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I let my neighbor use my WiFi

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Been in this situation.

It's easier for me to let my neighbor use my wifi for a few days so if I ever need a favor he'll ideally return it.

Just make sure it's with the understanding that it's a temporary thing and not long term. Some people will try to take advantage of you.

WalkMan said:
I'm chuckling at people letting strangers use their wifi. If someone on your network is downloading infringing things, the police will come in and seize every computing asset in your home first and foremost. So all your stuff will be gone, video game consoles included. Basically as the face for that IP address, you're liable for all activity done on your network or at least are going to have all your stuff go missing until they determine you not to be liable. GAF amazes me.
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That's not going to happen. Tell your neighbor..."Don't do anything illegal. No torrents, no illegal porn."

Most decent human beings won't fuck you over like that. Shit, even the not decent ones won't. Last time I let my neighbor use my wifi it's because he couldn't afford to pay his cable bill cause he had to spend that money on bail after he got arrested for driving with a suspended license. He still managed not to bring the FBI to my house, lmao.
 
This thread...

First OP, if you want to say no to someone just say no. Don't be a bitch.

Second, now that you've given him the password don't be a dick straight away. If your internet connection slows to a crawl because mister neighbour is torrenting hundreds of gigs of shit, change password. In 2-3 weeks, change password.
 
I think sharing wifi gets you good karma.

To people claiming he could be liable, is there any case where that would've been the case?
 
Unplug your modem so nobody has internet for a day, then change and hide your SSID/password. If he asks tell him that your internet is down and you are waiting for the ISP to come out and look at it.

I personally wouldn't have given out my wifi password, too much could happen that could get me in trouble. As unlikely as it is, something could still happen.

LordCanti said:
This is how I'd have done it:

"Knock Knock"

Nope, not answering that.

Done
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This. I almost never answer the door unless I am expecting someone.
 
Keio said:
I think sharing wifi gets you good karma.

To people claiming he could be liable, is there any case where that would've been the case?
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I'm pretty sure whenever the police arrest someone the person claims it was someone else. Makes you think.

Mammoth Jones said:
It doesn't work that way.
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Does he feel like a child molester? Really get in there and grab a handful, you know?
 
Snaku said:
Pray he's not performing illegal activities. Piracy, child porn, etc. You'll be the door they come knockin on.
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This is absolutely true. I myself have been on a CP warrant at a house of a family with an unprotected wifi signal, and the guy next door was the one downloading the CP.

At the very least you should be getting some money from this guy, OP.
 
Mammoth Jones said:
That's not going to happen. Tell your neighbor..."Don't do anything illegal. No torrents, no illegal porn."

Most decent human beings won't fuck you over like that. Shit, even the not decent ones won't. Last time I let my neighbor use my wifi it's because he couldn't afford to pay his cable bill cause he had to spend that money on bail after he got arrested for driving with a suspended license. He still managed not to bring the FBI to my house, lmao.
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Not saying it WILL, but it CAN. This is information for all gaffers to lock down their networks and be in control of who accesses it.
 
WalkMan said:
Not saying it WILL, but it CAN. This is information for all gaffers to lock down their networks and be in control of who accesses it.
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The odds are so low does it even justify mentioning?

Obviously you should do your best to vet the character of someone using your wifi.

My issue hasn't been worrying about downloading illegal content. It's that my neighbor, his wife. His son. His daughter ALL hopped on my wifi. And shit man...my wife and I are pretty heavy users by ourselves. We bought a nice fat 100 mb/s pipe for us to hit. And my online gaming was lagging like shit.

It was at that point I kicked them all off.

Fattony12000 said:
Challenge them to a 1v1 rocket arena Quake match over the Internet. Best 2 out of 3. The winner gets to kill and eat the loser.
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image.php
 
"Sorry man, I'll have to cut you off. Something is screwing up my wifi router signal recognizing my static MAC Address."

Throw in so many words in there so he either thinks: 1)You're an idiot when it comes to tech and can't be convinced or 2)You're so smart when it comes to tech and can't be convinced.
 
I'd let him use it for a few days. If you don't notice anyone coming to hook up his own internet connection, I'd change the password.

My cousin in Brooklyn has open WiFi. I don't think she realizes it should/could be password protected. Regardless, I'm sure her neighbors love her.
 
Change it in 5 days or so, give the guy time to settle, inform him of this. Next time just say no straight away if you dont want to and ignore the bachelor frog advice given here.
 
Maninthemirror said:
FYI if he is using it for malicious activity like child porn then the Feds will go after you too
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And this right here is why I would never let a neighbour use my wi-fi, regardless of whether I know them or not. If they were close friends I'd let them use it but I'd monitor their usage but a random? No, I'm not that trusting.
 
Neuromancer said:
This is absolutely true. I myself have been on a CP warrant at a house of a family with an unprotected wifi signal, and the guy next door was the one downloading the CP.

At the very least you should be getting some money from this guy, OP.
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Well, a living breathing example.
 
Let him use it for a week or so and tell him that you're going to hit your bandwidth cap soon, so you will have to cut him off. At least give him a little bit of notice beforehand.
 
If you don't want him on it; just change the password right now. Being without internet for however long it takes to get his setup won't kill him. If he knocks on the door about it, pretend you aren't home. No awkward conversations need to happen.
 
Fenderputty said:
The socially inept people felt the need to say no in the first place.
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How is it socially inept to say no when that is what he wanted in the first place? It's socially inept to succumb and say yes then spend your waking hours worrying about how to say no.
Fenderputty said:
I leant my neighbor my chainsaw the other day. Should I have also worried about him hacking up his wife?
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Nice analogy, a more appropriate one would be to say you gave your house key away as that opens up your physical container comparable to how letting someone on your network opens up your digital container.
 
If I was the OP I would start to worry if strange ass packages started arriving at my apartment and then the neighbor comes over to pick them up.
 
WalkMan said:
How is it socially inept to say no when that is what he wanted in the first place? It's socially inept to succumb and say yes then spend your waking hours worrying about how to say no.


Nice analogy, a more appropriate one would be to say you gave your house key away as that opens up your physical container comparable to how letting someone on your network opens up your digital container.
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It's socially inept to suspect your new neighbor of being a child porn addict when telling him he can't use your wifi as he just moves in.

My analogy works. Yours is laughable. Giving someone access to my wifi is not like giving open access to my house. Not even close.

Suspecting my new neighbor of using my wifi in a nefarious manner is just like suspecting my neighbor of using anything I lend him in a nefarious manner.

Look, I get it. You don't give people the benefit of the doubt and I do.
 
I don't let my family use my wifi when they visit so i am sure as hell not letting some stranger who can be a pedo or scumbag pirate on my wifi.

For all you know the dude could be downloading piratebay.. The entire bay.
 
I let my neighbors use my WiFi if there's trouble with their ISP or whatever. In return, I'd expect them to do the same for me and they do. Basic etiquette demands that you don't use someone else's wifi for P2P stuff or extensive video streaming. I could turn on QoS if I was really concerned. I also share my WiFi with anyone who visits. I really don't think intense paranoia about the fear that your neighbor is a secret sex criminal is a very charitable way to approach someone.

I think the best way to deal with it would be to change your password after a few weeks if it seems like he's still using it instead of getting his own internet connection.
 
Cant you just use a MAC whitelist.

That way you can just authorize him to use a single device instead of giving free reign.
 
Stumpokapow said:
I let my neighbors use my WiFi if there's trouble with their ISP or whatever. In return, I'd expect them to do the same for me and they do. Basic etiquette demands that you don't use someone else's wifi for P2P stuff or extensive video streaming. I could turn on QoS if I was really concerned. I also share my WiFi with anyone who visits. I really don't think intense paranoia about the fear that your neighbor is a secret sex criminal is a very charitable way to approach someone.
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main-thumb-t-8762-50-xjPOswuVFn5ZplI8yJx4s1Zii1rnCXiS.jpeg
 
Stumpokapow said:
I let my neighbors use my WiFi if there's trouble with their ISP or whatever. In return, I'd expect them to do the same for me and they do. Basic etiquette demands that you don't use someone else's wifi for P2P stuff or extensive video streaming. I could turn on QoS if I was really concerned. I also share my WiFi with anyone who visits. I really don't think intense paranoia about the fear that your neighbor is a secret sex criminal is a very charitable way to approach someone.

I think the best way to deal with it would be to change your password after a few weeks if it seems like he's still using it instead of getting his own internet connection.
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Hey look. A reasonable approach and outlook on life.
 
Give him a week and monitor bandwidth consumption from his address. If it's too high or he doesn't get back to you within that time frame with an update, then ask him about it and tell him you're not all comfortable with it for whatever reason you see fit.

If you'd rather not have to have that conversation then just run a deauth frequently on it and he'll quickly tire of constant disconnects and get his own or use someone else's.
 
styl3s said:
For all you know the dude could be downloading piratebay.. The entire bay.
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But that's only like 700 MB.

Anyways, if he was planning to abuse it or do something illegal/bad with his access to it would be very stupid of him to do so. It'd be kinda obvious it was him.
 
Stumpokapow said:
I let my neighbors use my WiFi if there's trouble with their ISP or whatever. In return, I'd expect them to do the same for me and they do. Basic etiquette demands that you don't use someone else's wifi for P2P stuff or extensive video streaming. I could turn on QoS if I was really concerned. I also share my WiFi with anyone who visits. I really don't think intense paranoia about the fear that your neighbor is a secret sex criminal is a very charitable way to approach someone.

I think the best way to deal with it would be to change your password after a few weeks if it seems like he's still using it instead of getting his own internet connection.
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It's not just about that, it's about streaming and illegally downloads.

Even IF the person isn't illegally downloading that neighbor can completely fuck you over by streaming if you are on a bandwidth cap like a lot of people are. It's one of the reasons i will never allow anyone i don't know on it.
 
Change your router's DNS server to OpenDNS's (http://opendns.com) if you are worried about his browsing activity. You can even sign up for free with them and micro-manage what exactly is blocked and get reports when he tries to access a blocked site. (This may be annoying for you personally though...)

Then in a few days just simply change your password -- you should change your wifi password regularly anyways.
 
styl3s said:
It's not just about that, it's about streaming and illegally downloads.

Even IF the person isn't illegally downloading that neighbor can completely fuck you over by streaming if you are on a bandwidth cap like a lot of people are. It's one of the reasons i will never allow anyone i don't know on it.
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You just said you don't even let you family use your wifi. Which is it?
 
I have the perfect excuse ready for this. I use my home connection for work, which sometimes involve government-related work, and can't share my connection with anyone.

This isn't a total lie either.
 
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