Wireless Connected Strangers.....?

[Seafever]

My computer has wireless capability...I have a Mac address

I've never signed in and I've never used it.

I use a Shaw hardwire router that came with the cable package.

I don't own wireless routers.......

Yet.......when I click on the Network 3 icon in the lower right corner of my screen it shows a bunch of people and names that I don't know that are purportedly connected to me.

There is a transmit aerial on the back of my computer........but like I said I've never gone wireless......

Are these people and user names feeding off my computer somehow?

How can I delete them?

 

[Daveroo]

the list may be the list of available wireless access points around you. If you are really unsure you should be able to Disable the wireless netrwork connection on your computer. You have Mac or PC?

 

[fish stalker]

if your modem or router isnt wireless then they cant.

if your modem blue or black. old shaw ones that are blue arnt wireless. black are.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

Also, there is a good chance that they are forum members that have hacked into your system and are looking for the latest un-tested, 'top secret' lure technology....

 

[bigbruce]

I'm with fishstalker - check your Shaw modem. If it was installed within the past 10 years, I'd be surprised if it wasn't wireless.

 

[Pippen]

Have you made sure you've turned off the wireless on your computer? Look around for a symbol that looks like below....it may be on the keyboard or on the sides of your PC if you have a laptop.

As others have said......I would go out on a limb and say that the wireless is in fact turned on and you are seeing other wireless networks around you. What operating system are you running.....Windows or Mac?

If it is in fact that your modem is wireless and others are stealing your signal you MUST password protect it to keep others out. Call Shaw tech support and they can walk you through it....surprising enough their tech support is pretty darn good and their call centers are in Canada.

 

[Gunsmith]

If you try to log into those networks you will find they are password protected as yours should be. If yours is not password protected then they can access the internet through your router.
Your computer is picking up the other routers in your area that are wireless.

 

[jeffywestcoast]

Most people are on to the wireless thing, if you are hard wired like stated nobody should be able to use your network, but like pipen stated if you have a wireless router and you don't have it password protected you are fair game and you don't even know it. most likely you are just seeing other people wireless networks around you and would be surprised how many people have them unsecure..

 

[Birdsnest]

Macs also have sharing so any other mac in the vicinity of yours they will show up like that. Check to make sure that your sharing is turned off. It likely is but those name will still appear.

 

[Seafever]

When I click on that little icon (Windows7) in the corner that looks like a computer screen with a trident...

It shows a list of users in the area.......when I click them on the "Connect Automatically" box is always checked "ON"

So I turn them off.....and go back in 10 minutes later and the box is checked "On" again.....

I have a blue Shaw modem that is only about 3 years old........it was part of a Shaw upgrade to better modems....

 

[wayne.mck]

Seafever

I do not think the modem you have is wireless so you do not have to worry about anyone getting in if it looks like this
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...CbDUeGAGKfsiQLnz4HADQ&ved=0CFwQ9QEwBA&dur=912
Your computer has wireless capability so is constantly seeking out wifi signals to connect to the internet. If you have a Mac computer instructions to turn off wireless is here http://www.ehow.com/how_6754165_disable-wireless-macbook.html if it is a Windows computer see here http://its.uiowa.edu/support/article/1464

On another note regarding Shaw. I signed up for Shaw high speed (middle plan) internet 6 months ago and they installed a combination modem/wireless router. The connection was so bad that quite often on Skype you could not recognize the person on the other end. I was blaming my computer. Tried some other Shaw and Telus connections (that were actually basic accounts) and the connection was much better. Had Shaw out to see if they could figure out what was going on and they told me that the speed of the connection was correct but the "quality factor" was just barely acceptable. The reason this technician gave (and another one later in the day) was that when Shaw moved to the combination modem/router to compete with Telus they went with what the technician described as old technology. The solution was to return the modem/router and get the old standard modem and purchase a new technology wireless router at Costco. $60 later I now have an excellent connection.

 

[Seafever]

Thanks Wayne....yes that blue modem in the pic is the one I have......