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I like to do stuff on my own, but this has got me stumped and my googlefu only returns the cliche "zomg ur stealingz my internets!!1!", basic network setups and rhetorical questions about making networks larger and stronger.
So here's the story. The area around me is sparsely populated. It used to be on my old G network that on good days I could get faint signals from my nearest neighbor only. Well late last year I upgraded to an N network and now I can easily hit 2-4 neighbors constantly, and even up to 6 on good days. My setup is the standard DSL modem/router from Verizon with it's entire wireless function disabled, feeding straight into my Netgear router via cable and running a WEP key encryption.
I originally setup my network and there was one other network in range running on channel 9 bleeding across channels 7 through 11. So I left my network on it's default of channel 3 bleeding across 1 through 5 to avoid interference. Well the other day I had friends over and we got to talking and eventually it got me wanting to check my setup again. I don't know if it was coincidence or just that I was paying attention now but there was a faint signal running on the same channel I was on. I didn't think much of it and switched channels to get the largest range of uninteruppted frequency. Little less than an hour later this 'new' network signal was on the same channel as me once again. I switch back and they follow. At this point I get their MAC address and deny it through my Netgear router and confirm that my moden/router is not sending out any signal. At this point I reboot my router and modem and go about my business. Several hours later the piggyback network is still off my channel.
Until this afternoon. They are back on my channel after roughly 5 channel hops across 3 different channels. Their MAC address is blocked and there is nothing in my logs or through my admin utilities to show any unauthorized use as far as I can see. I'd hate to move over to allowing only MAC address' for devices I know because I have people come over with laptops all the time (last night was a small family from my church that had four devices alone that they were using and several others they weren't). So I like the WEP key and giving it only to those people that I know but I can't for the life of me figure out what this neighbor's network is doing following me.
I'm using Inssider to scan the frequencies and it's giving me a distinct MAC, name, router manufacturer (different from my modem and router), etc. I'd think it might be a ghost of my own if it weren't for such the distinct differences between the two networks.
What do you computer and network guys think; Should I be concerned?
So here's the story. The area around me is sparsely populated. It used to be on my old G network that on good days I could get faint signals from my nearest neighbor only. Well late last year I upgraded to an N network and now I can easily hit 2-4 neighbors constantly, and even up to 6 on good days. My setup is the standard DSL modem/router from Verizon with it's entire wireless function disabled, feeding straight into my Netgear router via cable and running a WEP key encryption.
I originally setup my network and there was one other network in range running on channel 9 bleeding across channels 7 through 11. So I left my network on it's default of channel 3 bleeding across 1 through 5 to avoid interference. Well the other day I had friends over and we got to talking and eventually it got me wanting to check my setup again. I don't know if it was coincidence or just that I was paying attention now but there was a faint signal running on the same channel I was on. I didn't think much of it and switched channels to get the largest range of uninteruppted frequency. Little less than an hour later this 'new' network signal was on the same channel as me once again. I switch back and they follow. At this point I get their MAC address and deny it through my Netgear router and confirm that my moden/router is not sending out any signal. At this point I reboot my router and modem and go about my business. Several hours later the piggyback network is still off my channel.
Until this afternoon. They are back on my channel after roughly 5 channel hops across 3 different channels. Their MAC address is blocked and there is nothing in my logs or through my admin utilities to show any unauthorized use as far as I can see. I'd hate to move over to allowing only MAC address' for devices I know because I have people come over with laptops all the time (last night was a small family from my church that had four devices alone that they were using and several others they weren't). So I like the WEP key and giving it only to those people that I know but I can't for the life of me figure out what this neighbor's network is doing following me.
I'm using Inssider to scan the frequencies and it's giving me a distinct MAC, name, router manufacturer (different from my modem and router), etc. I'd think it might be a ghost of my own if it weren't for such the distinct differences between the two networks.
What do you computer and network guys think; Should I be concerned?
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