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Perhaps there was a misunderstanding. I'm not looking to protect my wireless signal better. I am looking to find a program that will allow me to see who's on it. So it is clear, I WANT someone to be on it because I want to CATCH them on it because they've been using it for a while and I'm the confrontational type. If there is no program that will allow me to see someone using my wireless connection, that's fine but if there is then I would appreciate knowing what it is. Thanks again.

I just wanna talk to them...honest.   

Your wireless router should tell you how many active connections there are.
Or you could use something like nmap to scan your subnet for IP's that you aren't using.

Note - just having your wireless router not broadcast SSID does not guarantee squat - that can be sniffed when your machine connects.

MAC based control also doesn't guarantee squat - those can be sniffed and cloned.

You need to use either WEP or WPA if you don't want others stealing your bandwidth.
And if you don't have a secure network - it may be more than one person.

Snort
Gotta compile it yourself and it doesn't have a GUI yet so it's all command line.  Free.

SecureMac
Doesn't get updated very often, but there's a wealth of information there to keep you interested.  Not exactly on topic, but still a good read.

I like the LinSpot link above.  If the're going to use it, they might as well pay for it.

IPNetMonitorX
Looks promising as a GUI vresion of Snort (different engine, just many of the same features).

Last edited by sparkn (2005-02-21 3:24 am)

Regular Joe wrote:

...it is a closed community it is important that the person who did so is caught and dealt with and removed from the community it possible...

Holy smurf. Where the smurf do you live? That's ri-smurfing-diculous. Pariah's right.

Besides, the most you can get is a MAC address which ain't gonna help unless you can get the nazis that run this "community" to go door to door and check every computer in the neighborhood. Torches and pitchforks, indeed.

Last edited by pottymouth (2005-02-21 9:19 am)

pottymouth wrote:

Regular Joe wrote:

...it is a closed community it is important that the person who did so is caught and dealt with and removed from the community it possible...

Holy smurf. Where the smurf do you live? That's ri-smurfing-diculous. Pariah's right.

Besides, the most you can get is a MAC address which ain't gonna help unless you can get the nazis that run this "community" to go door to door and check every computer in the neighborhood. Torches and pitchforks, indeed.

See, I knew that would be the reaction. People who live in the community do so by choice and there are no Nazi's living here and there are no rules in the community that are 'unfair' or discriminating. A rule was broken and if you read the larger post I made (this means you beaverfever) there is a definite reason for catching the person. If someone only hijacks an open wireless connection it's not a big deal. When someone visits sites that cause the community concern, there is. There are many families here and this is a closed community for a very good reason. I am in a unique position which I cannot and will not explain further and was not the focus of the thread. Again, I asked for assistance, not for a debate on my living arrangements. Please, let's try and stay on course. So, without going on and about my personal life, thanks for the help to those who helped, and those who passed judgment...well?

PS no it's not some religious cult either.

obtuse wrote:

Wait, your asking for help to track down someone who looked at naughty websites?  Is the problem the websites viewed or the unauthorized use of your wifi station?

Both actually. The websites viewed are 'questionable' at beast and the fact that they did it via someone else's connection was against the community bi-laws. And as a point of fact, I had informed the community liason of my technical difficulties and they were aware that my connection would be unsercured for a period of time.

Also, my cousin is jewish and also lives in the community and the 'Nazi' comment was rather offensive.

See, I think he's upset because somebody used his connection to look at porn and obviously, anybody who looks at porn is a threat to the children of the neighborhood. Or maybe he's Mormon or something. Who knows.

Anyhooz, as I mentioned, it's easy enough to find the MAC address of a person using your wireless router. RTFM. But there's nothing you can do with that information, short of checking everyone's computer in the area.

You could also keep itunes and ichat open with rendezvous enabled. If somebody connects to your LAN with a Mac with ichat open and rendezvous on you'll be able to chat with them. Or, more likely since most computer users can't use iChat, you'll see their shares on iTunes...but that may not help you unless you recognize their musical tastes or share name. Another option: they may have a server running. If you suspect someone is connected, you can cmd+k and browse local servers. If you see a server, you probly won't be able to connect but you may recognize their server name.

Just remember, if you open your router you are inviting anyone to connect. Don't assume that anyone looking for a free connection, or some poor sap who picks up your signal by accident, is the perv you're trying to catch.

Ahhh you've got an actual Airport. Never used one. I don't know if it even has that feature.

Just shut him out.




















And steal his cable...

beaverfever wrote:

Regular Joe wrote:

A rule was broken and if you read the larger post I made (this means you beaverfever) there is a definite reason for catching the person.

You can claim your intent is valid, but reading the larger post provides only selected information on one side of the story. You want the thread to stay on course, but you are asking for help with what seems to be low-grade vigilanteism. I think it is valid and within the bounds of the topic for people to question the intent before giving advice.

A valid point taken. Albeit I don't agree with 'low-grade vigilanteism'. We don't need to argee on everything.

Just for reference, do you live in Pleasantville?

No, really.  Rules get broken.  It happens.  Some people turn safe search off on Google.  It happens.  Why, I bet there's even an affair going on somewhere in your neighborhood right now.  It's not uncommon.  And it's not worth it to find out.

Then again, Pediphiles (sp?), mass murderers, rapists, etc. thrive in "private" communities so you might want to worry.  Light a torch in your front yard and this masturbator will get the message.

For lack of a good emoticon, the above statement was merely a reflection of how funny I think this situation is.  I understand your concern, but I don't share it.

You know the perp has to be in range.  Why not just "shield" your Airport to try and get a physical location?  Put some foil on three sides of a box, put the Airport in it and when the perp logs on you at least have a direction to start walking in.  Or, wait until the perp logs on, then shield and see when the connection is dropped.  You have an Airport, so reduce the power to see how close they may be.  Does it happen late at night?  Any neighbors have their lights on?  During the work day?  Who's home?  Real paranoia spawns creativeness.  But, watch out.  You could find out there are more colors out there than just shades of gray.