Setting up guest wifi

[licquorice]

Basically, by giving access to your WiFi, you are also giving access to your home network. Thus if you have Network discovery enabled on your PC ( the default), anybody connected to your network can access your files. A guest network is a separate network that doesn't give access to your home network, just the internet.

[WSH]

@Teza  Only in the same way that it's a good idea to leave a spare front door key under your welcome mat.

[Teza]

I'm sure these questions must seem daft you who understand this stuff, but to me networking is akin to a dark art, full of unintelligible terminology and acronyms.
Ok, so it's not a good idea to give out the one and only wifi password that I am able to set-up and use on a BT router.
But, beyond gaining access to the internet what "damage" could the "guest" do when connected to my router?

[licquorice]

It's not being connected to your router that is the problem, they won't have access to your router itself. The problem is that they will have access to all your files on any device on your network that has sharing enabled.

[gg30340]

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@Teza wrote:
I'm sure these questions must seem daft you who understand this stuff, but to me networking is akin to a dark art, full of unintelligible terminology and acronyms.
Ok, so it's not a good idea to give out the one and only wifi password that I am able to set-up and use on a BT router.
But, beyond gaining access to the internet what "damage" could the "guest" do when connected to my router?

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Assuming you mean accessing your router with out there being a guest network which would mean they are accessing your home network:-

Access your devices that are connected to the  network

Access your private files on your devices. 

Access your passwords if you have them stored on your browser.

Any illegal acts would lead back to your Internet account and ultimately your home network.

[Teza]

But how? 

How would they use their phone (for example) to get access to my files? 

[WSH]

Just use file explorer to search what’s on your network. 

So, for example, I have a computer in my office upstairs.  I also have a computer in the living room, (among others).  I have banking details stored on the office computer but it is set up so I can access those details from the computer downstairs when I need to.

By default, share permissions allow anyone on my network to access that information.  (Afterall, that’s what sharing is all about).  Now, if I allowed access to a guest said guest would also be able to download a copy of that file, take home with him and read it at his leisure.  Not something you really want happening.

A proper guest Wi-Fi account is set up internally so it is isolated from the rest of the network.  The guest cannot wander about your network.  All they can do is access the internet.

The Smart Hub 2 does not have that facility.

[gg30340]

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@Teza wrote:

But how? 

How would they use their phone (for example) to get access to my files? 

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A phone is just a portable computer that makes phone calls. Anything I can do on my Home computer I can do on my phone. I can access my home network and computer using my phone when it is connected to my home network.

A very basic analogy, think of your home network as your house and your router as the door in to your house. If you just give anybody the key to your house door they are then free to enter the house and roam about inside your house.

It is the same if you give them the key (password) to your router, which is the key to your network, they are then free to roam around inside your home network.

[Teza]

Sorry for the hiatus, this is the first chance I’ve had to reply.
I’ve done a bit of research!
It seems that the “files” apps on both iOS and android do not, out of the box, provide access to network devices. However, there are several apps that can be installed that do exactly that!!
Having said that, it is not that straight forward to give access to these apps to networked devices. At the very least you would need to know their network name and maybe a userID (+password if set).
Also my tradesman would need to be hacking in close enough to my place to pick up the WiFi signal.
So, I can see the weakness but it seems to me to require not only a good knowledge of networking but also a fair amount of determination to get in. Is that a fair comment?

[gg30340]

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@Teza wrote:

Also my tradesman would need to be hacking in close enough to my place to pick up the WiFi signal.
So, I can see the weakness but it seems to me to require not only a good knowledge of networking but also a fair amount of determination to get in. Is that a fair comment?

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No. If you give them the password to your network, you have already let them in.

They do not need to use your personal files in order to use the connection for illegal acts and you also have no idea who they may pass the password onto. 

Having said that it is entirely up to you if you are happy to give them the "key" to your home network but I for one would not.