Iamignorant
@port-orange.org
| Securing wireless modem/router
Had an ATT tech replace ATT modem and my router with a new 2WIRE Gateway 2701 HG-B modem/router. Wireless capability for my son's Mac laptop-hard wired to my desktop. While checking my Google account web history, I find some weird sites being visited during the time that I am logged into my Google acct.-I KNOW that I have not been to them and my son says he hasn't and I believe him(women's fashion, sexy b'day cards,etc)Will ALL traffic thru my router show up while I am logged in-or just the sites that I visit?-when I am not logged in? Could this be that my router is not secure and freeloader traffic is being logged into my Goggle web history? The ATT tech left no paperwork for the new hardware, so I have no idea how to check and/or set up. Please help or my wife is gonna kill me or divorce me-probably in that order-Thanks! |
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nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T Midwest
| It is my impression that 2Wire modems default to having their WiFi secured with WEP. Since WEP is not very secure, it would be a good idea to switch to WPA, which your 2Wire should support. The WEP will probably keep your neighbors out, but it won't stop a committed hacker from using your WiFi network.
I'm not really clear on what you are reporting. You say "I find some weird sites being visited during the time that I am logged into my Google acct." How do you find this? Does it show in the 2Wire logs? Could it be just that a site you visited has some advertisements for other sites? It is far from clear what you are seeing.
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AT&T dsl; Speedstream 5100b modem; Zyxel NBG334W router; openSuSE 11.0; firefox 3.0.14 |
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Iamignorant
@port-orange.org
| When I check my web history logs in my Google account(when I sign in from my Google tool bar)-that is where the 'weird sites show up. Also, could you please direct me to a site that will instruct me on how to set up the WPA? Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. |
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nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Midwest
| When I check my web history logs in my Google account(when I sign in from my Google tool bar)-that is where the 'weird sites show up. Personally, I never sign into google except when using google checkout, and I'm not even sure if that's the same sort of google account. So I am not familiar with the logs you are seeing. Oh, I don't have google toolbar either.
It seems likely to me that those logs are either logs stored at google on what is done through google, or they are logs stored on your own computer on what is done from that computer. Somebody accessing your 2Wire router could not leave either kind of log.
If the logs are stored at google, then perhaps you used a public access computer somewhere, and left yourself logged into google on that computer, so it is accumulating logs from whoever used it.
If the logs are stored on your computer, then there is a possibility that your computer is malware infected and is accessing those sites via remote control. You might want to do a virus scan.
Also, could you please direct me to a site that will instruct me on how to set up the WPA? Maybe you should ask about that at the 2Wire forum on dslreports.com.
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AT&T dsl; Speedstream 5100b modem; Zyxel NBG334W router; openSuSE 11.0; firefox 3.0.14 |
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Iamignorant
@port-orange.org
| Thanks for all your help! You stated in the previous post that it could be from advertisements on a visited site-would it be necessary to click on these sites to show up on the log , or just the fact of the advertisement being on the site cause it to be logged? |
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nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Midwest
| Often a page you are visiting will include an advertisement in a frame (an html structure). I suspect that would be logged as if a visit to the ad site, even though you never clicked on any link for that ad.
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AT&T dsl; Speedstream 5100b modem; Zyxel NBG334W router; openSuSE 11.0; firefox 3.0.14 |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC
| said by nwrickert  :Often a page you are visiting will include an advertisement in a frame (an html structure). I suspect that would be logged as if a visit to the ad site, even though you never clicked on any link for that ad. Would a pop up block do the same? |
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nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL | I'm not sure about how popup blockers work. |
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A5678tg
@rr.com
| reply to nwrickert
"The WEP will probably keep your neighbours out, but it won't stop a committed hacker from using your WiFi network."
I don't know of the WEP used as default on the 2Wire routers is the problem or not. However, I would suggest the OP switch to WPA anyway. It isn't just committed hackers that can bypass WEP. I visit forums where the majority of the people are between 15 and 25 years old. Cracking WEP is a commonly know technique, with many tutorials available on the Internet. Teenagers find WEP cracking as a way to bypass parental controls, cover their illegal download activities, etc. The OP needs to find the router's manual or download one for the router model. It will tell the OP how to set up WPA. |
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PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo
| I did not see anyone explain to the OP how to check/change his security settings?
First, I am not certain that there are any security settings for his wireless broadcast being employed, based on the OP's post! Whether WEP or WPA, his son's notebook would have to have the WEP or WPA password in order to be able to access the network.
In order to access the security settings on the modem-router (this is not one that I am personally familiar with), he needs to know the address so that he can log into it's web page. From there, it becomes very easy to both view the current security parameters, and to change settings as needed/desired.
Iamignorant, IMHO, the first thing that I would do is to get the manual for the modem/router, which will spell out this proceedure for you!
Although I agree 100% that WPA/WPA2 is the way to go for security, unless one lives in close proximity to one's neighbors (such as in an apartment/condo, like I do), generally hijcaking the wireless signal is not really such a big issue! You are more likely to get invaded via a trojan/spyware, than having your signal jumped. (again, unless you are in close proximity, physically, to others)
Look, the funny thing is that folks all over these forums beef and moan that their network does not broadcast out far enough! Yet conversely, so many angst over the possibility of their signal being intercepted!  The fact is, if you are in a single family dwelling, generally somebody has to be camped out awfully close (within a couple hundred feet, give or take a few) by to get a usable signal level to hack into, or go to great effort to do so. There are many 3d party products aimed at increasing the distance of your broadcast signal...none that I know of to limit it!
Further, yes, it is entirely easy to inadvertantly connect to an unwanted site...and although I would never "dis-believe" what someone says...particularly someone that I have no way of even knowing...kids are curious!....period! Good kids...bad kids...all kids! Frankly, I never spied upon my daughters (twins) net usage...not that I am over-trusting, nor that I do not "care"! Rather, I would only make one of 2 decisions as a father: If I thought that my daughters were unable to make decent decisions, and were too likely to make bad judgements based on net browsing, then I would simply not have it available unless I or my wife were right there with them while browsing...or if I think that they are mature enough to handle it, I would keep a dialogue about the dangers inherent on the internet, but trust to their ultimate judgement/maturity.
I know in my heart, that my daughters visited web sites that I would have rather they did not. We did indeed discuss the perils of the internet, but at the same time, I knew that they would, as pretty much all young people, simply have to satisfy their natural curiosity. If I thought that they would make inappropriate decisions based on their web viewing, then I would have had not had service that they could access without my prescence.
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Deeds, not words |
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