Router security and confusion re. passwords

[#1]

Good Afternoon,

                        I was hoping some of you good people could help me with a technical problem.

I'm currently experiencing an increase in average usage from ~2.5GB/month to over 8GB, in

the last billing period, and I'm capped at 10GB. It looks as though this period is heading the same way.

My router is a (vintage 2010) Thomson Gateway TG585v7 with v8.2.23.0 software and I'm monitoring my local usage with Networx. The discrepancy I'm seeing is between Networx and the Plusnet tally.

I've considered large use by my adult children, no, not the answer. I've experience McAfee keylogger scumware

(my usage went from 2.5 to 28.5 GB in a month), but I'm not seeing any malware. So I'm left with the possibilty, raised

elsewhere in this forum, of a hijacked router, with the succesful advice of changing the password. And here is my

problem.

I have a password to log into the router itself (the serial number), a wireless key and finally my Plusnet password.

Could somebody explain why three different passwords are involved, why not just one? And in terms of a hijacked router, which one should I change?

A possible pointer to the router is that I've been trying to log into the router for about 2 hours, when all of a

sudden (a few seconds), I could!

Cheers

Les

[#2]

If you're concerned about someone else having connected to your router then you just need to change the wireless key which you can find out how to do here

http://www.plus.net/help/archive/broadband/thomson-585-wireless-settings/?supportarchive

[#3]

Thanks, but this article is 'no longer maintained' i.e. not there. But it's the 'key'

I need to change?

Les

[#4]

It is still valid for what you need to do

[#5]

Sorry, OldJim, what I mean is that the article isn't actually there, but the message is that it is not maintained, so valid

or not, I cannot see it. I admit the message, as quoted, is  little misleading

Les

[#6]

It's not a very intuitive or clear page, but if you click on the blue bits the information is actually hidden under the rolled up sections. It is not displayed by default so you won't see it on page load.

[#7]

Thomson 585: How to check or change wireless settings

Help Archive Broadband Thomson 585: How to check or change wireless settings

This article is no longer maintained or supported

This archived article may contain information that's not up-to-date. It's here so you can still refer to this older info, but it's not maintained and our Customer Support Advisors won't be able to help with queries about it.

If you've got a question about this article, why not ask the Plusnet Community? Or, for the latest Help & Support articles, head over toplus.net/help

Connect and log in to your router

1. Open your web browser (This could be Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox, depending on your system).

2. Ignore the web page (or error message) that appears and enter the IP address of your router. This should be 192.168.1.254 unless you've changed it.

   

   If you're asked to log in, enter the Router Username and Password (I don't know what these are).

3. Click Home Network on the left menu.

   

   You'll see a basic diagram showing the devices currently connected to your network.

   Click WLAN: PlusnetWireless (where PlusnetWireless is the name of your wireless network).

   

   Now you'll see an overview of the settings currently being used.

   • To change the settings click Configure
   • To see more information click Details
   

What settings are available and what do they do?

Check the table below to find out what each of the settings is for.

You might need to reconnect to your network after changing some of these settings (particularly the Network Name, Encryption or Encryption password). See our Wireless connection guide if you need help with this.

Setting	What does it do?
Interface Enabled (tick box)	Switch your wireless on or off.
Network Name (SSID)	The broadcast name of your wireless network, you'll see it when scanning for networks to connect to.
Interface Type	Control the wireless standard that your network broadcasts on: • 802.11b • 802.11b(legacy)/g • 802.11b/g • 802.11g You shouldn't change this unless you're connecting with a computer or device that needs to use a particular standard.
Channel Selection	Choose the channel (frequency) that your wireless network transmits on. By default this will be set to Automatic. • Automatic means the Thomson Gateway will choose the best channel each time you switch it on • Manual allows you to choose a single channel to broadcast on (between 1-13) If you're having problems, using a single channel can improve the stability of your wireless connection. You'll need to experiment to find the channel that's best for you. We recommend trying channels 1, 6 or 12 first.
Allow multicast from Broadband Network	Lets you allow or block multicast broadcasts over your wireless network.
Broadcast Network Name (tick box)	By default, your Thomson Gateway will display the Network Name (or SSID) to any computer that scans for available networks. To stop this from happening and hide the SSID, untick this box. Computers and other devices will still be able to connect to your network but you'll need to type the SSID in, rather than choosing from a list of available networks.
Allow New Devices	Control how new computers connect to your wireless network.
Encryption	Choose the method of encryption for your wireless network. • Disabled • Use WEP Encryption • Use WPA-PSK Encryption Disabling encryption means anyone can access your network.WEP is an outdated method of encryption which is easily cracked. We do not recommend choosing either of these options. Leave this set to WPA-PSK unless you have a specific reason to change
WPA-PSK/WEP Encryption Key	This is the password you need to log on to your Wireless network.
WPA-PSK/WEP Version	Choose the level of encryption for your wireless network. • WPA2 • WPA+WPA2 • WPA WPA2 is the newest and most secure version of WPA, but not all systems support it. WPA+WP2 is the standard option and will allow connections through either level of WPA. Only change to WPA2 if all your computers or devices support it.

This is an archived article and may contain information that's not up-to-date - more info

[#8]

Lurch, Thanks for the info., I can see it now.

Going from memory, I will need to lodge the same new key with both my browser and e-mail prog.. So I shall

see how to do that before attempting the router.

So, I think the position regarding '3 passwords' is now this; one of them is an encryption key for my laptop-to-router traffic, one  gains entry into the router, but nothing else and the third controls traffic from the router

to Plusnet, and nothing else? Does this seem about right?

If so, then, presumably, I will also have to change my Plusnet account password as well as my encryption key if

my system is compromised?

Les

[#9]

Thanks, SpendLessTime, I can now see it-it was a page design problem.

Les

[#10]

---

@Les-1 wrote:

So, I think the position regarding '3 passwords' is now this; one of them is an encryption key for my laptop-to-router traffic, one  gains entry into the router, but nothing else and the third controls traffic from the router

---

In an nutshell, yes, with the addendum that the 3rd password is also the same password that controls entry to your Plusnet Portal pages.

---

@Les-1 wrote:

to Plusnet, and nothing else? Does this seem about right?

If so, then, presumably, I will also have to change my Plusnet account password as well as my encryption key if

my system is compromised?

---

If you think that your router (or any other connected device) has been compromised it would always be a good idea to change all passwords.

[#11]

Thank You all for that.

I am going to log off now as my son is about to return with a car battery for me (I need to fit it tonight)

I'll digest what you've all said and work out my route(-r) forward. Hopefully I'll be able to impliment tomorrow

and will keep you posted - thanks again.

Les

[#12]

Thank you all for your time and advice. I managed to get my passwords/key

successfully changed about 4 days ago and since then my usage is completely normal, apart

from the ~20% or so difference between Plusnet and Networx, which seems normal.

Thanks

Les