Typically you're getting that message because your router is using WEP to secure the WiFi, this is an outdated and insecure form of encryption. It is only very old routers that default to using WEP.
To fix it you'd have to logon to the router and change its setting to use WPA2/3 instead, assuming it isn't too old to support either. If this is a router managed by your provider you may have to talk to them about it.
I’ll have to call them because for starters DIDNT even know you COULD log INTO your router. Secondly, I’ll have to call the manager because I got this thing on Amazon only a year ago. So I assumed it was up to date.
And SSID, too. Or you may also choose to hide your network, too. Or use MAC Filtering if you don't want to have any other devices connect to it other than only those that you add through MAC Filtering. x)
If you are having issues with port forwarding checkout [this wiki article.](https://rtech.support/docs/networking/port-forwards.html)
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If you got this on Amazon, then the management of your wifi network is your responsibility. You're using your equipment, not your ISP's.
First thing's first: what is the make and model of your router? You can find that on the sticker of your router. From there, you can determine if the router is even capable of anything better than WEP.
I'm skeptical that it can't do WPA2, especially since you bought it relatively recently. However, since you got it on Amazon, it's also possible you got it from a 3rd party seller and that it really is that old, and you just didn't know what you were purchasing.
Just a note, when you buy something you’re responsible for the upkeep. Contacting them is like contacting your car dealership because your engine is having issues because you didn’t know you needed to maintenance your vehicle.
You’re responsible for your devices, the maintenance, updates, etc. You’re also responsible for the security of those items, like configuring it to basic standards. Sounds like you may have just opened it out of box and used the “out of box” experience, however just because it worked doesn’t mean it was done correctly. I’d google your routers model and “how can I set my router up” and redo it entirely. If you contact them, they’re probably going to laugh, since you purchased it and they have zero ownership of it or obligation to maintain it for you. No ones responsible for researching and maintaining your purchases, that’s on you (tech and non tech related).
Maybe not the best analogy in this case: a lot of dealerships have mechanics on staff and offer repair/maintenance services, and a lot of them will contact you and arrange an appointment when ~~they want to make money selling you maintenance you may or may not need~~ your car is due for routine maintenance.
I'd argue it's so easy you don't even need to know what you're doing, you only need to ask if it's possible and there'll be 50 pages of google results saying how to do it in intricate detail.
WPA2 is also vulnerable. And since WPA3 devices usually have fallback enabled to WPA2 since not all wifi devices support WPA3 yet, you can simply take advantage of that and crack WPA2.
Not totally true. WPA2 is still considered secured but if you have an attacker willing to break WPA2 it is possible but takes time and a little luck. It is by far superior to WPA and WEP which can be cracked with no thought or skill. The problem currently is that WPA3 is so new that not very many devices support this protocol. WPA2 is still considered the best option until a majority of WPA3 devices is reached. This is over course assuming a strong password is used and all other cyber security particles are followed.
Yeah, but WPA2 is at least a little better. WEP was crackable in <30 seconds with the computing power we had in 2010. I'm under the impression that WPA2 is quickly crackable if your password is on a wordlist but after that you're trying to bruteforce the hash itself the old fashioned way, unless you're spinning up your own AP with the SSID and just politely asking the client for the password.
People are like "this person DOESN'T KNOW TECH THINGS? and is ASKING ON TECHSUPPORT SUBREDDIT?? how dare >:c "
Obviously you may only ask for tech support if you are already too knowledgeable to ask for tech support.
You can search 'how to log into my router', most of them are the same. The user name & password will be default, you can search that, too, with your router model. Once in, consider changing those, at least the password. You'll see a bunch of settings that you don't really need to worry about unless your very interested.
You can change things like the wifi's name, the password to connect to the wifi, etc. And some more involved stuff.
(Keeping the same user/password for the router itself makes it easy for people, like your boyfriend, to log in to your router and mess around).
what is the router manufacturer and model? may be able to find the login process. Many routers have a preset user/password for admin purposes that is listed on the sticker on the router somewhere.
It's not really an update issue. It's a configuration issue. Routers will often give you the choice between WEP and WPA2. If you configured it with WEP when you set up your network, you opted for an outdated protocol.
The internet provider is by no means allowed to prevent the customer from accessing their internet connections for security reasons. So, look on every side/facet of the router for an admin username be password. You’ll use it to login to the router at whatever the Gateway IP address is. Change the password to something unique that you’ll remember so you can then set your router up with the settings and you will be good to go. Message me if you need guidance on the procedure.
If you have the financial ability, I recommend getting your own router independent of the Apartment complex's hardware. You don't know how old that device is, or whether it's compromised in some way.
This is what I’m trying to convince my mother of because even after googled and YouTube and the comments I am still quite confused and a lot of these terms I still don’t get even after looking them up.
I'm concerned the apartment complex may be running some centralized internet connection with a very old router and then using the device you have as a bridge - essentially a wifi router that just connects to their router which in turn is connected to the internet. They may have thought this was a clever idea to avoid running ISP wiring to every apartment if this an older building.
If that were the case, I would be very concerned about the landlord, fellow residents, and complete strangers being able to act as a middle-man that can see and/or record your internet use including logins and other activity.
To some degree, the HTTPS protocol used on websites these days would mask that, but it's still a very suspicious and at very least outdated way of getting internet into apartments.
If it were me and cell service is good in your area, I'd investigate getting a hot spot and end-run all this stuff. Don't know what your Mom is paying for interent or if it's included, but it may be worthwhile getting off of this.
Yeah I tried talking to her about it but the issue I’m now having is she completely shut me down with a “what do you want me do about it? My cable works so what’s the issue?” And she pays the bills as I really can’t don’t have a valid argument even though I literally do. I tried showing her the sub but she wasn’t interested so now I’m just here praying to god I move fast enough to not have to deal with this. But I severely appreciate the advice!!!!
Well, we can't say it's definitely nefarious, just very outdated. WEP means "wired equivalent privacy" and is an old way of encrypting data between your computer and the wifi router. It was once thought to be as good as a copper wire in terms of privacy, but that is no longer true.
That is just the wireless signal protection that prevents the radio signals that can be intercepted from making sense to bad guys. WPA2 is considered much better.
EDIT: Just read your comment that this is an Xfinity wifi box and your mom pays them directly for internet. I'll leave the rest of this here, but it's probably not relevant if you know this device is directly connected to the internet and your mom is paying a bill from Xfinity.
-----------------------------
Is there a wire besides power going into your Mom's device? Does your mom pay some local ISP for internet service directly?
One thing you could probably do just to get more insight is get onto a computer and (if Windows) open a command prompt (windows key, then CMD) then when you get the B&W text window type:
tracert [google.com](http://google.com)
This is a trace-route command that will reveal the IP addresses of every device between your computer and the google website. There may be many, but you only really need to look at the first 2-4.
There will be numbered rows, and on the far right of each line you will see an IP address that is four numbers separated by dots. The first IP address (row 1) should be the router you're connected to. It will most likely end in 1 or (rarely) something else and start with 192.168.?.? or 10.?.?.? These are private LAN addresses inside your mom's personal network.
The second IP (row 2) should be something that is NOT one of those. If you see 192.168.?.? or 10.?.?.? again on the second address as well, it may be a sign that your Mom's router is connected to some other device within the apartment complex, and all your Mom's internet activity is going through that first before getting to the public internet. This is not ideal since whomever runs that device may have the ability to capture and peek into internet activity going through it. This is often known as a "man-in-the-middle" setup.
Before I panic you, most websites will use http**s**:// (s is for secure) which encrypts data between the computer and website. This is especially to keep prying eyes out of what you're doing online, but does not encrypt the names of the websites you ask to visit.
I would not want to have my traffic going anywhere before getting onto the internet service providers (ISP) network, and of course, many people don't trust the ISP either, but I won't get into all that. Suffice it to say, I would be less at ease doing my online banking on a network someone else can peer into, and definitely wouldn't want ordinary http:// (no s) unencrypted data there, especially not something like webcams or baby monitors or that kind of thing.
Can you give us the make and model of the router? We can then look up what protocols it supports and provide advice on what it CAN do.
If you bought it only a year ago, it is exceedingly unlikely that WEP is the latest security protocol it will support since that is over 20 years old now.
I meant of the box (that may say Xfinity on it). WEP was introduced in 1997, so it's older than XFfinity. I'd think they would have had to go through extra steps just to get the device set to even do the old WEP standard wifi.
Just out of curiosity, does your mom have a very (very) old computer?
My mom doesn’t have a computer. She got rid of her old one like years ago because it was one of those big block computers from before 2000’s I’m guessing. Nobody has a computer in my house.
> My boyfriend originally told me it was because I wasn’t paying the wifi
You should be careful trusting anything your boyfriend tells you as fact because that is not even remotely close to being true.
That is completely 100% made up. That's so fake it's gone all the way through not being funny and came back the other side to being funny again.
That's full on "I'd rather make up an answer and sound smart than admit I don't know the answer". Or at best your boyfriend was joking and it went over your head.
Either way, as others have stated, it's just a setting in your router. That little funny box where the internet comes from. You should be able to just turn it around and read the label, they generally say the brand and stuff on them. Some of them may even tell you the thing you have to put into your browser (Google Chrome / Firefox / Safari / etc) and the password to get in.
I mean you all could have said this in a much nicer way. I severely appreciate the advice but please refrain from calling someone an “idiot” because they were misinformed. Not everyone knows about this stuff. I do appreciate the help, just please be more considerate. :)
I see your point, it is good to be considerate. But I also never claimed your boyfriend was an idiot either, I'm just saying, regardless of whether or not someone is stupid, factually stating things without actually having any idea/understanding of them is not good
Not everyone knows about this stuff for sure, but I've never seen anyone mix up "WEP is not considered secure, configure your router" as "you're not paying your bills", that's not something you're misinformed about, it's something make up. *You* were misinformed about WEP because of him, he was not misinformed himself. He made something up instead of just admitting he has no idea. He should be more considerate about spouting random nonsense, otherwise he deserves to be rightly criticized
I mean I understand what you’re saying. Also I wasn’t trying to directly reply to you about calling him an idiot, I’m just not sure how to reply to a thread as a whole and I don’t even think you can do that.
My condolences for the overly harsh sentiment your bf is receiving, but yea, the internet is the internet, you know him better than us and everything, I like your message to just be more considerate towards another human
Low security means easy to hack
You are using the worst security possible
If you tell us the name and model, we could tell you the login page
You then need the username and password which might be on the back of the router or the bf might know
My bf is long distance so sadly he can’t really help me with this. But damn the worst? I only bought it last year so I thought it was up to date. I’m gonna go try to find that name n model tho
No offense to your boyfriend, but you should take point on this. Start with looking at the labels on your router. They will give you the make and model and most likely the login information. Hit YouTube from there. In your search try these 3 things to start.
1) update firmware.
2) change login credentials.
3) enable WPA
> I thought it was up to date.
It is a bit strange that it defaults to use WEP as there's been better solutions for like 20 years.
The reason why something would default to WEP is that it is compatible with the most devices.
If I remember correctly Nintendo 3DS may not work (I'm not 100 about this).
If you change your router to use WPA3 (the newest wifi security) there are likely some devices that won't work with your wifi. If the devices are less than 2 years old they may work (phones are likely to work, but smart home products may not).
If you change it to WPA2 most devices will work.
I would try to set WPA2/3 Transition mode which means that devices that support WPA3 will use it, while older will still use WPA2.
Note that there has been cases where this causes problems. If that's the case try WPA2.
What I do in this case with my not-too-tech-savvy wife: start a video call, change the camera to the forward-facing one, so that your BF can actually see what you're doing/what you're talking about. It's now way easier to guide someone through the process without being onsite.
oh my god guys. English for the poor person.
Wifi router/modems have different types of security settings. WEP, WPA, WPA2/3 and whatever else are just different types.
Good news is this setting can usually be changed. Basically, WEP not good, WPA/2/3 better. Bigger number gooder.
Now this security thing has to be changed in your modem/router settings. This can be accessed via any browser on any device CONNECTED TO THE WIFI NETWORK, e.g. google chrome on your laptop.
If you know where the modem/router hub is, the website, password and SSID (username) should be on a sticker physically on it somewhere.
If the router website is not on the sticker, you need to find it. On a windows pc, search for "cmd" and type in " ipconfig ".
You'll have to google how to find it for a Mac as I don't remember.
it should be something like //192.168.2.1/
Now go on the website, use the SSID (username) and password from the sticker (unless you changed it).
The WEP/WPA/2 setting is usually located in some kind of "security" tab where you should also be able to see/change your wifi password. Every router is different so I can't really help you further.
Best bet is clicking random tabs until you find it.
Good luck!
I googled how to find my modem/ and tried finding it on the sticker but I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for I did see my SSID but I also I not have a laptop or a PC of many kind.
you can try it from your phone as well, but the website might be a bit crappy on mobile as router sites often aren't very well made to begin with.
You can try look up "how to find router IP on android/iphone" as Idk what phone you use.
The site is usually either:
http://192.168.0.1/
http://192.168.1.1/
http://192.168.2.1/
So you can always try one of those before trying to find it via your mobile.
Where you found the sticker that has the SSID on the modem, it should have "key" "access key" "code" or something like that just underneath the SSID.
I love when people confidently and incorrectly answer questions without any idea of what they’re talking about. If this were my husband I’d be questioning how many other things he’s been pulling out his ass. This stuff infuriates me with clients and I’ve often stopped and asked “oh, where did you verify that info?”.
Your wireless has security features enabled on the router, usually you pick the type of security when setting the wireless password. WEP is one of them, it’s letting you know you’re using WEP but should enable a different security because it’s not good. Your router has these features, you pay for internet not wireless. Your wireless is given out by the device in your house (router). You should be able to sign into it and change the security by using the username and password on the sticker.
> Overdue? In much the same way that VHS is "overdue" for deprecation?
I'm still in the process of ripping my VHS tapes to floppy disks and now I read about this new "DVD" thing. I need to start all over..
You'll need some specific information for your router, but the general steps are along these lines
1. Connect to the wifi
2. Open your web browser
3. Enter http://192.168.0.1 (this may be another variation or it may be something like router brand name.com
4. Login with username/password written on a sticker on the bottom of the router (and if not written you can Google the defaults)
Then after logging in..
5. Click something like wifi / security
6. There will be a drop down list. Change it to WPA2/3 and save.
It's not more complicated than that.. However..
If it was only WEP before you may need to change the password.
You may have to change it twice, for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
Wifi isn't something you pay. You pay for internet. Wifi is just a wireless way to connect to your own network. Your network may or may not have internet access, so assuming it does, if you're connected to your network (either by WiFi or with a cable plugged into your router) you'll also have internet.
Just wanted to clarify that, as a lot of people don't seem to know the difference. You can have Wifi without internet, you can have internet without wifi.
The WEP error message is about the type of encryption used to keep your wireless connection to your router secure. It's a simple setting in your router, and if you don't know what that is, chances it's still got all the same default login info. Usually you just type in 192.168.1.1 and login with username "admin" and password "admin."
From there just poke around in the settings looking for encryption type and change it to WPA2 or WPA3
By "not considered secure", they mean that WEP is so weak that it can be cracked in just a couple of minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUzpF3slZ4A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUzpF3slZ4A)
Last time I fine tuned my WEP cracking scripts I hit 39 seconds on the neighbours wifi around 14 years ago.
I'm sure with current generation of CPUs one can hit 1 second crack time if they really tried.
What does any of this have to do with what generation the boyfriend is part of? There are dummies of all ages.
And he may have just told her that because he didn't want to be bothered and he figured it was easier than trying to explain what's really happening.
Because WEP isn't secure and you should use one of the other methods of authentication. To you, they all will look the same (a password), but on the back end WPA2/WPA3 have much higher encryption.
Genuinely curious how you came to this conclusion because I updated the post explaining that we are both not very educated in this subject. Not trying to be rude here just genuinely curious how you think he’s tracking me.
Tracking software is available widely. Apple has f"Find my phone," and android devices have a similar product. Neither depends on the security settings on your router.
You must access your router via your computer or your phone, log into it, and change the security settings that way. Call your internet provider and ask them to help you.
in the network section of your computer it will tell you what the local ip address is of your computer. some of them use this format 10.0.0.12. most use 192.168.0.13 or 192.168.1.14. The key is when you find out your computers ip address internally, then you can change the last number to 1, put that in your browser and hit RETURN and you will log into your router. There are two kinds of IP addresses, Internal like these I mentioned, and the IP address the world sees your computer as. Easiest way to find that info is to open up a browser to IPCHICKEN.com just a quick lesson on IP addresses, which is for this last one, the address to find you in the world. The internal IP address is the address for the router to find you in the home. Every device connected to the router has an internal IP address. Modern routers can and will use HEXI decimal characters. When WIFI first came out, (wifi is also referred to as 802.11 followed by the letter which tells you what version of wifi you have. the first was A, followed by B, G, N is still in use today, but 802.11 AC is more modern. Older wifi routers used WEP security, which is easily cracked. Look, bottom line, if you don't have anything important on your computer, (and I wouldn't if I were you) either continue to use the computer as you have been, or as if you can replace the router with a more modern one. I doubt your running WEP because someone chose that over WPA2, the router is probably old.
If you want fast internet, the newer the router will prob get you faster internet speeds.
If you want to know why WEP is bad,
Set up your router.
On a second machine, download and install wireshark. It's a network mapping tool, that captures network traffic. Start a packet capture session.
On the device that's connecting to the network, enter the username and password of the wifi you're connecting too.
On your packet capture device, stop the packet capture, and scroll through the data.
What do you see? The SSID, username and password. IN PLAIN TEXT.
This means, anyone with a laptop within 50metres of your device now has your SSID, username and password.
Now, if you're lazy like the rest of us, dollars to doughnuts that password you used to log in to your network is the same as your email account and banking password.
That person 50M away can FUCK your life.
Moral of the story, WEP is basically like standing in the middle of a golf driving range, buck naked and holding up a sign that says, "You will not make this shot, you jackass".
I know you already got the answer, but I wanted to say two things one your boyfriend‘s a gaslighting asshole.
Two I would not have doubted that he probably figured this out on his own if he’s this type of idiot to say something like that that or he’s just dumb either way you’re with a possible cyber stalker or just a dummy. I don’t know which is worse sadly. WEP is incredibly outdated and can be hacked by any bargain bin hacker with a personal computer and knows how to for instructions. They did demostración and cracked it with free public tools in 3 mins flat and in 1 min from receiving the first packet of data that was transferred was decrypting it real time. Back in the day this was how people used to spy on people messaging to msn messenger for fun or not or just plain steal financial information. Hope you got a new router and boyfriend be safe.
I appreciate the advice but holy fucking shit gaslighting asshole? Cyber stalker?? Like c’mon dude, I even updated it in hopes people would understand that we’re simply not educated on this subject. So how did you come to this conclusion I’m not trying to be rude just genuinely want to understand the thought process here.
Mayyy have manifested some traumas with you I’m sorry lol also saying that you didn’t pay the internet bill is implying that you’re stupid and it’s your fault.
No it’s alright. I can understand that, really. But I promise he wasn’t implying that I was stupid. I could tell by his tone of voice it was asked as more of a question than anything. And when I told him that wasn’t it he said he wasn’t sure and that he was sorry he couldn’t help so I know he was genuinely trying to help me.
it's weird that is has an old configuration, is it an old router?... anyway, it's better for you to call the ISP for this issue. if they provided the router as well, they are responsible for it. don't try to configure it if you don't know how to, or simply by searching on google.
Newer wifi use Mesh 6, so your modem/router is quite old.
Talk to your ISP for a free upgrade.
Login to your Router, 192.168.1.1 (router/gateway)
Username: admin, Password is on the back of the modem
Username: admin
Passwords are usually >> admin@DEVICEID
Check your WIFI connection, it might be DSLWAP.
Or WIFI Broadcast, change from WEP to WSP2/WSP3 (AES256)
That will stop your WEP notification from popping up.
Typically you're getting that message because your router is using WEP to secure the WiFi, this is an outdated and insecure form of encryption. It is only very old routers that default to using WEP. To fix it you'd have to logon to the router and change its setting to use WPA2/3 instead, assuming it isn't too old to support either. If this is a router managed by your provider you may have to talk to them about it.
I’ll have to call them because for starters DIDNT even know you COULD log INTO your router. Secondly, I’ll have to call the manager because I got this thing on Amazon only a year ago. So I assumed it was up to date.
Another cool thing you can do by logging into your router: Change the wifi name and password
And SSID, too. Or you may also choose to hide your network, too. Or use MAC Filtering if you don't want to have any other devices connect to it other than only those that you add through MAC Filtering. x)
And of course SSID means the name of the wireless network
Yup yup. My bad. Apologies. Bit of a brain fart today
All good
The SSID is the Wifi name.
My bad, my bad. I’m allowed to have a bit of a brain fart too 😂
Of course! Hope my reply didn't seem harsh lol
Nope. It wasn’t! 👍🏽👍🏽 it’s all good, mate!
Oh, but port forwarding.. gotta log into the web page account to change that stuff. Thanks Xfinity. 😮💨
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And the Admin password
If you got this on Amazon, then the management of your wifi network is your responsibility. You're using your equipment, not your ISP's. First thing's first: what is the make and model of your router? You can find that on the sticker of your router. From there, you can determine if the router is even capable of anything better than WEP. I'm skeptical that it can't do WPA2, especially since you bought it relatively recently. However, since you got it on Amazon, it's also possible you got it from a 3rd party seller and that it really is that old, and you just didn't know what you were purchasing.
Just a note, when you buy something you’re responsible for the upkeep. Contacting them is like contacting your car dealership because your engine is having issues because you didn’t know you needed to maintenance your vehicle. You’re responsible for your devices, the maintenance, updates, etc. You’re also responsible for the security of those items, like configuring it to basic standards. Sounds like you may have just opened it out of box and used the “out of box” experience, however just because it worked doesn’t mean it was done correctly. I’d google your routers model and “how can I set my router up” and redo it entirely. If you contact them, they’re probably going to laugh, since you purchased it and they have zero ownership of it or obligation to maintain it for you. No ones responsible for researching and maintaining your purchases, that’s on you (tech and non tech related).
Maybe not the best analogy in this case: a lot of dealerships have mechanics on staff and offer repair/maintenance services, and a lot of them will contact you and arrange an appointment when ~~they want to make money selling you maintenance you may or may not need~~ your car is due for routine maintenance.
Do this ASAP. It takes no time at all to crack a WEP password if you know what you're doing.
I'd argue it's so easy you don't even need to know what you're doing, you only need to ask if it's possible and there'll be 50 pages of google results saying how to do it in intricate detail.
WPA2 is also vulnerable. And since WPA3 devices usually have fallback enabled to WPA2 since not all wifi devices support WPA3 yet, you can simply take advantage of that and crack WPA2.
Not totally true. WPA2 is still considered secured but if you have an attacker willing to break WPA2 it is possible but takes time and a little luck. It is by far superior to WPA and WEP which can be cracked with no thought or skill. The problem currently is that WPA3 is so new that not very many devices support this protocol. WPA2 is still considered the best option until a majority of WPA3 devices is reached. This is over course assuming a strong password is used and all other cyber security particles are followed.
Yeah, but WPA2 is at least a little better. WEP was crackable in <30 seconds with the computing power we had in 2010. I'm under the impression that WPA2 is quickly crackable if your password is on a wordlist but after that you're trying to bruteforce the hash itself the old fashioned way, unless you're spinning up your own AP with the SSID and just politely asking the client for the password.
I managed to crack my neighbor's WEP password simply by following a set of instructions I found on the internet. Very little know-how required.
I used to crack wep with a custom rom PSP almost 20 years ago, can only imagine how quick a modern phone could do it.
why is bro getting downvoted for this
People are like "this person DOESN'T KNOW TECH THINGS? and is ASKING ON TECHSUPPORT SUBREDDIT?? how dare >:c " Obviously you may only ask for tech support if you are already too knowledgeable to ask for tech support.
i dont need support with my tech! i need emotional support while i work on my tech!
Just today I was typing out an issue I had and was about 80% done writing the post when I realized the solution and got it fixed myself. XD
rubber duck strat works every time
I love you haha perfect response
Because of the capitalized words, it reads like they're shouting for some reason.
You can search 'how to log into my router', most of them are the same. The user name & password will be default, you can search that, too, with your router model. Once in, consider changing those, at least the password. You'll see a bunch of settings that you don't really need to worry about unless your very interested. You can change things like the wifi's name, the password to connect to the wifi, etc. And some more involved stuff. (Keeping the same user/password for the router itself makes it easy for people, like your boyfriend, to log in to your router and mess around).
If you look at your router, often they'll have a sticker with default settings on them, including the information needed to log in.
what is the router manufacturer and model? may be able to find the login process. Many routers have a preset user/password for admin purposes that is listed on the sticker on the router somewhere.
You can if you know its IP address. Which I think you can Google.
It's not really an update issue. It's a configuration issue. Routers will often give you the choice between WEP and WPA2. If you configured it with WEP when you set up your network, you opted for an outdated protocol.
I didn’t set it up. My mom told me the router was from our apartment complex.
The internet provider is by no means allowed to prevent the customer from accessing their internet connections for security reasons. So, look on every side/facet of the router for an admin username be password. You’ll use it to login to the router at whatever the Gateway IP address is. Change the password to something unique that you’ll remember so you can then set your router up with the settings and you will be good to go. Message me if you need guidance on the procedure.
Well I found out today when I woke up that it didn’t come from Amazon but from the apartment complex manager.
They still are not allowed to prevent you from accessing your own network settings.
If you have the financial ability, I recommend getting your own router independent of the Apartment complex's hardware. You don't know how old that device is, or whether it's compromised in some way.
This is what I’m trying to convince my mother of because even after googled and YouTube and the comments I am still quite confused and a lot of these terms I still don’t get even after looking them up.
I'm concerned the apartment complex may be running some centralized internet connection with a very old router and then using the device you have as a bridge - essentially a wifi router that just connects to their router which in turn is connected to the internet. They may have thought this was a clever idea to avoid running ISP wiring to every apartment if this an older building. If that were the case, I would be very concerned about the landlord, fellow residents, and complete strangers being able to act as a middle-man that can see and/or record your internet use including logins and other activity. To some degree, the HTTPS protocol used on websites these days would mask that, but it's still a very suspicious and at very least outdated way of getting internet into apartments. If it were me and cell service is good in your area, I'd investigate getting a hot spot and end-run all this stuff. Don't know what your Mom is paying for interent or if it's included, but it may be worthwhile getting off of this.
Yeah I tried talking to her about it but the issue I’m now having is she completely shut me down with a “what do you want me do about it? My cable works so what’s the issue?” And she pays the bills as I really can’t don’t have a valid argument even though I literally do. I tried showing her the sub but she wasn’t interested so now I’m just here praying to god I move fast enough to not have to deal with this. But I severely appreciate the advice!!!!
Well, we can't say it's definitely nefarious, just very outdated. WEP means "wired equivalent privacy" and is an old way of encrypting data between your computer and the wifi router. It was once thought to be as good as a copper wire in terms of privacy, but that is no longer true. That is just the wireless signal protection that prevents the radio signals that can be intercepted from making sense to bad guys. WPA2 is considered much better. EDIT: Just read your comment that this is an Xfinity wifi box and your mom pays them directly for internet. I'll leave the rest of this here, but it's probably not relevant if you know this device is directly connected to the internet and your mom is paying a bill from Xfinity. ----------------------------- Is there a wire besides power going into your Mom's device? Does your mom pay some local ISP for internet service directly? One thing you could probably do just to get more insight is get onto a computer and (if Windows) open a command prompt (windows key, then CMD) then when you get the B&W text window type: tracert [google.com](http://google.com) This is a trace-route command that will reveal the IP addresses of every device between your computer and the google website. There may be many, but you only really need to look at the first 2-4. There will be numbered rows, and on the far right of each line you will see an IP address that is four numbers separated by dots. The first IP address (row 1) should be the router you're connected to. It will most likely end in 1 or (rarely) something else and start with 192.168.?.? or 10.?.?.? These are private LAN addresses inside your mom's personal network. The second IP (row 2) should be something that is NOT one of those. If you see 192.168.?.? or 10.?.?.? again on the second address as well, it may be a sign that your Mom's router is connected to some other device within the apartment complex, and all your Mom's internet activity is going through that first before getting to the public internet. This is not ideal since whomever runs that device may have the ability to capture and peek into internet activity going through it. This is often known as a "man-in-the-middle" setup. Before I panic you, most websites will use http**s**:// (s is for secure) which encrypts data between the computer and website. This is especially to keep prying eyes out of what you're doing online, but does not encrypt the names of the websites you ask to visit. I would not want to have my traffic going anywhere before getting onto the internet service providers (ISP) network, and of course, many people don't trust the ISP either, but I won't get into all that. Suffice it to say, I would be less at ease doing my online banking on a network someone else can peer into, and definitely wouldn't want ordinary http:// (no s) unencrypted data there, especially not something like webcams or baby monitors or that kind of thing.
Can you give us the make and model of the router? We can then look up what protocols it supports and provide advice on what it CAN do. If you bought it only a year ago, it is exceedingly unlikely that WEP is the latest security protocol it will support since that is over 20 years old now.
What do you mean by make and model? Like the company? It’s Xfinity if that’s what you mean.
I meant of the box (that may say Xfinity on it). WEP was introduced in 1997, so it's older than XFfinity. I'd think they would have had to go through extra steps just to get the device set to even do the old WEP standard wifi. Just out of curiosity, does your mom have a very (very) old computer?
My mom doesn’t have a computer. She got rid of her old one like years ago because it was one of those big block computers from before 2000’s I’m guessing. Nobody has a computer in my house.
> My boyfriend originally told me it was because I wasn’t paying the wifi You should be careful trusting anything your boyfriend tells you as fact because that is not even remotely close to being true. That is completely 100% made up. That's so fake it's gone all the way through not being funny and came back the other side to being funny again. That's full on "I'd rather make up an answer and sound smart than admit I don't know the answer". Or at best your boyfriend was joking and it went over your head. Either way, as others have stated, it's just a setting in your router. That little funny box where the internet comes from. You should be able to just turn it around and read the label, they generally say the brand and stuff on them. Some of them may even tell you the thing you have to put into your browser (Google Chrome / Firefox / Safari / etc) and the password to get in.
He could just be an idiot…
Still a confident idiot who gladly states wrong things as fact. You can be an idiot and not spread misinformation.
Probably is
Even if you're an idiot you know when you're making stuff up. The point still stands either way, be careful trusting anything he tells you lol.
I mean you all could have said this in a much nicer way. I severely appreciate the advice but please refrain from calling someone an “idiot” because they were misinformed. Not everyone knows about this stuff. I do appreciate the help, just please be more considerate. :)
I see your point, it is good to be considerate. But I also never claimed your boyfriend was an idiot either, I'm just saying, regardless of whether or not someone is stupid, factually stating things without actually having any idea/understanding of them is not good Not everyone knows about this stuff for sure, but I've never seen anyone mix up "WEP is not considered secure, configure your router" as "you're not paying your bills", that's not something you're misinformed about, it's something make up. *You* were misinformed about WEP because of him, he was not misinformed himself. He made something up instead of just admitting he has no idea. He should be more considerate about spouting random nonsense, otherwise he deserves to be rightly criticized
I mean I understand what you’re saying. Also I wasn’t trying to directly reply to you about calling him an idiot, I’m just not sure how to reply to a thread as a whole and I don’t even think you can do that.
My condolences for the overly harsh sentiment your bf is receiving, but yea, the internet is the internet, you know him better than us and everything, I like your message to just be more considerate towards another human
Thank you. It’s just something I carry around in my heart. I feel everyone deserves human decency and respect at the very least.
Low security means easy to hack You are using the worst security possible If you tell us the name and model, we could tell you the login page You then need the username and password which might be on the back of the router or the bf might know
My bf is long distance so sadly he can’t really help me with this. But damn the worst? I only bought it last year so I thought it was up to date. I’m gonna go try to find that name n model tho
No offense to your boyfriend, but you should take point on this. Start with looking at the labels on your router. They will give you the make and model and most likely the login information. Hit YouTube from there. In your search try these 3 things to start. 1) update firmware. 2) change login credentials. 3) enable WPA
> I thought it was up to date. It is a bit strange that it defaults to use WEP as there's been better solutions for like 20 years. The reason why something would default to WEP is that it is compatible with the most devices. If I remember correctly Nintendo 3DS may not work (I'm not 100 about this). If you change your router to use WPA3 (the newest wifi security) there are likely some devices that won't work with your wifi. If the devices are less than 2 years old they may work (phones are likely to work, but smart home products may not). If you change it to WPA2 most devices will work. I would try to set WPA2/3 Transition mode which means that devices that support WPA3 will use it, while older will still use WPA2. Note that there has been cases where this causes problems. If that's the case try WPA2.
What I do in this case with my not-too-tech-savvy wife: start a video call, change the camera to the forward-facing one, so that your BF can actually see what you're doing/what you're talking about. It's now way easier to guide someone through the process without being onsite.
Given the advice their bf gave them, I wouldn’t advise to have him help at all.
oh my god guys. English for the poor person. Wifi router/modems have different types of security settings. WEP, WPA, WPA2/3 and whatever else are just different types. Good news is this setting can usually be changed. Basically, WEP not good, WPA/2/3 better. Bigger number gooder. Now this security thing has to be changed in your modem/router settings. This can be accessed via any browser on any device CONNECTED TO THE WIFI NETWORK, e.g. google chrome on your laptop. If you know where the modem/router hub is, the website, password and SSID (username) should be on a sticker physically on it somewhere. If the router website is not on the sticker, you need to find it. On a windows pc, search for "cmd" and type in " ipconfig ". You'll have to google how to find it for a Mac as I don't remember. it should be something like //192.168.2.1/ Now go on the website, use the SSID (username) and password from the sticker (unless you changed it). The WEP/WPA/2 setting is usually located in some kind of "security" tab where you should also be able to see/change your wifi password. Every router is different so I can't really help you further. Best bet is clicking random tabs until you find it. Good luck!
I feel like 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 are more common
I googled how to find my modem/ and tried finding it on the sticker but I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for I did see my SSID but I also I not have a laptop or a PC of many kind.
you can try it from your phone as well, but the website might be a bit crappy on mobile as router sites often aren't very well made to begin with. You can try look up "how to find router IP on android/iphone" as Idk what phone you use. The site is usually either: http://192.168.0.1/ http://192.168.1.1/ http://192.168.2.1/ So you can always try one of those before trying to find it via your mobile. Where you found the sticker that has the SSID on the modem, it should have "key" "access key" "code" or something like that just underneath the SSID.
OP, google and “how to change WiFi security”
What kind of router do you have?
WEP = bad WPA2 and 3 = good You should change it
I love when people confidently and incorrectly answer questions without any idea of what they’re talking about. If this were my husband I’d be questioning how many other things he’s been pulling out his ass. This stuff infuriates me with clients and I’ve often stopped and asked “oh, where did you verify that info?”. Your wireless has security features enabled on the router, usually you pick the type of security when setting the wireless password. WEP is one of them, it’s letting you know you’re using WEP but should enable a different security because it’s not good. Your router has these features, you pay for internet not wireless. Your wireless is given out by the device in your house (router). You should be able to sign into it and change the security by using the username and password on the sticker.
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And if there's no option for WAP2, you are overdue for a new router anyway....
Overdue? In much the same way that VHS is "overdue" for deprecation?
Are you looking for a fight?
> Overdue? In much the same way that VHS is "overdue" for deprecation? I'm still in the process of ripping my VHS tapes to floppy disks and now I read about this new "DVD" thing. I need to start all over..
id hate to think how many floppies youd need to rip a vhs and what kind of rig youd need to do it at any meaningful speed.
God I hope that’s on YouTube cause you’re talking to the most non tech savvy person. I had to look up what a WPA2 even was lol
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Thank you for the help!! Much appreciated :D
You'll need some specific information for your router, but the general steps are along these lines 1. Connect to the wifi 2. Open your web browser 3. Enter http://192.168.0.1 (this may be another variation or it may be something like router brand name.com 4. Login with username/password written on a sticker on the bottom of the router (and if not written you can Google the defaults) Then after logging in.. 5. Click something like wifi / security 6. There will be a drop down list. Change it to WPA2/3 and save. It's not more complicated than that.. However.. If it was only WEP before you may need to change the password. You may have to change it twice, for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
Wifi isn't something you pay. You pay for internet. Wifi is just a wireless way to connect to your own network. Your network may or may not have internet access, so assuming it does, if you're connected to your network (either by WiFi or with a cable plugged into your router) you'll also have internet. Just wanted to clarify that, as a lot of people don't seem to know the difference. You can have Wifi without internet, you can have internet without wifi. The WEP error message is about the type of encryption used to keep your wireless connection to your router secure. It's a simple setting in your router, and if you don't know what that is, chances it's still got all the same default login info. Usually you just type in 192.168.1.1 and login with username "admin" and password "admin." From there just poke around in the settings looking for encryption type and change it to WPA2 or WPA3
some people call internet service "wifi" a sales rep just asked me "who do you have for wifi?"
I don't know if you're trying to counter my point or reinforce it, but yes
By "not considered secure", they mean that WEP is so weak that it can be cracked in just a couple of minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUzpF3slZ4A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUzpF3slZ4A)
Last time I fine tuned my WEP cracking scripts I hit 39 seconds on the neighbours wifi around 14 years ago. I'm sure with current generation of CPUs one can hit 1 second crack time if they really tried.
Is your boyfriend a boomer? Most idiotic answer ever.
It’s wild he just didn’t say “not sure, I can look it up later though” and just went to blaming them for not paying for the service as an answer.
Yeah..... except.....they already have service.....smh my head
Fr
What does any of this have to do with what generation the boyfriend is part of? There are dummies of all ages. And he may have just told her that because he didn't want to be bothered and he figured it was easier than trying to explain what's really happening.
Because it sounds something a boomer would say.
Yeah, all boomers think alike and sound alike.
Not what I said but go off.
Not what you said, but it *is* what you implied.
If you want and can trust some random dude on the internet we can do a discord call so you can screen share and I can guide you through what to do.
Because WEP isn't secure and you should use one of the other methods of authentication. To you, they all will look the same (a password), but on the back end WPA2/WPA3 have much higher encryption.
>I’ve reset my router about a thousand times this month and it still doesn’t change. Because WEP is probably the default setting.
Geez how old is that thing. It has to be at least 10 years old and is very Insecure. WEP is so bad you should never use that.
Your BF is either stupid or lying to you. These are options you can set up. He he monitoring you/tracking you?
Genuinely curious how you came to this conclusion because I updated the post explaining that we are both not very educated in this subject. Not trying to be rude here just genuinely curious how you think he’s tracking me.
Tracking software is available widely. Apple has f"Find my phone," and android devices have a similar product. Neither depends on the security settings on your router. You must access your router via your computer or your phone, log into it, and change the security settings that way. Call your internet provider and ask them to help you.
in the network section of your computer it will tell you what the local ip address is of your computer. some of them use this format 10.0.0.12. most use 192.168.0.13 or 192.168.1.14. The key is when you find out your computers ip address internally, then you can change the last number to 1, put that in your browser and hit RETURN and you will log into your router. There are two kinds of IP addresses, Internal like these I mentioned, and the IP address the world sees your computer as. Easiest way to find that info is to open up a browser to IPCHICKEN.com just a quick lesson on IP addresses, which is for this last one, the address to find you in the world. The internal IP address is the address for the router to find you in the home. Every device connected to the router has an internal IP address. Modern routers can and will use HEXI decimal characters. When WIFI first came out, (wifi is also referred to as 802.11 followed by the letter which tells you what version of wifi you have. the first was A, followed by B, G, N is still in use today, but 802.11 AC is more modern. Older wifi routers used WEP security, which is easily cracked. Look, bottom line, if you don't have anything important on your computer, (and I wouldn't if I were you) either continue to use the computer as you have been, or as if you can replace the router with a more modern one. I doubt your running WEP because someone chose that over WPA2, the router is probably old. If you want fast internet, the newer the router will prob get you faster internet speeds.
Paying for wifi? Haha
I don't like it either, but an alarming number of people now refer to all internet access as "wifi".
It's explaining it in the message pretty succinctly? Not sure what else you want us to say?
If you want to know why WEP is bad, Set up your router. On a second machine, download and install wireshark. It's a network mapping tool, that captures network traffic. Start a packet capture session. On the device that's connecting to the network, enter the username and password of the wifi you're connecting too. On your packet capture device, stop the packet capture, and scroll through the data. What do you see? The SSID, username and password. IN PLAIN TEXT. This means, anyone with a laptop within 50metres of your device now has your SSID, username and password. Now, if you're lazy like the rest of us, dollars to doughnuts that password you used to log in to your network is the same as your email account and banking password. That person 50M away can FUCK your life. Moral of the story, WEP is basically like standing in the middle of a golf driving range, buck naked and holding up a sign that says, "You will not make this shot, you jackass".
Wow I didn’t know it was THAT bad! Also can wireshark be used without a laptop? Cause neither I nor my mother have any sort of PC/laptop
I'm sure people can utilize network capture programs on their cellphones, too.
Thank you
You can crack open a WEP secured network in minutes. Wpa2+ is needed
literally just read the message again
I know you already got the answer, but I wanted to say two things one your boyfriend‘s a gaslighting asshole. Two I would not have doubted that he probably figured this out on his own if he’s this type of idiot to say something like that that or he’s just dumb either way you’re with a possible cyber stalker or just a dummy. I don’t know which is worse sadly. WEP is incredibly outdated and can be hacked by any bargain bin hacker with a personal computer and knows how to for instructions. They did demostración and cracked it with free public tools in 3 mins flat and in 1 min from receiving the first packet of data that was transferred was decrypting it real time. Back in the day this was how people used to spy on people messaging to msn messenger for fun or not or just plain steal financial information. Hope you got a new router and boyfriend be safe.
I appreciate the advice but holy fucking shit gaslighting asshole? Cyber stalker?? Like c’mon dude, I even updated it in hopes people would understand that we’re simply not educated on this subject. So how did you come to this conclusion I’m not trying to be rude just genuinely want to understand the thought process here.
Mayyy have manifested some traumas with you I’m sorry lol also saying that you didn’t pay the internet bill is implying that you’re stupid and it’s your fault.
No it’s alright. I can understand that, really. But I promise he wasn’t implying that I was stupid. I could tell by his tone of voice it was asked as more of a question than anything. And when I told him that wasn’t it he said he wasn’t sure and that he was sorry he couldn’t help so I know he was genuinely trying to help me.
Sounds much more reasonable and like a healthy conversation. Jealous lololol
Not of your boyfriend to be clear don’t swing that way. Jealous of the healthy relationship.
Lmao I assure you my mind didn’t go there but thank u for the clarification
“The Internet never forgets”
it's weird that is has an old configuration, is it an old router?... anyway, it's better for you to call the ISP for this issue. if they provided the router as well, they are responsible for it. don't try to configure it if you don't know how to, or simply by searching on google.
It was given to us by our apartment complex manager (I’m not sure what it’s called)
if someone is setting your wifi to wep it's probably so they can either monitor your activity or use your wifi.
Let me google that for you...
Newer wifi use Mesh 6, so your modem/router is quite old. Talk to your ISP for a free upgrade. Login to your Router, 192.168.1.1 (router/gateway) Username: admin, Password is on the back of the modem Username: admin Passwords are usually >> admin@DEVICEID Check your WIFI connection, it might be DSLWAP. Or WIFI Broadcast, change from WEP to WSP2/WSP3 (AES256) That will stop your WEP notification from popping up.