Help please - computer name

MuddledIam

Hi I am new here - can somebody help at all?
Somebody who lives close to me has just informed me that he has a bill for his internet usage and somehow another person who checked his bill for him managed to find out my computer name and IP address and I dont know how they managed to do this? Im not very good at techie stuff. How did they manage to do this from another computer and get my computer name & IP address ??? thank you in advance. I know people can track IP addresses but how the hell did they get the name of my computer.

davb

Your computer name can be given up in many ways, and is not normally a big problem. Quite often outgoing emails contain the IP and PC name in the header.
If you have ever connected to this person's internet connection, then a router (if they have one) could record it as well. I assume that if it was a broadband dongle, the ISP will be able to record this info.

MuddledIam

they have made a comment that my computer (from the name) has been using their wifi, but I havent, at least not knowingly i have my own wifi and that I have clocked up pounds worth of downloads using their wifi. I use my own internet connection and Im not sure how this has happened or how they traced it to my computer. They have not approached me particularly just telling others around but im waiting for the knock on the door ! Other people do use my computer (kids and friends of).

MuddledIam

sorry meant to say how did they actually go about finding my computer name ? what exactly did they do? thanks

davb

Assuming they have a router, they could log into it, and it would depending on make/model have logs containing various info. When a PC connects to a router (wired or wireless) it will normally get an IP address assigned by that router using DHCP. The router will record the PC name and MAC address of the PC connecting, and possibly usage stats. The key thing is the MAC address, as that is unique, an IP address (local) really means nothing.
If you have connected to their router by mistake, they must have an unsecured wireless connection (no password or encryption), so they are asking for trouble - it's a bit like going out and leaving your front door wide open.

fiddiwebb

They have not approached me particularly just telling others around but im waiting for the knock on the door !

A bit confused, you said in your first post that "Somebody who lives close to me has just informed me that he has a bill for his internet usage and somehow another person who checked his bill for him managed to find out my computer name and IP address" ?

So have they told you that it was you that has been using their internet or not?

How close do they live to you?

mr_fishbulb

MuddledIam wrote: »

somehow another person who checked his bill for him managed to find out my computer name and IP address

Have you confirmed that they have the right computer name?

MuddledIam

fiddiwebb wrote: »

they have not approached me particularly just telling others around but im waiting for the knock on the door !

a bit confused, you said in your first post that "somebody who lives close to me has just informed me that he has a bill for his internet usage and somehow another person who checked his bill for him managed to find out my computer name and ip address" ?

so have they told you that it was you that has been using their internet or not? The person who checked the bill told me (not the actual computer owner)

how close do they live to you?

few doors away

MuddledIam

I overheard 2 people talking saying it is all sorted now, the router has been taken away ! and the police are involved, and that they have another bill for this month for further monies. Can my computer log in automatically in some way without my knowledge, is this possible?

mr_fishbulb

MuddledIam wrote: »

Can my computer log in automatically in some way without my knowledge, is this possible?

The default settings won't make your machine connect to any wireless network it sees. However if you have manually connected to it by accident in the past, it will remember it and try again in the future.

But you would need to know the password (if one was set up).

esuhl

If you have been using your neighbours wi-fi and genuinely didn't realise, your neighbours had failed to secure their connection.

Technically it's illegal to access a computer system without authorisation (you criminal!), but (in my opinion) your neighbour should have encrypted the connection if they didn't want anyone to use it. How is anyone to know whether the connection is unencrypted so that the public can use it or whether the router hasn't been set up properly? In many cases, a PC will connect automatically to an unencrypted wireless network - you might not have done anything at all to connect.

I'm sure others will disagree, but if your neighbour does approach you, I'd shrug, apologise for inadvertently using his/her wi-fi, and suggest they read the router's instruction manual if they haven't understood how to secure it properly.