# Sniff through wireless router?



## n0083 (Dec 9, 2008)

Hello,

I recently moved into a house with other housemates and wireless internet.

I assume the connection goes from the wall to the modem to a wireless router and then I pick up that signal.
(As opposed to me going through a shared internet connection from another computer in this house that has a wireless transmitter).

My question is: "Is there a way for other housemates to 'sniff' what websites I am going to?"

The wireless connection is an 'unsecured' wireless connection.

Thanks,


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## Quilix (Dec 2, 2008)

In an unsecure wirless network the big clue is in the 'unsecure'. Anyone with a decent knowledge of what they are doing can intercept those packets and read them. Even after that the Admin of the router can still see what IP addresses machines are sending packets to by viewing the router security logs.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

If you want a secure connection, buy your own wireless router. You can configure it as a WAP and encrypt it. This will protect the wireless transmissions, though it's possible to tap into the wired connection between the routers and see the traffic, but they'd be a bit more obvious. :smile:



Connecting two (or more) SOHO broadband routers together.

*Note:* _The "primary" router can be an actual router, a software gateway like Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing, or a server connection that has the capability to supply more than one IP address using DHCP server capability. No changes are made to the primary "router" configuration._

Configure the IP address of the secondary router(s) to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address, 192.168.0.253 for another router, etc.

_*Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.*_

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router, channels, encryption, etc.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).

For reference, here's a link to a Typical example config using a Netgear router


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