Mobile broadband question

[Pauro 76]

Using Vodafone mobile dongle on my laptop... haven't used much last month and it's been slow the last day or two. Thought nothing of it but suddenly there was a message saying someone else using the same network and my usage shot up past my limit. is it even possible to hack into mobile broadband dongle?

[A face]

I have never heard of that happening before. I wouldn't rule anything out though. Are you on another Local Area Network as well and then trying to connect via Vodafone?

[dahamsta]

What kind of message? Is the dongle plugged directly into a computer, or is it shared in some way? Do you have a wifi network running? If so, is it secured?

[Pauro 76]

What kind of message? Is the dongle plugged directly into a computer, or is it shared in some way? Do you have a wifi network running? If so, is it secured?

Vodfaone dongle was connected into the MacBook. However AirPort was on but I wasnt sure if they could be a mobile broadband network from there. The message said something like 'another user is trying to use your network' and suddenly my Vodafone usage shot up from 0MB to over 5GB. I'm going to have a word with Vodafone and see if I've gone over my allowance as you've to pay for any extra data.

[dahamsta]

Yeah, but where did the message appear? Was it in a Vodafone app you recognise or did it just pop up out of nowhere? Can you detect a wireless network when Airport is on, and can you surf the net from it on another computer?

[Pauro 76]

Yeah, but where did the message appear? Was it in a Vodafone app you recognise or did it just pop up out of nowhere? Can you detect a wireless network when Airport is on, and can you surf the net from it on another computer?

The message appeared on the Vodafone Mobile Broadband programme for accessing broadband from the dongle. I can detect a wireless network from my own computer but I'm not sure if I can pick it up from another machine, I've never tried to be honest. Hearing from Vodafone this evening, they might be able to shed light on it.

[dahamsta]

Dunno how airports work, but it may be set up to share the network on your laptop. The only way to test is to use a new computer.

Either way, if the airport is sharing your network without security, you need to lock it down immediately.

[Pauro 76]

Dunno how airports work, but it may be set up to share the network on your laptop. The only way to test is to use a new computer.

Either way, if the airport is sharing your network without security, you need to lock it down immediately.

Vodafone have said that it is possible to hack the SIM card which is inside your dongle and have sent me on a new SIM.

"The dongle itself connects wirelessly to the Vodafone network, but requires a physical connection to your home system. If you have connected it directly to your PC then you can only connect via that PC as it cannot "broadcast" that connection to other PCs. It's different if you're using your connection through our new Mobile WiFi and Sharing Hub options. This hub allows for up to four people to connect without using dongle, whilst the Sharing Hub just allows you to attach the dongle to the new device directly and then connect with up to four devices."

Guess I'll leave Airport on my Mac off in future...

[dahamsta]

Vodafone are talking out their hat. If your computer can share a connection, it can share the Vodafone connection.

From your POV though, it's unlikely to have happened unless you actively shared the connection, or Airport is configured to do that automatically.