belong to you. In the event that you cannot identify some of the devices, then you know that someone is stealing your internet. Unfortunately, you may not be able to tell the neighbour who is connected.

How to Secure Your Wi-Fi Connection from Theft

How then do you secure your network and move on? It is extremely important that you understand how to keep your Wi-Fi secure. Some of the ways include:

Encryption – When you turn on encryption for your router, your network should be safe from intruders as no one can access it without a password. A longer password is recommended as your network will be safer.

Change the password – If you have already encrypted your network, but it is accessible by intruders, then it is advised that you change the password immediately. Even then, you will need to keep an eye on your router by regularly monitoring the number of devices that are connected especially when the connection is acting up.

Whether you encrypt the network or simply change the encryption password, be sure to update it on all your gadgets. If you follow the steps discussed above, but still see no change, then consider troubleshooting or talking to your internet service provider. Ultimately, it is important to ensure that your Wi-Fi network is encrypted at all times to prevent possible theft from your neighbour or criminals that eventually slows down your connection speeds.