It is not uncommon for people to share their WiFi Internet connection at home with others, such as their neighbors. The question that arises is whether sharing your WiFi Internet with others compromises the privacy of your network traffic, i.e., can they access the details of your network traffic? Can they find out which sites are being visited by you, and what is being viewed by you on the web? Can they find out your passwords and usernames sent through your network traffic? Can they harm the security of your computers?
Firstly, remember that when you’re permitting another person to access your WiFi connection, he’ll be connected to your home network to which you’ve connected the WiFi Internet. This means that depending on the sharing settings of your computers in your home network, such other person “may” be in a position to access your files and printer, etc. So, don’t share your WiFi connection with an unknown or untrustworthy person. Share it only with a person whom you trust fully. Moreover, it is advisable to check the privacy / sharing settings of your computers in your home network if you’re allowing outsiders to access your WiFi network.
Secondly, be aware that if the computer of such person (with whom you’ve shared your WiFi network) gets infected with spyware, malware, viruses, etc., then there are chances that your own computers in that network may also get infected with such malware, etc. Now, this can happen even if such other person is a trustworthy person, since his computer may get infected with malware due to his ignorance or negligence or sometimes even if he has taken sufficient precautions. Here, even if such person does not want to play mischief with you, due to his ignorance or negligence or even otherwise, his virus-infected computer can harm your own computers in the same network. To minimize damage from such possibilities, always use a good firewall on your computers and keep a good anti-virus and/or security software installed on them.
Thirdly, generally speaking, the person sharing your WiFi network would not be able to see your network traffic, which means that your privacy will generally remain protected. This is so because the wireless router usually routes network traffic directly between the computer concerned and the outside server. Other computers connected with the router will, generally speaking, not be knowing about such conversation. However, this depends on the wireless router and while most routers will obey this rule, there could possibly be some routers which may be violating this rule. So, better take precautions rather than be sorry at a later stage. Check the specifications of the router and test it if necessary.
One more thing, if you’re using the secure HTTPS protocol for your important web connections (such as for banking transactions), it would not be possible for other persons to know the exact conversation even if they are connected to your WiFi network since the HTTPS communication is fully encrypted. So, your passwords and usernames will remain safe if you use the secure HTTPS connection.
Finally, it goes without saying that you should always use encryption for your wireless connection. This would mean that unauthorized persons would not be able to access your WiFi connection without knowing your encryption password. And, of course, you should always select a strong password. [Also see: Convert Windows 7 computer into WiFi Hotspot with program].
