Neighbour asked to share WIFI

Fabio · 19-10-2016 9:48am #1

Hi all,

My neighbour's internet has been playing up lately and he asked me if I would mind sharing my WiFi with him for a couple of weeks while he waits on Eir to sort his line. I wouldn't normally mind only I don't really know the guy all that well but, even with that, I would like to help.

My connection is with Vodafone and I am using their standard Huawei router. Is there a way for me to configure a guest account for my neighbour or is there another way of creating a seperate "channel" on my network so that he wouldn't necessarily need my Wifi password and I could keep an eye on data usage to make sure he's not taking the mikey.

This is my first foray into playing around with routers but it should be interesting! Any help would be much appreciated of course!

richardw001 · 19-10-2016 10:42am

If you are considering this (personally I wouldn't) - then tie everything down with mac addresses (the Huawei router can do this).
So basically go around and get all your devices and mac addresses and assign them each their own ip address.
Google is your friend and you will learn something new :-)

Then once you are happy you know everything connected to your network (pretend you always had this in place) and tell him that no problem sharing - however that you tie everything on mac addresses and ask him to give the one he uses (his phone or pc or whatever)

that will only let him connect with the one device he wants - and also means you will know whats connected - down to the ip address.

If theres any problems with illegal downloads - etc. at least you will have some traceability.

Once you are happy that he doesnt need it any longer - change your passwds

Fabio · 19-10-2016 11:02am

Thanks for the response Richardw001.

Is there any point in me setting up OpenDNS and routing his traffic through that to filter out any nasty stuff? And if so does that mean traffic on my devices is filtered too?

I don't think he's all that tech-savvy really, he's just having issues with Eir at the moment and they won't fix his line for a couple of weeks. Despite him not being tech-savvy I don't want him to be able to just hand out my WiFi password to friends of his who might be visiting and how might be good with tech... (I suppose that is where the MAC address handling comes in).

Alanstrainor · 19-10-2016 11:03am

richardw001 wrote: »

If theres any problems with illegal downloads - etc. at least you will have some traceability.

But he wont really... it is still the OP's connection, and if someone comes knocking you saying "oh it was my neighbour that time" likely wouldn't work out too well.

OP, I would not do this. It is easy to use a phone as a hotspot for internet, or to get a prepay internet only sim card and router from any network.

Fabio · 19-10-2016 11:09am

I know...it's a toughy. Sense says not to do it. But the guy is out of work at the moment and the mobile internet signal is patchy.

If I do it it'll only be for a period of a couple of weeks tops [and, to be fair to him, he's said he wouldn't be downloading anything...just his word I know].

Sam Kade · 19-10-2016 11:13am

Fabio wrote: »

I know...it's a toughy. Sense says not to do it. But the guy is out of work at the moment and the mobile internet signal is patchy.

If I do it it'll only be for a period of a couple of weeks tops [and, to be fair to him, he's said he wouldn't be downloading anything...just his word I know].

Is he also offering to share the monthly cost of your internet?

long_b · 19-10-2016 11:15am

Fabio wrote: »

I know...it's a toughy. Sense says not to do it. But the guy is out of work at the moment and the mobile internet signal is patchy.

If I do it it'll only be for a period of a couple of weeks tops [and, to be fair to him, he's said he wouldn't be downloading anything...just his word I know].

Three do unlimited data for a month on PAYG for €20.
Personally I wouldn't do it nor would I ask.

Fabio · 19-10-2016 11:15am

He said he would pay for the couple of weeks [I declined cos the guy is out of work but if he wanted to make it a long term arrangement then he'd have to pay...but it won't be long term because I want my own connection to be mine and his Eir one should be sorted by then].

Fabio · 19-10-2016 11:16am

long_b wrote: »

Three do unlimited data for a month on PAYG for €20.
Personally I wouldn't do it nor would I ask.

I know, it's what I use on mobile [excllent plan], but poor data reception in my area although, strangely, if you cross the road, it's full on 4g!

I told the guy he could just use his phone as a Wireless hotspot but he's only got a small data allowance from Meteor. Apparently.

MarkR · 19-10-2016 11:16am

If you're going to do it, be upfront in regard to expected usage. You don't mind him browsing the net, but no downloading torrents or dodgy stuff. Tell him you're connection is metered, and if it gets out of hand, you'll have to quit it.

degsie · 19-10-2016 11:22am

You are likely breaking the T&C's of your provider and they could terminate your service.

davo2001 · 19-10-2016 11:25am

degsie wrote: »

You are likely breaking the T&C's of your provider and they could terminate your service.

Not going to happen. Unless you call your ISP and tell them this then there is no way of them knowing.

irishgeo · 19-10-2016 11:25am

You'll be liable as the account holder should anything illegal occur.

Estrellita · 19-10-2016 11:25am

Personally, I wouldn't do it. As you said, you don't really know him. I think he put you in an awkward position to be honest. I'd just tell him I had a think about it and I'd rather not.

You are taking his word for face value, he mightn't have been paying his bills. You just don't really know. I wouldn't have the neck to ask someone I don't really know to share me their WiFi.

macnug · 19-10-2016 11:26am

I did this for one of my neighbors although I knew him fairly well so it didn't bother me. If you did want to go down the road of mac address the Vodafone router has a blacklist/whitelist function were you can add all of your devices to the whitelist, then remove his when needed, of course it would be a lot easier to just change your password when the agreement is over.

davo2001 · 19-10-2016 11:28am

Personally I'd do it, tell him the network is monitored and setup the MAC address filtering as previously stated. The guy is obviously down on his luck, no harm in being a good neighbour, just take the necessary precautions as already outlined.

Johnboy1951 · 19-10-2016 11:29am

Fabio wrote: »

He said he would pay for the couple of weeks [I declined cos the guy is out of work but if he wanted to make it a long term arrangement then he'd have to pay...but it won't be long term because I want my own connection to be mine and his Eir one should be sorted by then].

My concern would not be the money ..... it won't cost you anything ...... but if he is out of work will he expect to be able to use it all day?

It would be nice if your router had management facilities which could limit his use to certain times and speed available.

I would still do it, taking as many precautions as possible and watching use closely.

BTW, MAC addresses are easily spoofed ..... I can set the MAC address on my router to whatever I want and then connect lots of devices to that router.
Your MAC address limitation would not be effective in that case

ED E · 19-10-2016 11:42am

Enable a Guest SSID
Set NO Password
Do it the 2.4Ghz spectrum

From his house this should be slow enough to not impact on you. Secondly having it open gives you plausible deniability and brings you outside of reasonable doubt if somebody were to download child pornography etc on your connection.

19-10-2016 11:46am

richardw001 wrote: »

If you are considering this (personally I wouldn't) - then tie everything down with mac addresses (the Huawei router can do this).
So basically go around and get all your devices and mac addresses and assign them each their own ip address.
Google is your friend and you will learn something new :-)

Then once you are happy you know everything connected to your network (pretend you always had this in place) and tell him that no problem sharing - however that you tie everything on mac addresses and ask him to give the one he uses (his phone or pc or whatever)

that will only let him connect with the one device he wants - and also means you will know whats connected - down to the ip address.

If theres any problems with illegal downloads - etc. at least you will have some traceability.

Once you are happy that he doesnt need it any longer - change your passwds

Bypassing MAC filtering is trivial. Its easier for him to get around it than it is for the OP to set it up.

Why can't the guy use his phone as a hotspot?

I told the guy he could just use his phone as a Wireless hotspot but he's only got a small data allowance from Meteor. Apparently.

I'm sorry but thats a bullsh!t excuse. Tell him to get the simplicity plan, 20 euro topup for unlimited facebook/twitter and 15 gigs of data. https://www.meteor.ie/pay-as-you-go/simplicity/

degsie · 19-10-2016 11:55am

Run an ethernet and power cable from your house and attach an access point in his house. Might as well go the whole hog

Fabio · 19-10-2016 11:58am

Deleted User wrote: »

Bypassing MAC filtering is trivial. Its easier for him to get around it than it is for the OP to set it up.

Why can't the guy use his phone as a hotspot?

I'm sorry but thats a bullsh!t excuse. Tell him to get the simplicity plan, 20 euro topup for unlimited facebook/twitter and 15 gigs of data. https://www.meteor.ie/pay-as-you-go/simplicity/

It is a crap excuse. But still.

As for a guest SSID - is that possible on the Huawei routers?

davo2001 · 19-10-2016 11:58am

degsie wrote: »

Run an ethernet and power cable from your house and attach an access point in his house. Might as well go the whole hog

:rolleyes:

Mary63 · 19-10-2016 12:05pm

No way would I do it.

What if he downloaded child porn.

He shouldn't have asked you to do,give him an inch and next thing he will be living on your sofa.

Eircom or Eir or whatever they call themselves now will tell him it will take weeks to sort out the problem.They mean it will takes months,they are the worst company I have ever dealt with.

BnB · 19-10-2016 12:05pm

davo2001 wrote: »

Personally I'd do it, tell him the network is monitored and setup the MAC address filtering as previously stated. The guy is obviously down on his luck, no harm in being a good neighbour, just take the necessary precautions as already outlined.

Absolutely

He said he only wanted it for a few weeks because Eir are trying to sort out his and he offered to pay.

Personally, I'd just give him the password and keep in touch with him. When he tells you in a few weeks that his own is sorted, then change the password.

When the hell did people get so bloody cynical...?

Fabio · 19-10-2016 12:29pm

I don't trust the guy 100% because I don't know him all that well but it is highly unlikely that he will abuse the wifi [I think].

But the precautions people have outlined on here are very very wise.

5rtytry56 · 19-10-2016 12:31pm

Time for a Judgement Call, OP.

Checkmate19 · 19-10-2016 12:36pm

No way would i do it. To much hassle. But there have been horror stories of people using other's internet and causing problems. It's not worth the hassle. Neighbour of mine asked me this a while back and i told them no. It's nothing to do with the money as i have unlimited download it's just i would not feel comfortable with other's using my internet. If you can track what their using well and good but why put yourself through the hassle. There's cheap ways of getting the internet till he gets himself sorted.

degsie · 19-10-2016 12:45pm

Fabio wrote: »

I don't trust the guy 100% because I don't know him all that well but it is highly unlikely that he will abuse the wifi [I think].

But the precautions people have outlined on here are very very wise.

Also keep in mind that if he shares his connection with a dodgy uncle, god only knows what stuff could be downloaded!

MeatTwoVeg · 19-10-2016 12:49pm

I don't think most normal people would even think it acceptable to ask this of someone they don't really know.
But some people are weird.

Don't give weirdos your Wi-Fi password.

SteM · 19-10-2016 12:58pm

ED E wrote: »

Enable a Guest SSID
Set NO Password
Do it the 2.4Ghz spectrum

From his house this should be slow enough to not impact on you. Secondly having it open gives you plausible deniability and brings you outside of reasonable doubt if somebody were to download child pornography etc on your connection.

I doubt if you open your network to the public and then someone downloads something like child porn over it you would have any plausible deniability. If the router came open to the public then maybe but not if you go to the trouble of creating an open network. Sure if that's the case why don't the people that are caught downloading child porn just open their own networks and then deny responsibility when the gardai come calling?

srsly78 · 19-10-2016 1:13pm

Nobody gets busted just for downloading, this doesn't identify the individual - only the connection used. In court cases the evidence presented is usually images on the machine or in the browser cache etc.

Checkmate19 · 19-10-2016 1:17pm

Thats fair enough but personally i don't think its worth the hassle. If i was good friends with the person i'd do it but the op said he doesn't know him that well.

srsly78 · 19-10-2016 1:18pm

And yet there are open wifi spots everywhere, cafes+bars etc. I have yet to read about any real court-cases arising from open wifi.

SteM · 19-10-2016 1:19pm

Checkmate19 · 19-10-2016 1:20pm

Thats a good point. But still i personally wouldn't do it. Just my view.

BnB · 19-10-2016 1:22pm

Checkmate19 wrote: »

Thats fair enough but personally i don't think its worth the hassle. If i was good friends with the person i'd do it but the op said he doesn't know him that well.

What hassle ?

srsly78 · 19-10-2016 1:24pm

There is no hassle.

Personally I would give the neighbour access, but make sure they understand that EVERYTHING they do on the connection is monitored. Of course I would not actually bother to check what they were doing (that would be hassle).

People should be more concerned with malicious strangers parking outside their homes and hacking the wifi for nefarious purposes. A neighbour asking politely for access doesn't even compare!

zzfh · 19-10-2016 1:30pm

I wouldn't nor would i ask someone that. Just say you are not unlimited and your monthly data gets used up each month from your own usage or something.

jca · 19-10-2016 1:38pm

God there's some stinge bags on this site. I wouldn't like to be asking for anything from any of ye. Obviously the guy is down on his luck at the moment being out of work etc. It would be a long day being out of work with no internet. My neighbour lost their VF router in the lightning I had a spare one so I gave it to them. The houses are too far apart to use my wireless, which I would have given to them in a flash. There really is no sense of community in Ireland anymore. Op, it's your call but if it were my call I'd give it to him.

SteM · 19-10-2016 1:45pm

jca wrote: »

God there's some stinge bags on this site. I wouldn't like to be asking for anything from any of ye. Obviously the guy is down on his luck at the moment being out of work etc. It would be a long day being out of work with no internet. My neighbour lost their VF router in the lightning I had a spare one so I gave it to them. The houses are too far apart to use my wireless, which I would have given to them in a flash. There really is no sense of community in Ireland anymore. Op, it's your call but if it were my call I'd give it to him.

Surely it all depends on how well you know someone? I have neighbours on either side. I've known one for almost 10 years and would have no problem giving her my password. I wouldn't give the other one because my password because she hasn't lived there that long and I don't know her or her family that well yet.

degsie · 19-10-2016 1:49pm

Do some people on here think it's ok to share electricity/water/bins with their neighbour? Internet connectivity is just another utility and should be treated as such.

davo2001 · 19-10-2016 2:01pm

degsie wrote: »

Do some people on here think it's ok to share electricity/water/bins with their neighbour? Internet connectivity is just another utility and should be treated as such.

Do some people here have no compassion for a fellow human being? Jesus lads, it's temporary WiFi access your giving him, not your 1st born f^&king son!

Johnboy1951 · 19-10-2016 2:02pm

SteM wrote: »

Surely it all depends on how well you know someone? I have neighbours on either side. I've known one for almost 10 years and would have no problem giving her my password. I wouldn't give the other one because my password because she hasn't lived there that long and I don't know her or her family that well yet.

I have set up an open connection in my router for anyone who wishes to use. It is a password-less connection.

degsie wrote: »

Do some people on here think it's ok to share electricity/water/bins with their neighbour? Internet connectivity is just another utility and should be treated as such.

I have no problem providing water or electricity to my neighbours if they have a need that I can help with.

I would like to think they would do the same for me if I was stuck.

Like others posted, it is disheartening to read some of the responses on this thread. I hope that those people have an opportunity to appreciate being helped by a relative stranger.

Fabio · 19-10-2016 2:04pm

I think I will give him access, where we live, it's a very very long day if you have no job and no wifi.

Thanks to those of you who gave suggestions on how best to handle the sharing etc.

Dodge · 19-10-2016 2:10pm

degsie wrote: »

Do some people on here think it's ok to share electricity/water/bins with their neighbour?

Why would you not share your water with anyone? Jaysus

OP; as long as you're straight with him, he'll likely be straight with you. Anyone who needs internet for illegal stuff is already well ahead of "can i borrow your wifi"

19-10-2016 2:28pm

I'd just give him the password under the stipulation that its temporary, two weeks or so till he gets his wifi sorted, and tell him I'll be changing password after that time is up.

Estrellita · 19-10-2016 2:45pm

davo2001 wrote: »

Do some people here have no compassion for a fellow human being?

Oh for the love of God... People are entitled to say no if they don't feel happy about someone using their WiFi. End of. Don't you think you are over doing it a bit with this faux charity rubbish. If this fellow human being was short of any of life's necessities, such as food, heat or warmth there isn't a chance I'd turn him away.

There are other ways he can get himself internet access temporarily without embarrassing a neighbour he doesn't know into it. If the op doesn't mind doing it, that's his choice. Put away the tiny violin and stop the whingey finger-pointing at people who wouldn't feel comfortable with doing it. I hate these insufferable do-gooders that think that honesty and goodness should shine out if everyones holes. We live in a world where *some* people would take advantage of you at any given chance. Wake up sweetheart.

jmayo · 19-10-2016 2:47pm

jca wrote: »

God there's some stinge bags on this site. I wouldn't like to be asking for anything from any of ye. Obviously the guy is down on his luck at the moment being out of work etc. It would be a long day being out of work with no internet. My neighbour lost their VF router in the lightning I had a spare one so I gave it to them. The houses are too far apart to use my wireless, which I would have given to them in a flash. There really is no sense of community in Ireland anymore. Op, it's your call but if it were my call I'd give it to him.

It is not being a stinge bags, but fooking looking after your own interests.
Times have changed from the days when being trusting and helpful meant you were rewarded and not taken for a ride or in some cases nowadays been open to legal action.

It is one thing knowing someone well and having an idea what they are like.
The OP hardly knows the neighbour.
They could be the soundest person under the sun or they could be a total leech who would screw over their own mother.

Anytime you give people access you need to monitor it.
If anything ever happens the buck stops with the OP.
99 times out of 100 nothing might ever happen, but that 1 time might land you in hot water.

davo2001 wrote: »

Do some people here have no compassion for a fellow human being? Jesus lads, it's temporary WiFi access your giving him, not your 1st born f^&king son!

So compassion nowadays means giving someone internet access ?

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have set up an open connection in my router for anyone who wishes to use. It is a password-less connection.
...

Where do you live again ?
That is a very silly thing to be doing.

Routers, firewalls, etc all have security setting for a reason.

davo2001 · 19-10-2016 2:48pm

I sincerly hope you never need anyones help Estrellita, it's a wifi connection he's given him, not a bar of gold!

Nollog · 19-10-2016 2:56pm

I'd do it too. If I notice my Internet going slow, block his mac then a minute later unblock it.

Doing that is fun when you have housemates in college. Hearing them run downstairs to the router always made me giggle.

GreenFolder2 · 19-10-2016 3:00pm

If he's that stuck, maybe help him out to sort out some mobile broadband. Some people aren't very techie. It could be a matter of putting a cheap phone or a WiFi router in a higher location in the house / near a window etc on the correct side to get a good signal.

Usually the mobile signals are blocked by stone walls or heavy concrete being in the path at some point.

Neighbour asked to share WIFI

Comments