Have a WIFI ? about safety

[water444]

Okay..My ? may sound TOO easy for most to all of you but to me, whom is pretty much computer illiterate.. The ? is, I had relatives over and they wanted to connect their DEVICES to my WIFI to use; and I HAD to give it out to them, 4 ppl now have my ID/PW and the ? is, is it safe?? I mean, they're using while here but once they return to their own country and NEW YORK, can they still access my network?? I know, stupid ? since I DON'T think they can; but for PEACE OF MIND, I NEED to know that ? and that they can't??? Can they also DO ANYTHING with the ID/PW while in their own country/state?? Should I change my ID/PW after they're gone???


Any help would be appreciated!!

[lemur7]

I may not be of much help to you ....but as far as I know ,,a home WiFi that has a password usually is only accessible in the home...for your guests to use it you actually 'added' them to your home network...after they are outside the range of your router they can no longer use it

but if it does make you feel better,,do change your password..for peace of mind
its not hard to do and only takes a few minutes...

[stormwolf2010]

The wifi signal itself can only be accessed within a certain distance to the actual wifi modem/ router, so once they leave that area, they can't connect to it.

However, if the ID and password to access the wifi is the same as the one you use to access your internet provider account, they can get to your email and internet account settings through any computer, so it would probably be safer to change it if this is the case.

If you need to do it in the future, many modems/ routers let you set up a guest account that has a different password to your own account, so you can give that out to your friends/ relatives instead.

[water444]

The wifi signal itself can only be accessed within a certain distance to the actual wifi modem/ router, so once they leave that area, they can't connect to it.

However, if the ID and password to access the wifi is the same as the one you use to access your internet provider account, they can get to your email and internet account settings through any computer, so it would probably be safer to change it if this is the case.

If you need to do it in the future, many modems/ routers let you set up a guest account that has a different password to your own account, so you can give that out to your friends/ relatives instead.

First off; Thanks for answering...

Secondly, huh???

I'm a bit confused by the whole "internet provider account"..Do you mean the setting up to the moderm/router etc?? Signing in and the PW to get into the settings to SET or CHANGE the ID/PW to the wifi etc???


Also, what do you mean by 'guest acct'?? You mean, an ACCT with a GUEST PW/ID for wifi access that is NOT the same or the original one??? YEAH, ILLITERATE, so, pardon my slowness..LOL..

I may not be of much help to you ....but as far as I know ,,a home WiFi that has a password usually is only accessible in the home...for your guests to use it you actually 'added' them to your home network...after they are outside the range of your router they can no longer use it

but if it does make you feel better,,do change your password..for peace of mind
its not hard to do and only takes a few minutes...

First off, Thanks for answering..


Secondly..I don't know what you mean by 'adding' them since I didn't ADD them to anything or any acct, esp my HOME NETWORK/Wifi..All I did was give them access to it by giving them the ID/PW..That isn't adding them, is it?????

[lemur7]

yup..it is in a way,,but please no worrying..its all very fixable
you only need to change the password...and if you really don't know how to ...
a simple phone call to the people you get your internet off of will fix that,,they will talk you
through the whole thing ....and do it as slow as YOU need to ,,to get it done right

and you might just phone up those guests you had and ask them to destroy any info you gave them on paper or any stored digital information(that ID-PW that was given out) on their digital devices **iphone/smart phone/Ipad ...etc ...most likely they did that all ready..

[stormwolf2010]

I'm a bit confused by the whole "internet provider account"..Do you mean the setting up to the moderm/router etc?? Signing in and the PW to get into the settings to SET or CHANGE the ID/PW to the wifi etc???

Also, what do you mean by 'guest acct'?? You mean, an ACCT with a GUEST PW/ID for wifi access that is NOT the same or the original one??? YEAH, ILLITERATE, so, pardon my slowness..LOL..

By 'internet provider account' I mean the username and password you use to log in to check your email or connect to your actual internet accout.

You have a seperate password to connect to the modem/ router.

And yes, that's exactly what I mean by a guest account. I only found out that you can do it recently myself, so I don't know exactly how to do it, but I believe it's through the modem/ router settings.

[water444]

yup..it is in a way,,but please no worrying..its all very fixable
you only need to change the password...and if you really don't know how to ...
a simple phone call to the people you get your internet off of will fix that,,they will talk you
through the whole thing ....and do it as slow as YOU need to ,,to get it done right

and you might just phone up those guests you had and ask them to destroy any info you gave them on paper or any stored digital information(that ID-PW that was given out) on their digital devices **iphone/smart phone/Ipad ...etc ...most likely they did that all ready..

I didn't give them the PW/ID on paper..I just told them the ID/PW and they entered it into their devices and so, will that PW/ID be SAVE on their devices forever? If so, that sucks!! They'd have to delete it themselves, don't they..****..URGH..

I guess, the only way is to CHANGE the ID/PW later on when they ALL leave.


Thanks anyways.

By 'internet provider account' I mean the username and password you use to log in to check your email or connect to your actual internet accout.

You have a seperate password to connect to the modem/ router.

And yes, that's exactly what I mean by a guest account. I only found out that you can do it recently myself, so I don't know exactly how to do it, but I believe it's through the modem/ router settings.

OKAY?? If you mean, by getting to MY own acct(ADMIN) to be able to LOGIN the internet, then, it's NOT the same ID/PW, of course...

As for the Modem/router PW/ID, honestly, I kinda forgot it and I tried my ID/PW on the LOGIN screen to see if it WORKS?? It doesn't, so, that's ok, right???

GUEST ACCT for WIFI..Never heard of it and will have to check it out later on..


Thanks Again!

[stormwolf2010]

OKAY?? If you mean, by getting to MY own acct(ADMIN) to be able to LOGIN the internet, then, it's NOT the same ID/PW, of course...

As for the Modem/router PW/ID, honestly, I kinda forgot it and I tried my ID/PW on the LOGIN screen to see if it WORKS?? It doesn't, so, that's ok, right???

It should be fine then. It just means that next time they come to visit you, they can probably access your wifi automatically (unless you change the password of course), as most devices save the password.

[water444]

It should be fine then. It just means that next time they come to visit you, they can probably access your wifi automatically (unless you change the password of course), as most devices save the password.

Damn..I was worried that it'll save the PW etc..Good to know but still, DAMN!! LOL..



Thanks Again!

[crisislover]

I've had people over who ask to use the wifi in my house and I enter the password for them, and select the username. Before they leave I disconnect them and click on "forget this network" (if they have a mobile device like an iPhone) and make sure they can't connect back when I check on my computer. I can see what devices are connected to our wifi through my computer, and can choose to deny them access or not. Or you can be like me (which I don't recommend) and simply refuse them access