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chellebell02 wrote:

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Our wireless network connection is secured, so in order to access it you have to put in a password. But one of our neighbor's connection is unsecured. It shows up in the list if I look for available wireless connections.

kodeine wrote:

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If it's unsecured you not only risk having someone use your connection, but they could also be using it to hack into government or bank computers etc. If they leave a trace on those computers' firewalls it will show your IP number!

I don't want to alarm you too much, but if your connection is slow somebody may well be downloading very large files, films or various pirated programmes. If your ISP is monitoring their customers to see who is violating their terms and conditions your IP address would show up as accessing those sites ...some may even contain child porn.

kodeine wrote:

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Julia wrote:

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Gosh, Kodeine, there's a point I never thought of either. The implications are scary! I'm not sure I even know how to secure my wireless broadband. Is it just a matter of getting it passworded?

Yes, you have to go into your routers settings and give yourself a password which it well then convert into some long numerical code (that's how mine does it, anyway).

kodeine wrote:

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You access your router via your browser. For instance if your router is a Netgear one you'd type in www.routerlogin.net ...you'd then see a box asking for your username ans password (this is the username and password to access your router, not the password which secures your network btw) and once you have typed that in you are into where all your router settings are. You then just go into the section marked 'security' or something similar and that is where you'll set up your password.

If you are using your laptop you can tell if you are secured by double-clicking on the icon on the toolbar that shows your connection. This will bring up a box where you will see the wireless connections available. Look down the list and if you see the name you have called yours there (providing you know) you will see some indication next to it as to whether it is secured or not.