@ wrote:

Hello, when I click on my network internet access, I see othe people on there, how do I remove them or should I be worried?

 

thanks

cactus

Hello catus,

 

Welcome to the Community Forum,

 

Can I ask you if you are using a wireless connection because your router will pick up other network services from near by homes or apartments. AS being worried I wouldn't worry for reasons that I'm going to explain.

 

 Make sure you have a secure password  for your internet connection. When using a router it is so important  to know that it provides a firewall between an untrusted network, such as the internet, and a trusted or safe network, such as the local network on which you have  on your computers that are connected.

 

You also have Windows Firewall and Webroots Firewall and here is a KB explaining this here https://community.webroot.com/t5/Webroot-SecureAnywhere-Antivirus/Webroot-SecureAnywhere-Firewall-Co...

 

t's possible, though not very likely, that your neighbor could access your computers directly. I say that that's not likely because you would need to have something like remote desktop access enabled on your system.

 

 

Hope this helps with your concerns and if you have more questions then please let us know!

 

 

Best Regards,

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Hi @ 

 

Sherry is absolutely right! If you are seeing this on your WiFi network connections, there is nothing to worry about.

 

Think of your computer as a "radio" and those WiFi networks as "radio stations." You click on the network that you need to connect to, basically tuning your computer to it.

 

The more networks around you, the more you are going to see. Likewise, for those other nearby people, they will also see your network. Like Sherry said, that is why password protection is important. 

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Hi cactus,

 

First, I am not an expert but I know a few and I just like to help people.  Good advice has already been given but I would like to take it a step further because it is a very misunderstood subject.

 

These are just my recommendations based on my experiance and research as to what others have learned but it can be a big step toward securing your network and personal information.  Sorry if it seems overkill to some but that is just me.

 

Since I don't know anything about your network or router configuration I will be a bit granular in my points and hope it makes sense.

 

Wi-Fi is a wonderful invention but it can be your worst enemy if not configured properly to prevent access from the bad guys who want your personal information or neighbors who want a free internet ride at your expense.

 

Always use best practices for configuring Wi-Fi.  If this information is Greek to you need to get someone who does understand it to help you set it up correctly.  Make sure it is someone you trust and then change all passwords after they leave.  There are also some good tutorials on the internet but just ensure what you use is from a trusted source.

 

Here are just a few things that I use to secure my network.

 

1) Change the router’s default Admin ID to something other than ADMIN.

2) Use a strong password for the ID with Admin access.

3) If you already have a router and you are adding a Wi-Fi router just to add Wi-Fi capability to your network be sure to set it as an access point.

4) Use WPA-2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2)on your Wi-Fi router/access point because it uses CCMP (Counter Cipher Mode with block chaining message authentication code Protocol) which is an AES-based protocol offering stronger encryption than TKIP used by WPA.  If your device does not support WPA-2 then get one that does.  If you cannot get a new one use WPA at a very minimum and understand that it has vulnerabilities.

5) Use a strong WPA 2 Security passphrase.

6) Change the default Wi-Fi router IP Address.

7) Configure the SSID (Service Set Identifier) with a name that does not reveal anything about you, your network, or your location.

😎 Disable the broadcast of the SSID after all of your computers have been configured and have connected successfully.  If some devices won’t connect and cannot be configured to connect without it you may need to leave broadcast enabled, but disabled is best.

9) If your router supports it you can configure it to allow only specific MAC (media access control) addresses to access the network.  All network devices have them.  Don’t let the terminology confuse you.  It all has to do with the Open Systems Interconnection model or OSI model.  It just conceptualizes the model and groups the communication functions into seven logical layers.

10) You can use DHCP or if your router allows you can assign static addresses for each MAC address that you allow.  That way you always know what device is connected.

 

Hope this helps someone,

Dave

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D.J., thank you so much for the information - since I'm not an expert at these things I will contact the Geek Squad and maybe they can walk me through it. I appreciate everyones help

This is my first time here and I think it's great!

 

cactus

 

 

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Hi cactus,

 

You are so very welcome!  I'm sure you will get it sorted out.

 

Come back often.

 

Regards,

Dave

 

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