SERIOUS SECURITY ISSUE - My broadband has up to 20 linked items I don't own.

[GD1]

@JemimaJ  Do your Sky+ boxes have inbuilt ethernet & wifi or do any of them have a wifi device attached?  Some older boxes needed them.

[JemimaJ]

@GD1 hmmm, interesting qustion - I don't use ethernet on my Sky boxes. Both are only 2 years old.  I use ethernet via the electic circuit with Devolo for my laptop sometimes.  But not recenlty.  I don't know about internet on my sky boxes. I think I turned that off on the Sky mini box but can't remember how or why....

[jamesn123]

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@JemimaJ wrote:

@GD1 hmmm, interesting qustion - I don't use ethernet on my Sky boxes. Both are only 2 years old.  I use ethernet via the electic circuit with Devolo for my laptop sometimes.  But not recenlty.  I don't know about internet on my sky boxes. I think I turned that off on the Sky mini box but can't remember how or why....

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A devolo unit is a manufacturer of powerline adapters which I asked if you had any earlier. The likelihood is that you are suffering from powerline poisoning so your Sky hub network is connecting to a neighbours over the electrical line 

[JemimaJ]

@GD1 @jamesn123 

Just want to say thank you - you are sharing stuff I've done already but it took Sky tech hours and many calls to even suggest any of this.   I don't know if we can solve the issue but if I can't solve it I'm going to have to get broadband from somewhere else.

I haven't reset the password since I had the new box and it might be worth doing all of that AGAIN but have to wait until my housemate is not working as she's online all day.

[JemimaJ]

@jamesn123 oh sorry, didn't know the terminology - the devolo plugs were all disconnected when I reset everything but I'm getting the picture now - although I don't understand how the electric circuit in my house could connect to someone else's - I would love to understand how that can happen if you don't mind explaining. 

I'll wait until my housemate has finished work and the follow all the steps again with Netgear and Devolo disconnected. 

I really appreciate your help. 

I'll probably do this later tonight and will post back here tomorrow to see if it's resolved the problem. I do hope so.  

@GD1 thanks to you too. Watch this space - I will be so glad if this all gets fixed.

[jamesn123]

@JemimaJ 

It doesnt matter if the powerline was disconnected during the reset, as soon as you connect it again it will link back to whoever elses unit is close by and start mixing your local network with theirs.

Basically how it works is that powerline uses your electrical wiring to carry the network signals from the hub to your device, this is usually segmented from anyone else via pairing your own adapters with each other & usually they cant communicate past your electrical consumer board but in your case it seems like they are, whether this is a sign of an underlying electrical wiring issue I dont know but I would advise you to follow the steps in my reply before and leave both the devlo units unplugged completely for a while. (This means both the unit by the router & the one you use to connect your laptop)

[JemimaJ]

@jamesn123 thanks again - I used the devolo devices for years in my last house without issue so I assumed they'd be fine here.  I will let you know how it goes without them - or the Netgear Extender.

[TimmyBGood]

@JemimaJ 

I'd agree with the direction @jamesn123 is going, particularly as the alternative would be to suggest an exploitable flaw in millions of Sky Hubs or billions of WPA2 devices, either of which would be national / global news.

The only times we've seen similar reports, particularly with a crossover of recordings, it's been down to the use of powerline adapters leaking data past the electricity meter.

[JemimaJ]

@TimmyBGood @GD1 @jamesn123 Thanks for your help yesterday.  

Currently I don't seem to have anything attached to my WiFi that's not mine - although in the past this sometimes takes a couple of days to show up.

Will keep an eye on it - currently I'm having issues access the hub address   but I suspect if I reboot it that will fix itself-  it keeps saying another administrator is logged in even though this is not the case.

[jamesn123]

@JemimaJ 

If you login to the admin interface of the hub with one device and dont log out then the session can get stuck and require a reboot to clear it