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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Neighbours and my WIFI

697 replies

Imrubbishatuserables · 19/04/2020 21:15

Hey!
Straight to point I got a new neighbour in my block of flat a few months ago and she asked for my wifi password to connect her console to so they could watch netflix.. i thought why not.. one other thing connected to it wont harm and she has just moved in.. it's her first home she hasn't had chance to set up her own yet. She then gets a new tv in the last few weeks and connects to my wifi but she has also connected her phone and her mates phone to it as well as they are picking up our google speakers on the network her mate joked they should play songs through my sons one in his room from their phones. So I have no idea how to change the password but would I be unreasonable to turn it off every night at 8PM? Considering we are in lockdown and she cant get her own during this time as they will need to come and connect it up. Previous tenant in that flat never had wifi either.

OP posts:
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7
ilikefastcars · 20/04/2020 13:55

If she asks I would tell her you exceeded your data limits, so your account has been limited and you are no longer able to share the WiFi as you cannot keep paying for additional data now you're on furlough

Itisab0y2020 · 20/04/2020 13:57

You should never share your WIFI with anyone, not in your household

Don't share your bank PIN or passwords

Don't share your WIFI

If this other person has no service, they can get data on their mobile phone or buy a dongle that THEY pay for monthly

virginpinkmartini · 20/04/2020 14:03

Watching this thread shamelessly in the hopes that CF neighbour has the brass neck to come and complain about the Wi-Fi 😂
In all seriousness, as PP said, you can be a kind and assertive person at the same time. If she starts any horse-shit, you're well within your rights to give her both barrels. When it comes to picking battles, what I tend to think to myself is this- 'If I was to stand up for myself in a brusque way, and this person was to recant the situation to others, would they very likely look like the cunt?' The answer in this situation is a resounding yes. There's no way someone can say 'I've been using someones WiFi for 4 months gratis and they had the nerve to tell me to pay for it myself' without people thinking 'Yeah, you're lucky they didn't tell you to fuck off'

CruCru · 20/04/2020 14:07

She won’t knock. She’ll rant about losing access to WiFi but will now avoid the OP.

Iwalkinmyclothing · 20/04/2020 14:07

We (unavoidably) moved house early in the lockdown. Our internet cannot be connected, so we ordered a router off Amazon and an unlimited data SIM from Three and are managing that way. Your neighbour could do the same.

monkeymonkey2010 · 20/04/2020 15:25

She's more likely to knock on the pretense of 'borrowing' something and then probably try to 'casually' mention the wifi.......Grin

KnockDownNinja · 20/04/2020 15:30

You really shouldn't be sharing your WiFi with strangers. If they have access to your router and they're not properly partitioned, they have access to any device connected and any information that passes through it.

You're probably not dealing with someone quite that tech savvy and most companies try to account for the fact that most of their users probably don't care to learn enough about networking to stop this stuff, but it's a very good reason to to share.

newbingepisodes · 20/04/2020 15:32

Just log into your router there is an IP address of numbers on the bottom of your router, you type that into Internet address bar, log in and change the password.

nightswimmers · 20/04/2020 15:34

Omg. People! It isn't even a long thread.

#cancelthecheque

Doingtheboxerbeat · 20/04/2020 15:40

@Imrubbishatuserables, if like me you don't feel comfortable in a possible confrontation with your neighbour (because I think an awful lot of people on MN live in a bubble and have no idea about how Cf's can become violent, intimating fuckers), you can just say that it is slowing down your service to the point that you can't stream wfh or study and it's impacting on life.
Your neighbour already knows the other risks and they don't give a shit, obviously.

YE420032c · 20/04/2020 15:46

I got news for you. A lot of companies and self employed people who can do social distancing are still working! Since lockdown began I have had an engineer out to fix the boiler and my gardener still came. They do not need to be within 2 meters to do these jobs. I just made sure I washed everything near the boiler down after engineer had gone. Things do not stop having to be fixed just because of lockdown.

I would tell neighbour you had to phone the company because there was an issue with the wifi and they threatened to cancel your contract when they found out you had shared your password. Sorry but you had no choice but to change it.

LtdEdition · 20/04/2020 15:52

On my router, in advanced settings, I have to option to hide the ESSID. This way, the network doesn’t show up on other devices as an available network. When you have to connect a new device, you need to enter the name manually. If your network doesn’t show, there’s nothing for the neighbour to ask about.

stakeholderwizz · 20/04/2020 16:29

Astounded by her cheekiness!

TexanBlueNeck · 20/04/2020 17:12

Don't start turning it off every night Hmm what a faff for a service you're paying for. Agree with the others, Google or call your internet provider to find out how to change the password, then do it. Sorted. If cheeky fucker neighbour has the brass neck to ask about it, tell them your provider threatened to cut you off for sharing across households (or you could use it as an opportunity to practice some assertion and say you hadn't realised they wanted you to foot their internet bill forever, and to jog on!).

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 20/04/2020 17:20

A few months? serious CF'ery
There's not a network provider on earth that has a lead time like that - unless you're in the back of beyond, but you clearly get a service, so that can't be the case.

I did once borrow my neighbours password when I changed networks and it took a few days to get my new one set up - but that was a good few years ago before so much attention to security issues.

I agree with @WhyCantIThinkOfAGoodOne - Until you change the password just turn it off whenever you're not using it.

HavenDilemma · 20/04/2020 17:26

@TexanBlueNeck RTFT! 🙄

AgentJohnson · 20/04/2020 17:28

I thought why not.. one other thing connected to it wont harm and she has just moved in.

Hopefully, she has only been a cf regarding your WiFi and hasn’t done anything more sinister. There is a reason why we have passwords!

Call up you ISP and ask them to walk you through changing your password ASAP.

Your lack of tech savvy was reason enough not to divulge your WiFi password.

Giraffey1 · 20/04/2020 17:32

Getting connected to the internet doesn’t require someone to come into your home. They are being cheeky Fs, it was very kind of you initially, if a little misguided as you should never share your passwords. Find out how to change it, now. Change it. Do not share it with neighbours.

Justus77 · 20/04/2020 17:32

Do people even read the thread before posting more of the same?Hmm

Op pls tell us she came back ...

Lemonsherbets78 · 20/04/2020 17:36

Had the same issue with my neighbours, I changed the name of my WiFi and the password and when they asked why they were no longer connected I said mine was down and didn't know when it would be working again, they didn't ask again

Lemonsherbets78 · 20/04/2020 17:37

Have RTFT, just solidarity in freeloading neighbours Grin

EmbarrassedMum1 · 20/04/2020 17:38

You did a nice thing, like you I'd assume it was just until their wifi was connected and they'd stop.

They've over stepped and are taking you for a fool. Change the password immediately. It's not your problem.

masterblaster · 20/04/2020 17:38

The password is generally written on the router.

Jeeperscreepers69 · 20/04/2020 17:40

Why would you allow this. Shes taking the piss out of you. Must be laughing at your stupidness. Shes a bum. Ring provider. Change password

riceuten · 20/04/2020 17:41

Generally changing your password goes something like this

Type the following into your browser window

192.168.0.1

This will normally bring up a dialog page asking for a password, or a log on and password. These will normally be written somewhere on your modem (in Virgin Media's case, it's an 8 figure number)

Input that, and you will be given a menu - one of which will be an ability to change the password (something like "Configure your Wifi network"). Change it. Write it down. Photograph it. Disconnect from the Wifi and then reconnect and add the new password to it. And then change it on any and all the other devices you've got as well. You can actually disconnect the CFs whilst they are attached to your system (there will probably be a "Connected devices" tab). I don't know why you think cutting them off at 8pm will piss them off less than cutting it off completely. JFDI, as the phrase goes.

If they come to your door, explain that enough is enough, they've had plenty of time to organise their own Wifi. They can tether their laptop to their mobile in the meanwhile.

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