Comcast knows I'm on my neighbor's WiFi
July 5, 2008 12:48 AM Subscribe
How does Comcast know that my laptop is connected to the neighbor's router?
Sometimes my laptop connects to my neighbor's open WiFi. I never even notice until I try to access a network share or something like that. Today, I opened up IE and I was redirected to a Comcast page asking for my account. It was then that I noticed that I was connected to his wireless router. Regardless of what URL I typed in the address line, this page came up and asked for an account number. My question is, how does Comcast know that I'm not supposed to be connecting to that router, especially because this didn't happen when I connected to my own Comcast connection. Also, why did this begin today?
I know this is probably a stupid question but I'm a computer idiot.
Sometimes my laptop connects to my neighbor's open WiFi. I never even notice until I try to access a network share or something like that. Today, I opened up IE and I was redirected to a Comcast page asking for my account. It was then that I noticed that I was connected to his wireless router. Regardless of what URL I typed in the address line, this page came up and asked for an account number. My question is, how does Comcast know that I'm not supposed to be connecting to that router, especially because this didn't happen when I connected to my own Comcast connection. Also, why did this begin today?
I know this is probably a stupid question but I'm a computer idiot.
...Previewed and ootsocsid had already said it. I'm pretty he speaks the truth.
posted by phunniemee at 12:58 AM on July 5, 2008
posted by phunniemee at 12:58 AM on July 5, 2008
What OS are you running? You should be able to set your computer to always prioritize your network so you don't accidentally connect to his (unless your router is down).
posted by Cricket at 1:11 AM on July 5, 2008
posted by Cricket at 1:11 AM on July 5, 2008
In most cases, comcast will only see the MAC address (and public IP) of the wireless router itself; rather the whole point of NAT routers is that they take care of parceling the incoming replies back to the box that really requested it, without the outside world being any the wiser. As far as the rest of world is concerned, there's one computer connected to comcast, and it is the wifi router itself.
N'thing that your neighbour probably hasn't paid his comcast bill. You might also wish to advise your neighbour - if you know which it is - that they should put a password on their wifi.
Assuming you want to stop your laptop connecting to his network automatically, and that you're running XP:
1) Either right click on the wireless network icon in the system tray and click View Available Wireless Network Connections, or right click your wireless connection in Control Panel -> Network Connections and click the same option.
2) Click Change the Order of Preferred Networks on the left hand side of the page.
3) From here you can delete previously used wireless networks that you no longer need, change the order that you would like them to connect automatically, disable them, etc.
posted by ArkhanJG at 2:34 AM on July 5, 2008
N'thing that your neighbour probably hasn't paid his comcast bill. You might also wish to advise your neighbour - if you know which it is - that they should put a password on their wifi.
Assuming you want to stop your laptop connecting to his network automatically, and that you're running XP:
1) Either right click on the wireless network icon in the system tray and click View Available Wireless Network Connections, or right click your wireless connection in Control Panel -> Network Connections and click the same option.
2) Click Change the Order of Preferred Networks on the left hand side of the page.
3) From here you can delete previously used wireless networks that you no longer need, change the order that you would like them to connect automatically, disable them, etc.
posted by ArkhanJG at 2:34 AM on July 5, 2008
to follow up on Arkhan:
Here are the Mac OS X instructions to do the same:
1)Open System Preferences -> Network -> airport tab -> advanced
2) you will see a list of Preferred wireless networks - delete any networks you dont want to connect to, or rearrange the priority of those you do wish to connect to.
posted by jlowen at 6:44 AM on July 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
Here are the Mac OS X instructions to do the same:
1)Open System Preferences -> Network -> airport tab -> advanced
2) you will see a list of Preferred wireless networks - delete any networks you dont want to connect to, or rearrange the priority of those you do wish to connect to.
posted by jlowen at 6:44 AM on July 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
ALSO...comcast CAN know who is connected to what network. The mac address on your laptop's ethernet port/wifi card/etc is like a fingerprint (that can be replicated, but 99% don't). If you use your computer in your home with that mac address...comcast KNOWS that mac address. If you use someone else's comcast connection, comcast will KNOW where you are.
Wrong He clearly says he is connecting to a wireless router. As such, he has no layer-two connection to the cable-modem, and comcast has ZERO information about the mac address of his computer. Moreover, as both he and his neighbor are comcast internet subscribers, they are both within the same node, and thus will be utilizing the same CMTS (same physical network, almost certainly same ip subnet as a consequence), rendering the question of "who is connected to what network" irrelevant, since there is only one "network" at play here.
Now, to address the question. Comcast has no idea YOU specifically are connecting to his router. What is happening is that the MAC address of your neighbor's cable modem is currently being filtered by Comcast, and all http requests are being redirected to that account page - most likely because he precipitated a change to his account, either by ordering a new service or not paying his bill. Either way, this has nothing to do with YOU and your computer.
posted by namewithoutwords at 3:22 PM on July 5, 2008
Wrong He clearly says he is connecting to a wireless router. As such, he has no layer-two connection to the cable-modem, and comcast has ZERO information about the mac address of his computer. Moreover, as both he and his neighbor are comcast internet subscribers, they are both within the same node, and thus will be utilizing the same CMTS (same physical network, almost certainly same ip subnet as a consequence), rendering the question of "who is connected to what network" irrelevant, since there is only one "network" at play here.
Now, to address the question. Comcast has no idea YOU specifically are connecting to his router. What is happening is that the MAC address of your neighbor's cable modem is currently being filtered by Comcast, and all http requests are being redirected to that account page - most likely because he precipitated a change to his account, either by ordering a new service or not paying his bill. Either way, this has nothing to do with YOU and your computer.
posted by namewithoutwords at 3:22 PM on July 5, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ootsocsid at 12:54 AM on July 5, 2008