Someone Stealing Your Wi

Depending on where you live in Louisiana your nearest neighbors could be miles away from you if you're out in the country or just a matter of feet if you happen to live in an apartment complex or share a home with someone else. While most of us get along just fine with our neighbors I think it's safe to say none of us would put up with a neighbor stealing from us.

Yet, thousands of Louisiana residents every day are being taken advantage of by neighbors who "borrow" the Wi-Fi and internet service we pay our hard-earned money for. You'd think there would be a way to stop that from happening.

Well, there is.

Sure you could just change your Wi-Fi password and be done with it, or you could actually see just who might be using your service and how many devices they have connected to it. Maybe, that's why that high-speed service you've paid for isn't getting you to your favorite sites fast enough.

Okay, even if you aren't a computer genius and only know the basics of the technical side of being online with a couple of simple steps you can see who and what is accessing your data and might be able to sneak into your personal data just by being connected to your Wi-Fi.

The first thing you could try is to type in either one of these codes into your web browser. Those codes are 10.0.0.1 or 192.168.0.1 you'll probably need to enter your router password after you've typed those in. Your router password is usually located on the bottom or the back of your router. If you don't know what your router is then this probably isn't something you should be attempting.

Once you've typed the password you'll see a list of devices connected. Most of them you should recognize as your stuff. Maybe your smart tv or Ring doorbell or a laptop or tablet device. Then there will be things listed as "unknown". And before you start blocking everything you need to realize that some of those "unknown" devices could belong to you so don't dump them all at once.

Instead, block them one at a time. If your stuff is working fine then that device didn't need to be connected to your Wi-Fi. Keep going until you've identified the devices that are yours and block the devices that aren't. Some service providers make this even easier by allowing you to see who is on your Wi-Fi directly from their App or a page on their site.

But the fact of the matter is this, you pay for Wi-Fi for your use. If you're wanting to be a good neighbor and pay for someone else, that's up to you. As we mentioned by allowing them to stay on your system you could be giving them access to other personal information including sites you visit and pictures you've saved. So, choose wisely and be as safe online as you would be in public.

And since we're speaking of annoyances, you can add these to the list too.