Unraveling a Mysterious Wi-Fi Conundrum: Spoofed Signals and Neighborly Intrusions

As a professional with a background in cyber security Consultancy, I’ve encountered a myriad of issues in the tech realm, but I recently faced a peculiar situation that I had never come across before. Currently living with my spouse’s parents in the UK, I discovered something unsettling about their home Wi-Fi setup that has left me both bewildered and concerned.

Background on the Setup

My in-laws are subscribers to Virgin Media, utilizing a hub 3 router with its factory default settings—an SSID labeled VM followed by a series of digits, and a WPA2 password that is a random string found on a sticker at the bottom of the router. Given the increasing number of residents in the house, I decided to upgrade their internet experience by purchasing a high-end router. My plan was to configure the hub 3 as a modem and let the new router handle all the Wi-Fi traffic.

The Discovery of a Mystery Access Point

As I began the setup process, something strange occurred: my phone maintained a weak connection to the Virgin router, which I had powered down. Intrigued, I used a Wi-Fi analyzer app to investigate further. To my astonishment, I detected a strong signal emanating from my in-laws’ bedroom. Even more puzzling, the signal was significantly stronger on one side of the bedroom than the other.

My in-laws were adamant that there was no hidden access point in their home, especially since their bedroom had recently been redecorated with no potentially forgotten devices. It soon became evident that the Wi-Fi signal was actually originating from the neighboring property, not their house.

The Plot Thickens: A Neighbor’s TalkTalk Without Consent

Upon further inspection, I realized that the suspicious access point was emanating from a TalkTalk router, which is quite the contradiction given their unique Virgin Media credentials. A quick WHOIS lookup on my public IP confirmed my theory: we were connected to a TalkTalk internet service.

The implications were staggering—someone was tapping into my in-laws’ network using their SSID and WPA2 password. It raised numerous questions about how this occurred, especially with the house next door being a rented multiple-occupancy dwelling with constant tenant turnover.

Theories on How This Happened

As I ponder the possibilities, two scenarios have emerged:

Innocent Explanation:

1. At some point