[Mega Man]

My parents called me to have their internet checked out (their older!) because it wasn't working during the day, would work during the evening, and would stop working at random other times.

Logging into the internet's router, you can check attached devices. Sure enough, there were more than what should be attached. Put a password on their WiFi, and all was well for a while.

Then the internet stopped working for them again at random times. Had their cable guy go out and find out what was going on. There was a splitter on their hardline into the house. The ISP guy took it out, and said it may have been from their Satellite Installation guy messing up (they had a Satellite TV system put in). Thought it was strange that a splitter was up there...but OK, I could believe that the Sattelite installation guy messed up and left a spitter up there.

It's happening again. If they call their ISP and he finds a splitter up there again, what should we do?

[JayKay335i]

Its common to use splitters to easily add more connections. Even if it is split, it has nothing to do with their internet as the modem is in their house, connected to their network. Do they have POS router? Do they ever reboot their router? Their computers?

You could also purchase a handgun and start shooting your neighbors one by one until the issue is resolved.

[radix]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

My parents called me to have their internet checked out (their older!) because it wasn't working during the day, would work during the evening, and would stop working at random other times.

Logging into the internet's router, you can check attached devices. Sure enough, there were more than what should be attached. Put a password on their WiFi, and all was well for a while.

Then the internet stopped working for them again at random times. Had their cable guy go out and find out what was going on. There was a splitter on their hardline into the house. The ISP guy took it out, and said it may have been from their Satellite Installation guy messing up (they had a Satellite TV system put in). Thought it was strange that a splitter was up there...but OK, I could believe that the Sattelite installation guy messed up and left a spitter up there.

It's happening again. If they call their ISP and he finds a splitter up there again, what should we do?

Well if they're using 802.11[bgn], then you should ideally be using WPA2 with a strong password, (mine is >32chars). Make sure it's not configured to use WEP. You may also want to make sure you don't broadcast the SSID. Also, many routers come with an option for MAC address access conrol lists. If present, enable this option and whitelist all authorized computers. Lastly, make sure your routers firmware is up to date. As for the splitter, not too much can be done about that except to keep your eyes open and have your ISP investigate the issue.

EDIT: Oh, and if you have a cable modem, make sure the ISP tests the cable modem for signal strength. I had similar issues before, it turned out that I had a cable modem that was going bad. I replaced it and all was well again.

[DLH]

Originally Posted by radix

Well if they're using 802.11[bgn], then you should ideally be using WPA2 with a strong password, (mine is >32chars). Make sure it's not configured to use WEP. You may also want to make sure you don't broadcast the SSID. Also, many routers come with an option for MAC address access conrol lists. If present, enable this option and whitelist all authorized computers. Lastly, make sure your routers firmware is up to date. As for the splitter, not too much can be done about that except to keep your eyes open and have your ISP investigate the issue.

EDIT: Oh, and if you have a cable modem, make sure the ISP tests the cable modem for signal strength. I had similar issues before, it turned out that I had a cable modem that was going bad. I replaced it and all was well again.

Definitely use WPA2 with a strong password, but don't bother with MAC filtering. It's useless as wireless devices still transmit their MAC address unencrypted and it's pretty easy to capture and spoof it. It doesn't really provide any additional protection and can be a hassle, especially if your parents won't be managing their own router. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireles...AC_spoofing.29

[radix]

Originally Posted by DLH

Definitely use WPA2 with a strong password, but don't bother with MAC filtering. It's useless as wireless devices still transmit their MAC address unencrypted and it's pretty easy to capture and spoof it. It doesn't really provide any additional protection and can be a hassle, especially if your parents won't be managing their own router. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireles...AC_spoofing.29

Well for that matter changing the SSID and hiding it isn't really super secure either. I made both recommendations because security is usually modeled after an onion. The more layers the better. If either of those two recommendations (MAC filtering and SSID hiding) don't put undue burden on his parents, then I'd still recommend using them, if only to make life (a little bit) more difficult for an intruder. One of my favorite writeups on the subject (granted it's FreeBSD centric, but the principles are the same):


http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?q...SE&format=html

Security is best implemented through a layered onion approach. In a nut-
shell, what you want to do is to create as many layers of security as are
convenient and then carefully monitor the system for intrusions.

I understand that MAC ACLs and SSID hiding are not the best security controls, but they do present additional problems to an attacker.

[jpsum]

i doubt anyone is putting a splitter at the house to steal your parents internet, because how did they know that the cable guy was coming and removed the cable from the splitter? It was probably there from the initial installation.

I would look at the router first. I had a US Robotics router a long time ago and it was failing some of the time. The symptoms were pretty much like what your parents are experiencing. I removed the router and connected to the DSL modem directly and the problem went away. Bought a Linksys, problem solved.

[boymonkey]

Is it not working at the cable modem or at the router?
I find my crappy D-Link router to freeze up every few weeks. Like the data light is still blinking on the cable modem, but data lights are not blinking on the router. In that case I just unplug the router and power it up again in a few minutes.

[DLH]

Originally Posted by radix

Well for that matter changing the SSID and hiding it isn't really super secure either. I made both recommendations because security is usually modeled after an onion. The more layers the better. If either of those two recommendations (MAC filtering and SSID hiding) don't put undue burden on his parents, then I'd still recommend using them, if only to make life (a little bit) more difficult for an intruder. One of my favorite writeups on the subject (granted it's FreeBSD centric, but the principles are the same):


http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?q...SE&format=html



I understand that MAC ACLs and SSID hiding are not the best security controls, but they do present additional problems to an attacker.

I actually read right past the hiding of the SSID recommendation or I would have said to not bother with that either. Both of those measures are very easy to bypass. With a strong WPA2 passphrase no one will be able connect anyway.

I agree with layering security, but these two things are often mentioned and are not adding much, if anything, to the security. I'm glad you realize that, but others may not realize it.

Anyway, back to his issue. It's most likely a flakey wireless router. Next time it happens have them use an ethernet cable and plug a laptop directly into the router. If that isn't slow, then have them restart the router and try wireless again. If that is then better it's a flakey router. Update the firmware and if it continues replace it.

[Mega Man]

Thanks for all the advice guys. They called their cabe internet provider who will be out there next Tuesday to inspect. Hope that solves it all.

[whyrms]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

It's happening again. If they call their ISP and he finds a splitter up there again, what should we do?

To answer OP question! If he finds a splitter up there again; hide on your roof at night with a ski mask and a baseball bat! and fucken bash that little bastard's brain out when he tries to install another Y splitter. Well that's what I would do. I love camping out waiting to bash fucker's brains out.

[MrRoboto]

Not sure the make of the WiFi router but make sure you have a good password on the admin account and disable any guest access.

[J-9]

Surprised no one's asked this yet:

Where is the OTHER cable coming out of the splitter going? Seems to me this would lead you to the person blatently stealing your parents internet. Threaten to press charges (or baseball bat, whichever's your style). I'd even cut the wire to send a message and make them re-wire the entire route.

Once you secure the land wires, then you can take the precautions above to mask/secure the ruoter, etc.

[NYCGarbagePrince]

Originally Posted by whyrms

To answer OP question! If he finds a splitter up there again; hide on your roof at night with a ski mask and a baseball bat! and fucken bash that little bastard's brain out when he tries to install another Y splitter. Well that's what I would do. I love camping out waiting to bash fucker's brains out.

you should definitely talk to someone... like a priest or perhaps a doctor.. Or maybe go back on your meds..

[SteveMD]

If someone is splitting your cable - where does the cable go?

Also, without a cable modem, they're not getting anything anyway.

Sounds to me like they're simply stealing basic cable.