Detecting unwanted home wireless network connections from your neighbors

Detecting unwanted home wireless network connections from your neighbors
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Subject Author Date
Detecting unwanted home wireless network connections from your neighbors Malke 06-09-2007
Posted by Malke on June 9, 2007, 6:32 pm
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Does anyone of software to tell HOW MANY connections are to your home
wireless router?

I am setting up my very first wireless router and I would like to know when
someone has connected to my network without my knowledge. Is there windows
freeware to tell us the hostname, ip address, and mac address of all
computers connected to a router?

All I can see looking at the router itself is the start and end dhcp number
but this isn't definitive as machines can come and go on the local network.

I've googled and read tons of stuff on how to set up the Linksys WRT54G
wireless home router, for example - limiting the DHCP number to the precise
number of computers on the home network.

But I can't find the screen or software which shows me exactly who is
connected to my router's internet connection.

Where is the software that tells me WHO is connected to my router?

Posted by Jeff Liebermann on June 9, 2007, 6:58 pm
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>Does anyone of software to tell HOW MANY connections are to your home
>wireless router?
(...)
>Where is the software that tells me WHO is connected to my router?

How many and who are quite different. It's not easy with the WRT54G
because there is no seperate wireless status page. The best you can
do is the DHCP client table at:
<http://www.linksysdata.com/ui/WRT54G/v5/1.00.6/StaLan.htm>
which doesn't show any connection that has a self assigned static IP
address.

The WRT54G also does not directly support syslogd, NetFlow, or SNMP,
so you can't use a router monitor utility to do the job.

One thing you can do is sniff the traffic between the WRT54G and your
cable or DSL modem using something like AirSnare:
<http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/>
or other intrusion detection system.

You can also replace the firmware in your router with an open source
replacement that does offer syslogd, SNMP, and usable status pages.
<http://www.dd-wrt.com>
<http://www.OpenWRT.org>
This should give you a fair simulation of what's available with
DD-WRT. See that various Status pages:
<http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V23final/index.html>

This is my home and office WRT54G routers running DD-WRT v23 sp2.
<https://office.LearnByDestroying.com:8080>
<https://home.LearnByDestroying.com:8080>
The wireless clients list (and DHCP table) are at the bottom of the
page. Note that not all WRT54G hardware mutations can handle
alternative firmware.

>I am setting up my very first wireless router and I would like to know when
>someone has connected to my network without my knowledge. Is there windows
>freeware to tell us the hostname, ip address, and mac address of all
>computers connected to a router?

I think AirSnare will do what you want. Also see:
<http://www.linklogger.com>
<http://sonic.net/wallwatcher/>
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/rflow.php> (requires dd-wrt)
<http://svs.sv.funpic.de/> (may not work with all WRT54G versions)
Then, if you feel ambitious, try DD-WRT firmware.

>All I can see looking at the router itself is the start and end dhcp number
>but this isn't definitive as machines can come and go on the local network.
>
>I've googled and read tons of stuff on how to set up the Linksys WRT54G
>wireless home router, for example - limiting the DHCP number to the precise
>number of computers on the home network.
>
>But I can't find the screen or software which shows me exactly who is
>connected to my router's internet connection.
>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Posted by Malke on June 9, 2007, 8:08 pm
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On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:58:04 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> One thing you can do is sniff the traffic between the WRT54G and your
> cable or DSL modem using something like AirSnare:
> <http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/>
> or other intrusion detection system.

Thank you very much Jeff Lieberman.

It's rare to see such a definitive response to a users' question as yours.

You're in the top few percent of helpful posters! I, for one, will check
out each of your recommendations, in order, starting with AirSnare freeware
to detect who is connected to my wireless router!

Posted by Jeff Liebermann on June 9, 2007, 10:02 pm
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>On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:58:04 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
>> One thing you can do is sniff the traffic between the WRT54G and your
>> cable or DSL modem using something like AirSnare:
>> <http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/>
>> or other intrusion detection system.
>
>Thank you very much Jeff Lieberman.

Y'er welcome, but I do wish you would spell my name correctly. It has
two n's at the end. The 2nd one is a spare in case I get rear ended.

>It's rare to see such a definitive response to a users' question as yours.

I was bored. However, don't worry. It won't happen again.

>You're in the top few percent of helpful posters!

I've been told I am beyond help(ful). Be careful, I'm also fairly
sloppy and do make some mistakes.

>I, for one, will check
>out each of your recommendations, in order, starting with AirSnare freeware
>to detect who is connected to my wireless router!

If you sniff traffic between the modem and router, you'll need to
install some kind of a hub in between. Note that I said hub, not
switch. A switch will not show the traffic on the monitor port. A
hub has all the traffic appearing at the port. An old 10baseT hub
should work fine for all but the fastest cable modem systems.

You can also build a crud passive ethernet tap. (I carry one in my
troubleshooting case).
<http://www.snort.org/docs/tap/>
It took me several tries to get the wiring correct so be careful.

Good luck.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Posted by GlowingBlueMist on June 10, 2007, 12:17 pm
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>
>>On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:58:04 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>>
>>> One thing you can do is sniff the traffic between the WRT54G and your
>>> cable or DSL modem using something like AirSnare:
>>> <http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/>
>>> or other intrusion detection system.
>>
>>Thank you very much Jeff Lieberman.
>
> Y'er welcome, but I do wish you would spell my name correctly. It has
> two n's at the end. The 2nd one is a spare in case I get rear ended.
>
>>It's rare to see such a definitive response to a users' question as yours.
>
> I was bored. However, don't worry. It won't happen again.
>
>>You're in the top few percent of helpful posters!
>
> I've been told I am beyond help(ful). Be careful, I'm also fairly
> sloppy and do make some mistakes.
>
>>I, for one, will check
>>out each of your recommendations, in order, starting with AirSnare
>>freeware
>>to detect who is connected to my wireless router!
>
> If you sniff traffic between the modem and router, you'll need to
> install some kind of a hub in between. Note that I said hub, not
> switch. A switch will not show the traffic on the monitor port. A
> hub has all the traffic appearing at the port. An old 10baseT hub
> should work fine for all but the fastest cable modem systems.
>
> You can also build a crud passive ethernet tap. (I carry one in my
> troubleshooting case).
> <http://www.snort.org/docs/tap/>
> It took me several tries to get the wiring correct so be careful.
>
> Good luck.

You might want to look into the WallWatcher freeware program found at;
http://sonic.net/wallwatcher/
While it will work with the router you have it appears that the router will
need to have it's operating software upgraded, like others have mentioned.
Here is what they say about your router being supported - "WRT54G (with
Sveasoft or HyperWRT Firmware)".

Svasoft - http://www.sveasoft.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/ -
Looks like a cost of $20 per year for the license.

HyperWRT - http://www.hyperwrt.org/Home-Page.shtml - Appears to be freeware,
but a donation would most likely be appreciated if it does what you need it
to.





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