N/A: open business wifi and letters of copyright infringement

FORANE

FORANE

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FORANE
I own a few apartment complexes and make the office wifi available to tenants. I just received a couple emails from my ISP stating that my account has been associated with copyright infringement (I.e. p2p illegal downloads and the like).

I have read of products such as Sonicwall which may block some of this (and carry a subscription cost). Are there any good (and possibly easy or low cost) means of blocking such activity without cutting off wifi to everyone?

My current hardware is a cable modem, TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 Wireless N750 Dual Band Router, and a few Ubiquiti UniFi Long Range Access Points.
 
No good deed goes unpunished.....block the tenants.
 
I know netgear WiFi routers for home networks come with an app that shows you what devices are using the WiFi and how much they are using. It also allows you to block whatever devices you want. I would be surprised if there isn't something similar for larger business networks.
 
oregonboy109 said:
I know netgear WiFi routers for home networks come with an app that shows you what devices are using the WiFi and how much they are using. It also allows you to block whatever devices you want. I would be surprised if there isn't something similar for larger business networks.
Click to expand...

Yes, the ubiquiti we use does this. We can see who is online and how much they use. While we may presume the largest user is responsible and could easily block that user, we don't know.
Rather than block a user who may not be responsible, we would prefer to block access to file sharing sites and the like. I am asking what options exist to accomplish this.
 
Any decent firewall can block p2p apps if that's what you want to do. Blocking only infringing content is a different story. But if you're acting as a SP, you should be able to mitigate your liability for your tenants' infringement. Talk to your attorney about that. But make sure you have the proper type of service from your ISP. They may not be happy to learn you are reselling it.
 
FORANE said:
Yes, the ubiquiti we use does this. We can see who is online and how much they use. While we may presume the largest user is responsible and could easily block that user, we don't know.
Rather than block a user who may not be responsible, we would prefer to block access to file sharing sites and the like. I am asking what options exist to accomplish this.
Click to expand...

Spoofing a MAC isn't tuff.

Go tell the copyright babies it's a public network for a apartment complex and if they are so concerned they can come on down and find the person themselves.


Personally I'd just round file it.
 
I got burned on an open wifi even when I thought my wifi didn't extend too much past my property. Got my ip addr blacklisted on a bunch of sites (fortunately no legal issues).
Never again.
 
That brings up a question: I wonder if Forane's tenants have to enter a password to access the wifi? It wouldn't necessarily solve his problem, but it's better than unsecured.
 
Palmpilot said:
That brings up a question: I wonder if Forane's tenants have to enter a password to access the wifi? It wouldn't necessarily solve his problem, but it's better than unsecured.
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Yes the network is password protected. That password is shared with tenants.
 
Send a letter to them explaining that abuse and illegal downloads will result in a total shutdown of access.

It will probably still happen, but they were put on notice. And if the tenants moved in under this assumption of free internet, you have a legal problem taking it away. Just like saying gas/water included, then shutting it off because they are using too much.
 
Unit74 said:
Send a letter to them explaining that abuse and illegal downloads will result in a total shutdown of access.

It will probably still happen, but they were put on notice. And if the tenants moved in under this assumption of free internet, you have a legal problem taking it away. Just like saying gas/water included, then shutting it off because they are using too much.
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What would be the remedy if they were using the gas or water in illegal ways?
 
No clue. But if it rented WITH Internet, it's part of the rent and he just can't turn it off.
 
You can put a Smoothwall firewall in place with a transparent proxy amd start logging everything. You can include a capture portal that includes consent to log (a lot of wireless routers do this).

I have used smoothwall and pfsense and can give a recommendation for a relatively cheap router that includes some nice features. If you want to chat about it please PM me :)
 
ChrisK said:
You can put a Smoothwall firewall in place with a transparent proxy amd start logging everything. You can include a capture portal that includes consent to log (a lot of wireless routers do this).

I have used smoothwall and pfsense and can give a recommendation for a relatively cheap router that includes some nice features. If you want to chat about it please PM me :)
Click to expand...
pm incoming
 
James331 said:
Spoofing a MAC isn't tuff.



Go tell the copyright babies it's a public network for a apartment complex and if they are so concerned they can come on down and find the person themselves.





Personally I'd just round file it.
Click to expand...


He probably didn't buy the service from the ISP that allows resale. Bad idea. They'll happily bill him for commercial level service if he tells them that's what he's doing.
 
If you can't get an IP range so each apartment has its own IP (and likely you can't these days), then the firewall with logging seems a good idea.
 
See if you find out what websites are being used and block them.
 
I own a few apartment complexes and make the office wifi available to tenants. I just received a couple emails from my ISP stating that my account has been associated with copyright infringement (I.e. p2p illegal downloads and the like)
Click to expand...

So when you go to a hotel or meeting etc and use their wifi, they have a login page in which you have to "I agree" to their terms.
Does this protect the hotel etc from such things?
Maybe the OP could do the same?
 
FORANE said:
Yes the network is password protected. That password is shared with tenants.
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Does each apartment have a separate login ?

Make them click past a license agreement that requires them to adhere to all copyright laws and allows you to monitor their usage. Cut off the violators.
 
OpenWRT can track and throttle that sort of thing. You can find the IP of the offending user and throttle it to 56kbps or something along those lines. :hairraise:

There's also a GUI for OpenWRT called "Gargoyle" that focuses of bandwidth control -- and little else.

Rich
 
Sorry for the slow response; I am in the usvi on vacation...
No separate sign on for individuals though I believe I can do that.
No net guarantee in leases.
Openwrt sounds good if I can id the bad apple and figure out openwrt.
 
FORANE said:
Sorry for the slow response; I am in the usvi on vacation...
No separate sign on for individuals though I believe I can do that.
No net guarantee in leases.
Openwrt sounds good if I can id the bad apple and figure out openwrt.
Click to expand...

It may be worth installing Gargoyle if you don't feel like farting around in a terminal figuring out OpenWRT. If your needs, other than bandwidth control, are very simple, you should be able to do everything you need from within the Gargoyle GUI. If you need more than basic setup and port forwarding, not so much. Gargoyle focuses intensively on bandwidth control at the expense of everything else. (You can still access the rest of OpenWRT via SSH, however.)

If you do decide to go that way, make sure to download the exact build for your router, right down to the hardware version. If you use the wrong one, it may brick the router.

Rich

EDIT: And there's always Luci, of course.
 
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FORANE said:
Are there any good (and possibly easy or low cost) means of blocking such activity without cutting off wifi to everyone?
Click to expand...

You need a web filter. Check Untangle, et al (there are hundreds). The appliance is $700-ish. Barracuda is another. You can block by categories (torrents, etc).

You're very generous, BTW. You are also likely out of compliance with your ISP on how you are allowing access to your service. Frankly, I'd lock it down, and let the tenants get their own service. But, that's just me......
 
James331 said:
Go tell the copyright babies it's a public network for a apartment complex and if they are so concerned they can come on down and find the person themselves.

Personally I'd just round file it.
Click to expand...

Good advice there, genius. These things are very real and have very real legal implications.

So when the FBI shows up, and wants to know who's downloading child pornography over the open wi-fi, you gonna shut the door in their face.....?
 
ggroves said:
You need a web filter. Check Untangle, et al (there are hundreds). The appliance is $700-ish. Barracuda is another. You can block by categories (torrents, etc).

You're very generous, BTW. You are also likely out of compliance with your ISP on how you are allowing access to your service. Frankly, I'd lock it down, and let the tenants get their own service. But, that's just me......
Click to expand...
I have read about a few of these Web filters. Do they all require an ongoing subscription to work? I don't mind buying the appliance but would prefer to avoid recurring subscription costs.
 
FORANE said:
I have read about a few of these Web filters. Do they all require an ongoing subscription to work? I don't mind buying the appliance but would prefer to avoid recurring subscription costs.
Click to expand...

Untangle Web Filter Lite app for the NG appliance is free.

The full Web Filter app for the NG appliance is $270 a year subscription for more robust features. You'd have to assess what the differences are.

Again, there are hundreds of these. This is just one example that seems to be very highly rated.
 
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