Most people find out someone is stealing their Wi-Fi thanks to how slow the network gets. What happens next is usually just a password change, and that’s it. However, I once took a different approach because of the audacity. What some people don’t realize is that when they put their devices on someone else’s Wi-Fi, they’ve opened up their own door as well.

How your Wi-Fi actually gets broken into

It’s rarely a sophisticated attack

People breaking into a home Wi-Fi network usually look for the easiest way in. The easiest way is also the most embarrassing, which is just guessing the password. A lot of routers come with a default username and password like “admin/admin” that most people never bother changing.

Pair that with a short or obvious Wi-Fi password, and someone with a modern graphics card or a few dollars of cloud computing time can crack their way in surprisingly fast. Beyond simple guessing, one of the most common ways attackers get in is through Wi-Fi Protected Setup, or WPS.

WPS was designed with good intentions because it lets you add devices to your network without typing out a long password, since it uses an 8-digit PIN instead. Unfortunately, the problem is a huge flaw in how routers verify the PIN.

Instead of checking all eight digits at once, the router looks at the PIN in two separate halves, which makes it so much easier to break. I am not going to write down how people break it, but I will say it is much easier than it should be.

I have no idea how someone broke into my mom’s Wi-Fi, but they didn’t try to be sneaky about it. I caught them red-handed.

How I was meaner than I should have been

I did enjoy it while I was messing with neighbors

Credit: Andrew Martonik / How-To Geek

Once a freeloader connects to your Wi-Fi, they’re sitting inside your network, right alongside your own devices. I was helping my mom with her slow Wi-Fi when I noticed far too many devices connected. She had over 26 devices connected to the network, despite only owning a TV, a laptop, and a phone.

I saw a printer, different TVs, a console, and phones all using her Wi-Fi. So I know this was not her at all. The first thing was to find out who it was, and that was pretty easy. I disconnected the console, and within seconds, I heard the neighbor’s kid get loud.

Now, while most people would just have disconnected all the devices and done the immediate change, I’d rather teach lessons. I decided to let them reconnect the console and disconnect it after a few minutes so that I could get the kid loud.

After a few times, I let him play, but I wanted to make them feel uncomfortable. I sent some prints to their printer. I remember that my goal was to make them think the printer had gained consciousness. I connected to the printer and printed out sentences like “Who am I?” “What is this world?” “Why do you use me to make images?”

I also printed out Morgan Freeman’s image. If you’ve ever read that green text, you’ll know why. Unfortunately, this isn’t a sitcom, and they unplugged it or turned it off because I was disconnected very soon into my antics.

From there, I looked over at an open window to see someone using a TV. My mom’s neighbors are very close; these are apartments, so I invited her outside to watch the TV lose signal and to see a grown man get far too angry with his television. If you’re stealing, you shouldn’t expect the best service.

After an hour of being a general menace, I set new passwords and usernames and kicked out all the rogue devices. When the angry neighbor stepped outside, I was waiting outside with my badge around my neck, as I worked in law enforcement at the time. The neighbors seemed to leave my mom alone after that, and I feel a valuable lesson was learned. My mom never had those kinds of issues again.

You should just quickly lock others out

Make sure you change settings, getting rid of the freeloaders

Credit: Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek

I do not recommend doing what I did, and I was a very different person back in those days. Today, I would just kick them out and make password changes. It is better just to get it over with instead of antagonizing them.

The best way to kick freeloaders off your network for good starts with locking down your router’s admin panel. To get there, type your router’s local IP address into a browser. The first thing you should do once you’re in is change the default login credentials.

You can use something like 1Password, but the goal is to make it more difficult than other passwords. While you’re in there, turn off any remote management features that face the public internet; there’s no reason to leave that door cracked open.

Once the admin side is secured, you should probably check your wireless encryption. If your router is still running older security settings, move everything over to WPA2, or better yet, WPA3-Personal.

I don’t like being a jerk, even when it is called for

I regret being so mean to the neighbors, despite them starting it, because it was unbecoming of me. I’m not that same person anymore, and I will always advise against it. Changing your Wi-Fi password and calling it done works well enough if the goal is just to get someone off the network today. However, if you want to ensure your network is completely secure, be sure to follow the other tips outlined above.