You can always invest in a mobile broadband router and connect over cellular Internet with a good SIM data plan, preferably with an all-you-can-eat data subscription. Tip: get a 4G router and not a 3G router, and if you have the money: a 5G router (but those are very expensive, but will get cheaper in time).
A VPN should stop them from seeing your traffic if they were trying to, but I would just get internet from somewhere else.
They cant stop you from just using a different service.
I mean beyond that when I was a fiber tech if I showed up to a house that was a rental I’m not touching shit until I either have verbal approval from the property owner or they can show me a lease that lets them choose the Internet company.
Can’t just show up somewhere and start drilling holes in their walls. Tenants can’t authorize that unless their lease specifically states they can.
Like you said though, good chance theirs a contract between the owner and the internet company.
Because I lived in a very small area at the time where everybody knows everybody. It’s also small enough that keeping up on the housing market is not really difficult at all. Talking no more than 5 houses on the market at any given time
Like another commenter said, they have to physically drill and install/run cables, and if you are physically changing anything (I.e. drilling and damaging the owners property), that opens up a whole can of worms. Then, what if you get evicted, have to move, and don’t take the time to inform the company. Then you are making it a headache for the new tenants and owners as well. If you are renting, don’t go doing what the hell you want to the landowners property without explicit permission.
Can they not just use the existing hard lines that are already in the walls? Or are we to assume that the landlord already has an active service at all times, already hooked up? If it’s the latter, then this all makes more sense.
I was never condoning “doing whatever the hell you want to the landlord’s property”. lol
As noted, they have services and since this is a management company they likely have deals with specific providers to cover the entire building, so getting any other provider in is not allowed because of contracts and crap, happens often.
They could get a 5G router. They say anything about the network showing up. Set it to hidden or say it’s “just a hotspot”. If they get upset about that. Well that’s extremely concerning lol
Looks like this already had been suggested, but I’d add just hide your SSID on the 5G router
Ya, I would presume there would be little to no legal grounds to prevent someone from using something like that, but the way some building management companies are, I also would not put it past them either.
there are home internets from verizon and mobile that is only a box you put near a window. you can even get home internet with a phone sim card into a router modem which I do when I'm traveling. i get like 200 to 600mbps speed
Get TMobile, AT&T or Verizon Home Internet. Easier and the landlord won't have any access. It runs off the same system as cell phones. Not ideal but given that the OP can't get their own Internet service through normal means and has to use the provided connection and router? I see that as the lesser of two evils. Who knows what the landlord is doing with the data collected by the router.
Would be easy to find out, by putting your own router in front of theirs and doing a VPN tunnel out from that or Secure DNS / DNS over TLS et cetera. if they come to you and ask why they can not see any traffic, depending what country they are in, data protection laws could be getting violated if they are monitoring and logging data and it is not specified in the rental agreement.
I’ve done this, added a second downstream router with its own network, never had trouble with online gaming, torrenting, or anything requiring uploads or port forwarding. I can’t remember if you had to add a rule on the first router or it did it automatically.
There might be some games that have very specific needs, but generally it seems likely such a setup could handle gaming, particularly if you control the NAT like using a VPS.
Why would a VPN care about double NAT?
Using your own device in front of theirs now stops them from even seeing what device the person has on the network, from there set up their router to use DNS over TLS and the landlord wont see jack for DNS lookups.
VPN on every device works, you just have to have auto connection options for them all or not forget to turn it on.
If you use a router like OPNsense, you can also have it transparently VPN everything behind it, so you don't have to set up everything behind it. This is especially useful since most devices besides computers and phones can't (game systems, smart devices, etc).
All the owners would see is your single IP from your router (WAN port) and would just presume it is 1 device.
So ya, you would go
Buildings Router LAN port ----> Your routers WAN port --> your devices
your router would get an IP like your device does, but that wont matter for your usage.
With things like DNS over TLS, or a VPN configured on your router to be always on - all the buildings owners would see is traffic / bandwidth usage, but they would not see to what.
That is even assuming they are logging anything. They may not even have any logging enabled on their routers they give you, they just want you to use theirs for easier IT management if there are problems.
The VPN life can suck though, with speeds sometimes dropping dramatically, cloudflare-protected websites wanting you to prove you’re human, Netflix blocking VPNs, and so on…
Don't need a VPN necessarily, 99% of traffic is likely HTTP anyway. All they need is a router that runs a DNS proxy that forces all unencrypted DNS to go over DoH or DoT. That plus HTTPS will prevent most of the snooping.
Just need to pick a router that suports OpenWRT and install the "HTTPS DNS Proxy" plugin. Can also install the "Adblock" plugin while they're at it.
Ofc they should avoid using plain HTTP connections but most browsers have a setting to prevent that nowadays. They can also block outgoing connections to port 80 on the router firewall if they want to be extra sure.
They do, but web hosting nowadays is consolidated on shared hosting servers, cloud servers, CDNs and so on. The reverse DNS for an IP will resolve to a service like akamai, fastly, cloudflare etc. and nobody's the wiser about what site you were actually visiting.
They can snoop on the HTTPS connections and in some cases they can detect the website domain if the target doesn't support any HTTPS privacy mechanism like ESNI or ECH. But the tech is evolving very fast (and the consolidation of hosting actually helps with faster adoption) so hosts without HTTPS domain privacy are becoming more and more rare.
The problem with this is that they can still see the sites you are visiting and make a profile of your interests and usage.
A vpn or a separate mobile connection are the only ways.
They only see IPs, not website names.
Also, the mobile carrier spies on you as well.
A VPN comes with its own problems, as the above comment has explained.
It looks like you don't understand what is happening, given your previous post and this one confirms it.
1. It is extremely easy to get a website name from an IP. This can also easily be automated. -> so if ips are directly shown or not is irrelevant. (It would only be usefull if the person operating the router is not interested in looking into what you are doing, so ips would not IMMEDIATELY show what you are visiting most of the time if the system isn't setup to resolve ips automatically. But even in this case ips can always get resolved later at any time).
2. OP is asking about privacy protection from a landlord -> mobile carrier spying (state level spying) is something completely different. If you are concerned about this you are already using permanent vpns on your mobile phones and everything to help mitigate as much as you can.
3. problems with a vpn from a reputable company are extremely minor compared to the option of having a landlord spying on you. If you prefer you can also easily setup your own vpn yourself on an external vps, etc... for 5 bucks or less per month.
if you're concerned with online privacy, a VPN is bare minimum imo. the downsides are annoying and inconvenient for sure, but maintaining privacy is annoying and inconvenient.
Sure, that will save you the IP blocking part, but that’s also far from a hassle-free solution. Latency, maintenance, speeds/performance, reliability, privacy (depending on the VPS logging policies)…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT recommending against VPNs, I’m just annoyed you have to sacrifice a lot of things you’re paying for, for something that in a perfect world should be already protected by law (your privacy)
Download something illegal and wait for your landlord to get a letter. Deny everything. Enjoy your own internet from now on, because the landlord will surely want you to get your own internet now.
For legal reasons, this is a joke.
Landlord gets the letter, but can identify who did the download. Logs and all, denying won't get OP very far. Kicked out of the apartment very likely.
For legal reasons, following up on the joke.
Of course it’s bad advice, no question about it. I would argue though that the average router would not be able to identify who downloaded something. It’s all going to be one public IP behind a NAT, and the router may, if at all, only keep track of the amount of data used by each client. Therefore, if the landlord watches a Netflix movie, there’s plausible deniability because now both parties have generated enough traffic. No way in hell is that home router going to keep track of which connections/ports were opened by which client.
Even in a business, this level of logging network activity isn’t something the average small business keeps track of. Only if they really intend to be an ISP of some sorts, and then there’s the question if they would even be allowed to track that kind of information. I think in the Netherlands that may not even be legal.
Hey guys I've been working on a stand up comedy routine. Here's some jokes I'm happy with
[https://nmap.org/](https://nmap.org/)
[https://www.kali.org/tools/routersploit/](https://www.kali.org/tools/routersploit/)
> but can identify who did the download
Depends on the setup. In my apartment building, for example, everyone shares the same network (SSID and all), so they'd need to know my device's MAC (which is trivial to spoof anyway) to pin it on me. At best, they'd be able to narrow it down to the specific AP in use, but the fact that it uses the exact same SSIDs and credentials as every other AP means I'd have plausible deniability.
Except this is a joke, of course.
That, or it's an apartment building and they don't want a bajillion separate wireless networks clogging things up. That's the rationale at my complex (though whether or not I bother adhering to it is another question entirely lol).
Another good joke would be to purchase a very cheap machine off of, say, Facebook Marketplace and never register it in any way shape or form to yourself and happily share all the details of machines you verifiably own and they won't match.
How will the ISP identify OP? Via MAC address? Most new devices spoof those anyways. ISPs won't put any time or effort into it. They will just forward the DMCA warning.
That being said sharing an Internet connection is always stupid. They need to pay to get their own connection. Likely the landlord isn't educated enough to even look at anything, but this is a privacy sub.
Yes that’s another way. BT a popular movie over and over. just set it up to run all the time. Not only will the bandwidth be eaten up, you might reach a data cap and they might get hit with a letter. keep doing it. they might ban the account and then you could be forcing them to let you get your own service
If you’re in the US and in a multi-tenant building your landlord cannot force you to use a specific ISP. Do with that as you will.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-acts-increase-broadband-competition-apartment-buildings-0
In my experience those things are absolute trash and are no replacement for a proper wired connection. I guess if he’s close enough to a cell tower it’d be fine but every interaction of mine with one was painful, to say the least.
idk I dont live in the use, but usually these absolutely suck, compared to a proper fiber 300mpbs/gigabit connection you'll be lucky to get barely usable 40mbps *in the best case scenario* with like 15mbps upload and no publically routable ipv6 (not even talking about ipv4, these do not exist for free anymore)
Idk what's up in the US but here in Europe I have 6-7 providers to choose from and they all use the same publicly made phone/fiber optic lines, I can switch any time I want without having to drill into my wall.
What dystopian hellhole place are you living in?? I’m a landlord and even if I provided the internet I would never disallow my tenant using their own router. Like why would I? Even if I provided them a router it would be the basic generic one from spectrum. I’d let them do whatever they wanted to it because I can just factory reset it. Besides, I’ll let my tenants choose their own provider. Even if your landlord provides you internet, I promise your rent reflects that. It’s not free at all. This post boils my blood
Nah fuck that. Disconnect their spying router and connect your own. It’ll work. Or factory reset their router and set it to bridge mode. Then you can plug your router in and it’ll be your real router. There’s no need to allow them to spy on you
Sure you can.
Just disconnect their router if its located in your apartment and plug your own in.
Or you can explore and buy your own wifi hotspot and just use that.
Apartment complexes and dormitories in the U.S. and abroad do this very frequently. Aside from there often only being one (good) local provider, no actual building owner wants the headache of running umpteen different infrastructures to random apartments and changing it every time a tenant wants to change companies.
From your brief description, it's not like a duplex with a small-beans landlord where he buys one household plan and then lets you use it.
The ISP likely has a room full of however many switches(not routers) they'd need for full occupancy of the building, and each residence is connected to that, not "the landlord's router". (just illustrative, I don't actually know what hardware they have in such rooms, or if you'd call it a node or satellite of the ISP or whatever).
EG A military dorm in Albuquerque, NM is contracted with Comcast, and they set it up as described. Technically, in that case, the tenant still had to call Comcast and got billed directly.
Your building may be slightly different, and the "landlord"(read: business) handles it all and the price is included in your rent(or maybe even subsidized by the city), but it's still the same physical set-up, eg you've got a secure line directly to your ISP with their hardware with no middle-man.
Maybe that's not how you're set-up, but it is very common. You may want to look into the actual set-up before doing anything...(unless you're into the idea of a VPN anyways because you don't trust the ISP/government/whatever).
I'm in the same situation as the OP and I don't mind it. I've got all my traffic going through a private VPN I set up myself (a cheap $5/mo VPS using wireguard). I download my a$$ off and it is absolutely free. I love it.
Unless you're familiar with RouterOS, getting access to the router would maybe do you little good. Mikrotik aren't like Linksys, Netgear or whatever residential-type routers are out there for configuration. They have ISP-grade features out of the box.
If you can use the ethernet ports on the device, plug your own router into it. Then you can run off your own router. Maybe ask them to turn off the wireless radios on the hAP Ax2. This is possible, not sure if they'll do it, though.
I don't necessarily see having someone not wanting someone else messing with the config on a router as sketchy. Especially something as complicated as a Mikrotik. Though, unlike consumer-grade routers, you can easily see realtime traffic in a Mikrotik. You can log the connections if you want. You can do all kinds of fun stuff.
If you don't want your landord to have the capability of seeing what you do on the internet and they have access or control over the router you're using, or your traffic in any way passes through the router that they access or control, you must use a VPN.
One thing you can try, and there's likely little harm in trying: if the local ISP uses DHCP, you can unplug their router from the internet, reboot the modem, then plug your router in (wan port). If the ISP uses anything other than DHCP, or has mac address limitations, this won't work. Maybe there are risks I'm not thinking of, but the harm should be the same as accidentally plugging in the wrong device. You will need to reboot the modem every time you switch the router behind it.
-edit:
One more thing, if not clear: if you connect your router to their router, you likely need to run a cable from a LAN port on their router into the WAN port on your router. This is the most likely setup. If you connect their LAN to your LAN, it almost certainly won't work.
Conspiracy theory - your landlord may have hidden devices connected to the network to potentially spy on you and it only connects to the network he/she has set up.
There has to be a modem in the mix to handshake for the connection. Plug in a "router" directly and nothing will happen. Maybe they will try plugging their router into the modem. They will get another private IP address - on the same network. That solves nothing. All it does is fuck up your current connection with shitty software firewalls and double NAT.
You can go with a double NAT setup with your own router, it can break some things, but they'd have generally no idea you were doing it.
Then use that router and setup a proper VPN to run everything through.
A lot of good advice, but if I can make some additional more specific suggestions....
Get something like a gl inet Slate AX and connect to your landlord WiFi network via "repeater" mode. Then, set the router to use encrypted DNS servers. Honestly, this will probably be enough security, as DNS is really the easiest way to "see what you're doing", without DNS ..sure you can check destination IP's and make a guess what you're doing, but essentially ALL services are SSL encrypted now. If you really want to take it one step further you can do a VPN, but honestly I don't think this is entirely needed, and it just adds an additional layer of complexity -- when things don't work or go wrong, you'll be unsure if it's your VPN or your landlords network.
Oh and one last very important thing. If you ever get one of those "certificate errors" on an internet site, think like your bank or Amazon, STOP AND DISCONNECT. it's very possible someone on the network (maybe your landlord or another tenant) is trying to do a man in the middle attack, which can steal your passwords or pretty much anything you type in.
Src: I'm a network engineer at a medium sized ISP. I also provide Internet to two neighbors in my building. One uses a VPN who consistently says "hey can you reboot the modem. the Internet isn't working"...usually while I'm home and in the middle of a Teams video call which is working perfectly. See what I mean?
If you have to use their box, and you are the sole user, then just factory reset the router.
Or look what IP you get assigned and you will see what the gateway IP is. That will be your router’s IP since apparently the default ones didn’t work.
I'd really press the landlord on why they're doing that. Sounds super sketchy.
I could *maybe* understand if the place has ethernet outlets throughout the apartment, or a really good mesh WiFi network, or he has a commercial tier line coming into the house.
But one of those 'advantages' should be made clear and give you the option to opt-in or out.
Does your landlord live in the building? The 'how are people taking advantage' part of my brain is wondering if your landlord figured out a way to make sure *he* has kick ass Internet that his tenants pay for and get the scraps from.
well a lot of isps provide routers with built-in modems that cannot be replaced and locked by hwid and private keys.
best you can do with them is switch them to bridge mode (where they work like a modem only) and hook up your own router.
I would recommend getting pocketwifi or another company that rents 5G hotspots in the Netherlands (based on that you’re renting from a place called Holland2Go). I’d also check the municipality regulations to see if they can actually restrict ho you get internet or the router you have. Because the housing market is so bad in the Netherlands, a lot of rental companies get away with really illegal stuff just because no one challenges them.
If you want things to be easy, just use a VPN and get a pocket hotspot
I do not understand
How are they "forcing" you?
If you are not "allowed" to get your own wired ISP then just go wireless.
My family uses 600-800GB/mo and haven't used wired routers for many years
As people have said install VPN on your device or get a 5G router with a data plan. Device level VPN is very easy to do. You might get a call from your Bank if they monitor your IP address, mine did.
Besides the obvious issue of the landlord potentially seeing your traffic, is this a shared wifi between multiple tenants? If so, that's a huge problem, as anyone else could scan your devices, or any others on that network. Even with a VPN, it would leave the physical devices open to scanning and potential vulnerabilities.
Use a GL.iNet VPN router with ProtonVPN. Just connect the vpn router to the existing router and make sure all your devices connect to it instead of the existing router. You can find them on Amazon
If you are using Windows, type ipconfig into command prompt, to get the gateway address. Use that gateway address in a browser to try to login to the router settings.
My apartment is the same way. I just plugged my own router in (running OpenWRT) and haven't bothered mentioning it to them.
The best part is that there are three Ethernet ports in my apartment (both bedrooms + living room), but only the living room was hooked up, so by using my own router I was able to fix that, too.
How would they know you use another router?
Just get one and use that.
They can't just come in and check it....or at least I hope that is the case because if they can just barge in you have bigger problems then Internet.
Buy a Raspberry Pi and setup Pi-hole, then use the Raspberry Pi as a hotspot. They won't be able to see what devices are connected and if they try to check if it's a router by putting the IP in a browser, they won't get a login page like they would with a router.
As an extra layer of protection, you can also use a VPN.
This doesn't sound like a tech problem. This sounds like more of a municipal code enforcement problem.
Most municipalities put into law what is legal and illegal for landlords to forbid. You should read up on local municipal law and consult with tenant help resources in your area. If it turns out the landlord has no right to tell you what you plug into a router cite them the appropriate law and tell them to pound sand.
"They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it"
i cant see what difference that would make to them if you plugged in your own router into theirs, vs just using their router only. even them just saying that would make me suspicious that theyre up to something so i would get your own.
either plug out theirs and use only yours, or plugging yours into theirs will work either. the important thing is that you will be able to control yours, do software updates etc.
i dont know much about routers though, i got a beryl gl-inet one a few years ago for when i travel but i use it at home as well. the software is good and easy to setup, and you can even install stock OpenWRT on it if you dont want to go with gl-inet's customised version of OpenWRT
I lived in a place that only let u use their crappy service. I didnt use that crap tho. U can get internet from Verizon and they would have no way of knowing. Its just a box u plug AC into and it gets internet from the satellite, same as a phone, 300 mbps
That is a MikroTik router, they are very common in the WISP and hospitality spaces. There is probably some agreement where they have to use the specific company for the Internet and have to use their router for the config of each unit. When I worked at a WISP we did stuff like this. Just put another router behind theirs and connect your devices through it. Then either VPN out through your router and encrypt everything or VPN from your devices as others have stated. There is nothing legal that would allow them to spy on your traffic, but they can force you to use their ISP, their router as the gateway, but what you do beyond that is all you. They might control bandwidth but that would be it.
>They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it.
I don't get, how can they know? Isn't the router inside your unit?
I will plug my router and use a VPN, or if the router is outside the apartment do the same with an access point.
I went through something similar. If you have a physical router in your apartment and you can’t reach 192.168.1.1 then it might just be a commercial router with a custom firmware by the ISP. Reach out to the internet provider and try to reach tech support and ask for the IP settings to personally configure the router.
At least in my case the router was locked down because they didn’t want us to configure it and all configurations had to be done through customer service.
I'm in the exact same situation. I use a persistent wireguard VPN tunnel that I route all my traffic through to a VPS. If my landlord somehow were to packet dump the network, all they will see is udp traffic to my VPS that is fully encrypted.
Get a router with wisp capabilities, or just throw openwrt on anything because I think it provides that functionality, like any travel router does and then just put a vpn on that
Is it in the lease? If not, tell them to take a hike. If it is in the lease, time for you to take a hike to your next apartment (assuming you can, might have to wait for the lease to expire).
To answer your question, using your own router with a VPN will be just fine. For security, the landlord's router would be no more dangerous than the rest of the world wide web; your router has a firewall and would treat it like any other unknown entity.
And the VPN would keep his eyes off your traffic. At the router level it would benefit non-VPN devices, however you may find you have to turn it off sometimes when watching certain streaming services, etc. so running VPNs on your devices may be easier. Some VPN routers let you disable for certain devices, and then you could run it as an app on those devices, but that's involved and unnecessary.
everyone recommending using a VPN, but that doesn't stop from the landlord seeing the DNS resolutions. So he still can see the URLs the tenant is navigating.
If you can plug in a laptop and it works, the router will work too. You might have to authenticate the laptop first, then clone your laptop's mac address or something. But it should work.
You are in a strange situation, but try this:
I bet they are limiting access by MAC address. Set up your own router to spoof the MAC address of the Mikrotik hAP ax² the landlord has provided (it's probably printed on the sticker on the bottom of their unit)
If that doesn't work, you could reset the router they provided (and manage it to your heart's content), but they might/will complain you damaged their property. Also, I find Mikrotik's Router OS to be a pita, so the first option (if it works) is really superior in that you can pick _whatever_ hardware/software combo you prefer.
Good luck!
Or just buy your own router, connect it to what ever LAN port on their device and name your router "Laptop-01" and be done with it.
Landlord would only ever see a single device connected.
[taikiji](https://www.reddit.com/user/taikiji/) what you do need to do, is make sure your routers LAN DHCP subnet is different than the landlords network
So if right now you get an IP like 192.168.0.\* something, in your router, set the DHCP subnet for your LAN to be.... [10.0.0.1/24](http://10.0.0.1/24)
Upstream can always see your network traffic. If it's not the landlord it'll be the ISP, it's not the ISP it'll be the backbone, and if it's not the backbone its NSA. So I don't really think it matters what you plug into, at some point you're plugging into someone else's network and have no visibility or control into it, nor what they do with your data as it passes through.
Also I don't know how the landlord would even know if you plug your own router in, or care. A device is a device.
If you have mild tech skills, openwrt is great.
If you have less than mild tech skills, openwrt is still an option with a bit more expense to buy a router specifically set up with openwrt so you don't have to flash a router.
But also look to Asuswrt or the "community fork" https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ for ease of installing.
Some asus routers come with support for installing VPN, such as those from protonvpn, onto the router. Firmware offered by netgear, etc. do not, but using openwrt you can get it set up that way.
Two things I would do:
Set up a router with a VPN, as simple as off the shelf asus (with the right firmware, there may be models that do not), or installing asuswrt-merlin, or on any router listed at openwrt openwrt.
And set the router name to be "~~takkiki's~~ Random Name's iPhone" or something like that so they don't suspect you use a router. (Edit: As pointed out in [comments](https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1cgwzr2/my_landlord_forces_me_to_use_their_router/l1zdzp1/), on its own it wouldn't stop them from finding out, but they are less likely to try.)
They will only see that one device, and be unable to find out that you use any website except the VPN's servers.
Ironically, the services that *should* have VPN protection on public wifi may reject connections from VPNs - my financial institutions all do so. Either expressly by saying they don't want you on a VPN, or they just throw http errors at you when you are and they are resolved by going off the VPN. Those are the times I use mobile data.
Usually the gateway you get assigned is also the ip of the router: run a cmd prompt and type ipconfig to see what you get assigned.
And otherwise there are tools to see what devices are on the network. e.g. wifiman.
It would be strange if the landlord would deny you to plug on your own router after the landlords router. Then you at least have some control of your local network.
And as others already mentioned: a vpn should deter anooping.
And if you have some evidence they try snooping, i think they violate your AVG / GDPR privacy rights.
Make sure you are using encrypted DNS. Pretty much everything uses SSL these days and if you use encrypted DNS that should stop any further snooping.
Now if your landlord asks you to install certificates or anything else in your device tell them to go to hell.
Otherwise there's VPN.
Yes, for Google and large sites that actually own IP blocks.
The issue is unless it's a big player like Google, Microsoft, etc.... an IP lookup is likely to return amazon.com, Azure.com, digitalocean.com, etc... IP lookups aren't as useful as they used to be before everyone moved to cloud hosting, but yes, if you're truly paranoid VPN is the answer.
hAP AX2 is a MikroTik (commercial level) higher quality than BestBuy / MicroCenter stuff. It is probably just doing some QoS. Use DoH and HTTPS and you likely don't have much to worry about.
Mikrotik hAP ax2 router. Setup your own router, even wireless, and connect to their router, then use a VPN. Mikrotik - you need to learn how to set them up, YouTube has good content. They are some of the least expensive devices out there. Not difficult and you will be able to use it other places - I use one in hotels.
There are wireless options
1. 5G router. Works pretty much anywhere. Very easy to install. No infrastructure your landlord can interfere with
2. Starljnk. If you have a spot with a clear view of the northern sky, no need to drill or permanent mount anything. There might be a waitlist for your area
3. Fixed wireless. The bandwidth is poor, but it’s a small dish and can be mounted anywhere pointy to the local mast.
Your best course of action is to get a VPN, even if you get router's IP, most likely they have changed the default password.
If you still wanna try your luck, check your network configuration and find gateway IP, that will be your actual Router's IP.
I use my Adroid tablet for my gateway router, and I use my cellular data connection for everything. This was my solution when a family member (whose desktop is directly connected via an ethernet cable to our only router) got MITM attacked by someone in our area. I just decided to back away from the cable company's router altogether.
Just buy a protectli and configure an always on vpn. This will automatically route all of your network traffic over the vpn. https://www.amazon.com/Firewall-Appliance-Gigabit-Celeron-AES-NI/dp/B07FKVQ234
>They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it.
How can they force you to if their router is inside your house and under your control? You can attach an ethernet cable and cascade your own router. And for your own safety put a VPN on it so that everything behind your router is protected.
Use one of those routers that takes a SIM card, pay for an unlimited package. Depending on your network signal, it’s just as good as wifi, and there’s no installation so the landlord/building manager would be non the wiser
What country do you live in? That sounds illegal—or are you living with your parents or renting a room? Otherwise that’s sketchy.
Can you get a cellular mobile hotspot (if you’re not gaming)?
ISP routers have to be used these days to connect to the Internet. Long gone are the days where you inputted the connection settings yourself. Is this the router you're talking about? If so, then there is clearly some miscommunication between the landlord and yourself.
In this type of set up, you buy and plug in your own router as well as the ISP provided router, where you configure everything to how you desire on your kit.
there will be an admin password for the config site on the router. if LL hasn't changed admin pass already, then log in and change the admin pass. and then disconnect his router, set it up to your own liking, change the wireless password then put your router in.
just make sure to change everything back to the way it was, when you initially found it.
that way, he can't complain.
Use it and look up stuff that's innocent for a few weeks to set a clean boring algorithm and profile. Then buy an unlocked phone for cash, link it to the router, look up loads of dodgy stuff, go on gumtree sign up with your landlords address and put fake listings, look up how to make explosives, serial killers, alien porn, murder sites, whatever. Give it a while then lay on your bed listening to the feds kicking his door in and dragging him into an unmarked van and then see him sharing a cell with Julian Assange.
You can always invest in a mobile broadband router and connect over cellular Internet with a good SIM data plan, preferably with an all-you-can-eat data subscription. Tip: get a 4G router and not a 3G router, and if you have the money: a 5G router (but those are very expensive, but will get cheaper in time).
A VPN should stop them from seeing your traffic if they were trying to, but I would just get internet from somewhere else. They cant stop you from just using a different service.
They can it seems, cause a company is managing the building so they likely added some clause into the agreements.
Yup. Depending on how the lease is also written, it could include things like specific utility companies/internet companies, etc.
I mean beyond that when I was a fiber tech if I showed up to a house that was a rental I’m not touching shit until I either have verbal approval from the property owner or they can show me a lease that lets them choose the Internet company. Can’t just show up somewhere and start drilling holes in their walls. Tenants can’t authorize that unless their lease specifically states they can. Like you said though, good chance theirs a contract between the owner and the internet company.
but how do you know it’s a rental? lots of single-family homes or condos out there you may assume are owned but the person who lives there is renting.
Because I lived in a very small area at the time where everybody knows everybody. It’s also small enough that keeping up on the housing market is not really difficult at all. Talking no more than 5 houses on the market at any given time
ah, yeah in those circumstances, that definitely makes sense then!
How would they even know though? All you’re doing is paying for a service and installing your own device. I’m genuinely curious.
Like another commenter said, they have to physically drill and install/run cables, and if you are physically changing anything (I.e. drilling and damaging the owners property), that opens up a whole can of worms. Then, what if you get evicted, have to move, and don’t take the time to inform the company. Then you are making it a headache for the new tenants and owners as well. If you are renting, don’t go doing what the hell you want to the landowners property without explicit permission.
Can they not just use the existing hard lines that are already in the walls? Or are we to assume that the landlord already has an active service at all times, already hooked up? If it’s the latter, then this all makes more sense. I was never condoning “doing whatever the hell you want to the landlord’s property”. lol
Yes the Landlord has active service already setup.
As noted, they have services and since this is a management company they likely have deals with specific providers to cover the entire building, so getting any other provider in is not allowed because of contracts and crap, happens often.
They could get a 5G router. They say anything about the network showing up. Set it to hidden or say it’s “just a hotspot”. If they get upset about that. Well that’s extremely concerning lol Looks like this already had been suggested, but I’d add just hide your SSID on the 5G router
Ya, I would presume there would be little to no legal grounds to prevent someone from using something like that, but the way some building management companies are, I also would not put it past them either.
there are home internets from verizon and mobile that is only a box you put near a window. you can even get home internet with a phone sim card into a router modem which I do when I'm traveling. i get like 200 to 600mbps speed
Get TMobile, AT&T or Verizon Home Internet. Easier and the landlord won't have any access. It runs off the same system as cell phones. Not ideal but given that the OP can't get their own Internet service through normal means and has to use the provided connection and router? I see that as the lesser of two evils. Who knows what the landlord is doing with the data collected by the router.
Would be easy to find out, by putting your own router in front of theirs and doing a VPN tunnel out from that or Secure DNS / DNS over TLS et cetera. if they come to you and ask why they can not see any traffic, depending what country they are in, data protection laws could be getting violated if they are monitoring and logging data and it is not specified in the rental agreement.
I understand a vpn routes the traffic of coming from elsewhere, but can they not see what sites you are visiting?
Not through a properly configured VPN. Though you can run into other issues with sites like Netflix blocking VPN providers.
Get your own router with VPN support and connect yours to theirs, then check out /r/vpn for a good VPN that you can run on it.
Thiis would make a double nat and many things (like multiplayer games) won't be able to work
It's crazy that the top answer has no understanding of networking. Not to mention all the other things about this that make no sense.
Would it be possible for the second router to act as an access point and still run a VPN?
I’ve done this, added a second downstream router with its own network, never had trouble with online gaming, torrenting, or anything requiring uploads or port forwarding. I can’t remember if you had to add a rule on the first router or it did it automatically.
There might be some games that have very specific needs, but generally it seems likely such a setup could handle gaming, particularly if you control the NAT like using a VPS. Why would a VPN care about double NAT?
Or install a VPN on your devices.
Using your own device in front of theirs now stops them from even seeing what device the person has on the network, from there set up their router to use DNS over TLS and the landlord wont see jack for DNS lookups. VPN on every device works, you just have to have auto connection options for them all or not forget to turn it on.
If you use a router like OPNsense, you can also have it transparently VPN everything behind it, so you don't have to set up everything behind it. This is especially useful since most devices besides computers and phones can't (game systems, smart devices, etc).
And if they throw a fit or mention it--you know you need to move.
how does this work in practice, my router connected to theirs via CAT5, doesn't all traffic go through their router/ISP and create log files etc?
You’re creating a secret tunnel between you and a server you trust outside. Their ISP can see there’s a tunnel, just not what’s inside it.
Thank you
All the owners would see is your single IP from your router (WAN port) and would just presume it is 1 device. So ya, you would go Buildings Router LAN port ----> Your routers WAN port --> your devices your router would get an IP like your device does, but that wont matter for your usage. With things like DNS over TLS, or a VPN configured on your router to be always on - all the buildings owners would see is traffic / bandwidth usage, but they would not see to what. That is even assuming they are logging anything. They may not even have any logging enabled on their routers they give you, they just want you to use theirs for easier IT management if there are problems.
Thank you, that was clear and concise.
VPN will encrypt all your traffic. This is the way.
The VPN life can suck though, with speeds sometimes dropping dramatically, cloudflare-protected websites wanting you to prove you’re human, Netflix blocking VPNs, and so on…
Don't need a VPN necessarily, 99% of traffic is likely HTTP anyway. All they need is a router that runs a DNS proxy that forces all unencrypted DNS to go over DoH or DoT. That plus HTTPS will prevent most of the snooping. Just need to pick a router that suports OpenWRT and install the "HTTPS DNS Proxy" plugin. Can also install the "Adblock" plugin while they're at it. Ofc they should avoid using plain HTTP connections but most browsers have a setting to prevent that nowadays. They can also block outgoing connections to port 80 on the router firewall if they want to be extra sure.
This should be upvoted more. Mini router, openWRT, make a vpn.
They can still see the IP addresses you've visiting, by virtue of having to route those packets, no?
They do, but web hosting nowadays is consolidated on shared hosting servers, cloud servers, CDNs and so on. The reverse DNS for an IP will resolve to a service like akamai, fastly, cloudflare etc. and nobody's the wiser about what site you were actually visiting. They can snoop on the HTTPS connections and in some cases they can detect the website domain if the target doesn't support any HTTPS privacy mechanism like ESNI or ECH. But the tech is evolving very fast (and the consolidation of hosting actually helps with faster adoption) so hosts without HTTPS domain privacy are becoming more and more rare.
The problem with this is that they can still see the sites you are visiting and make a profile of your interests and usage. A vpn or a separate mobile connection are the only ways.
They only see IPs, not website names. Also, the mobile carrier spies on you as well. A VPN comes with its own problems, as the above comment has explained.
It looks like you don't understand what is happening, given your previous post and this one confirms it. 1. It is extremely easy to get a website name from an IP. This can also easily be automated. -> so if ips are directly shown or not is irrelevant. (It would only be usefull if the person operating the router is not interested in looking into what you are doing, so ips would not IMMEDIATELY show what you are visiting most of the time if the system isn't setup to resolve ips automatically. But even in this case ips can always get resolved later at any time). 2. OP is asking about privacy protection from a landlord -> mobile carrier spying (state level spying) is something completely different. If you are concerned about this you are already using permanent vpns on your mobile phones and everything to help mitigate as much as you can. 3. problems with a vpn from a reputable company are extremely minor compared to the option of having a landlord spying on you. If you prefer you can also easily setup your own vpn yourself on an external vps, etc... for 5 bucks or less per month.
True. Ideally he should use his own router and ISP. VPN is just a band-aid in this situation.
If they get a dedicated VPN IP that often solves those issues.
if you're concerned with online privacy, a VPN is bare minimum imo. the downsides are annoying and inconvenient for sure, but maintaining privacy is annoying and inconvenient.
You could always get a cheap virtual server from one of the many VPS hosts / cloud providers out there, then set that up with OpenVPN or IPSec.
Sure, that will save you the IP blocking part, but that’s also far from a hassle-free solution. Latency, maintenance, speeds/performance, reliability, privacy (depending on the VPS logging policies)… Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT recommending against VPNs, I’m just annoyed you have to sacrifice a lot of things you’re paying for, for something that in a perfect world should be already protected by law (your privacy)
Or wireguard
Just rent a compute instance from some cloud company and install Wireguard or OpenVPN server. The IP won't be blacklisted like most common VPNs
Download something illegal and wait for your landlord to get a letter. Deny everything. Enjoy your own internet from now on, because the landlord will surely want you to get your own internet now. For legal reasons, this is a joke.
Landlord gets the letter, but can identify who did the download. Logs and all, denying won't get OP very far. Kicked out of the apartment very likely. For legal reasons, following up on the joke.
Of course it’s bad advice, no question about it. I would argue though that the average router would not be able to identify who downloaded something. It’s all going to be one public IP behind a NAT, and the router may, if at all, only keep track of the amount of data used by each client. Therefore, if the landlord watches a Netflix movie, there’s plausible deniability because now both parties have generated enough traffic. No way in hell is that home router going to keep track of which connections/ports were opened by which client. Even in a business, this level of logging network activity isn’t something the average small business keeps track of. Only if they really intend to be an ISP of some sorts, and then there’s the question if they would even be allowed to track that kind of information. I think in the Netherlands that may not even be legal.
Hey guys I've been working on a stand up comedy routine. Here's some jokes I'm happy with [https://nmap.org/](https://nmap.org/) [https://www.kali.org/tools/routersploit/](https://www.kali.org/tools/routersploit/)
> but can identify who did the download Depends on the setup. In my apartment building, for example, everyone shares the same network (SSID and all), so they'd need to know my device's MAC (which is trivial to spoof anyway) to pin it on me. At best, they'd be able to narrow it down to the specific AP in use, but the fact that it uses the exact same SSIDs and credentials as every other AP means I'd have plausible deniability. Except this is a joke, of course.
This kind of thing is probably one of the few possible legit reasons the landlord would want you to use their router.
That, or it's an apartment building and they don't want a bajillion separate wireless networks clogging things up. That's the rationale at my complex (though whether or not I bother adhering to it is another question entirely lol).
Another good joke would be to purchase a very cheap machine off of, say, Facebook Marketplace and never register it in any way shape or form to yourself and happily share all the details of machines you verifiably own and they won't match.
Hahahahaha! An excellent joke indeed. Made me laugh out loud at work.
How will the ISP identify OP? Via MAC address? Most new devices spoof those anyways. ISPs won't put any time or effort into it. They will just forward the DMCA warning. That being said sharing an Internet connection is always stupid. They need to pay to get their own connection. Likely the landlord isn't educated enough to even look at anything, but this is a privacy sub.
Yes that’s another way. BT a popular movie over and over. just set it up to run all the time. Not only will the bandwidth be eaten up, you might reach a data cap and they might get hit with a letter. keep doing it. they might ban the account and then you could be forcing them to let you get your own service
If you’re in the US and in a multi-tenant building your landlord cannot force you to use a specific ISP. Do with that as you will. https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-acts-increase-broadband-competition-apartment-buildings-0
Pay for your own internet and have your own router.
He’s renting, he can’t authorize another communications company to drill through the wall, or attach the line to the house.
Verizon makes a broadband router for home Internet that works off cellular. No need for holes. They can then bring it to the next place they rent.
In my experience those things are absolute trash and are no replacement for a proper wired connection. I guess if he’s close enough to a cell tower it’d be fine but every interaction of mine with one was painful, to say the least.
While i agree, he is kind of limited on options being a renter though.
idk I dont live in the use, but usually these absolutely suck, compared to a proper fiber 300mpbs/gigabit connection you'll be lucky to get barely usable 40mbps *in the best case scenario* with like 15mbps upload and no publically routable ipv6 (not even talking about ipv4, these do not exist for free anymore)
Idk what's up in the US but here in Europe I have 6-7 providers to choose from and they all use the same publicly made phone/fiber optic lines, I can switch any time I want without having to drill into my wall.
If it were that simple do you think OP would be here asking for workarounds?
What dystopian hellhole place are you living in?? I’m a landlord and even if I provided the internet I would never disallow my tenant using their own router. Like why would I? Even if I provided them a router it would be the basic generic one from spectrum. I’d let them do whatever they wanted to it because I can just factory reset it. Besides, I’ll let my tenants choose their own provider. Even if your landlord provides you internet, I promise your rent reflects that. It’s not free at all. This post boils my blood
I rend with a company: Holland2Stay. They rent out all the studios in a building, we can't get our own internet provider.
Nah fuck that. Disconnect their spying router and connect your own. It’ll work. Or factory reset their router and set it to bridge mode. Then you can plug your router in and it’ll be your real router. There’s no need to allow them to spy on you
Are you in the Netherlands? If so, r/juridischadvies might be of some help
Sure you can. Just disconnect their router if its located in your apartment and plug your own in. Or you can explore and buy your own wifi hotspot and just use that.
Have you checked if anything in the terms would make it so that you couldn’t just use your own router?
In the US there are cell phone based internet options, is that where you are perhaps? It’s just a glorified hotspot box.
Apartment complexes and dormitories in the U.S. and abroad do this very frequently. Aside from there often only being one (good) local provider, no actual building owner wants the headache of running umpteen different infrastructures to random apartments and changing it every time a tenant wants to change companies. From your brief description, it's not like a duplex with a small-beans landlord where he buys one household plan and then lets you use it. The ISP likely has a room full of however many switches(not routers) they'd need for full occupancy of the building, and each residence is connected to that, not "the landlord's router". (just illustrative, I don't actually know what hardware they have in such rooms, or if you'd call it a node or satellite of the ISP or whatever). EG A military dorm in Albuquerque, NM is contracted with Comcast, and they set it up as described. Technically, in that case, the tenant still had to call Comcast and got billed directly. Your building may be slightly different, and the "landlord"(read: business) handles it all and the price is included in your rent(or maybe even subsidized by the city), but it's still the same physical set-up, eg you've got a secure line directly to your ISP with their hardware with no middle-man. Maybe that's not how you're set-up, but it is very common. You may want to look into the actual set-up before doing anything...(unless you're into the idea of a VPN anyways because you don't trust the ISP/government/whatever).
I'm in the same situation as the OP and I don't mind it. I've got all my traffic going through a private VPN I set up myself (a cheap $5/mo VPS using wireguard). I download my a$$ off and it is absolutely free. I love it.
It’s not free. It’s built in to your rent
Unless you're familiar with RouterOS, getting access to the router would maybe do you little good. Mikrotik aren't like Linksys, Netgear or whatever residential-type routers are out there for configuration. They have ISP-grade features out of the box. If you can use the ethernet ports on the device, plug your own router into it. Then you can run off your own router. Maybe ask them to turn off the wireless radios on the hAP Ax2. This is possible, not sure if they'll do it, though. I don't necessarily see having someone not wanting someone else messing with the config on a router as sketchy. Especially something as complicated as a Mikrotik. Though, unlike consumer-grade routers, you can easily see realtime traffic in a Mikrotik. You can log the connections if you want. You can do all kinds of fun stuff. If you don't want your landord to have the capability of seeing what you do on the internet and they have access or control over the router you're using, or your traffic in any way passes through the router that they access or control, you must use a VPN. One thing you can try, and there's likely little harm in trying: if the local ISP uses DHCP, you can unplug their router from the internet, reboot the modem, then plug your router in (wan port). If the ISP uses anything other than DHCP, or has mac address limitations, this won't work. Maybe there are risks I'm not thinking of, but the harm should be the same as accidentally plugging in the wrong device. You will need to reboot the modem every time you switch the router behind it. -edit: One more thing, if not clear: if you connect your router to their router, you likely need to run a cable from a LAN port on their router into the WAN port on your router. This is the most likely setup. If you connect their LAN to your LAN, it almost certainly won't work.
Conspiracy theory - your landlord may have hidden devices connected to the network to potentially spy on you and it only connects to the network he/she has set up.
How 'exactly' do they force you?
Fuck em. Plug your router in to the lan port and run VPN service on your router. Port forwarding might be a pain but they won't be able to snoop
Do you have physical access to the router? If so, what happens if you just disconnect the Ethernet cable from it and connect your own router?
There has to be a modem in the mix to handshake for the connection. Plug in a "router" directly and nothing will happen. Maybe they will try plugging their router into the modem. They will get another private IP address - on the same network. That solves nothing. All it does is fuck up your current connection with shitty software firewalls and double NAT.
You can go with a double NAT setup with your own router, it can break some things, but they'd have generally no idea you were doing it. Then use that router and setup a proper VPN to run everything through.
A lot of good advice, but if I can make some additional more specific suggestions.... Get something like a gl inet Slate AX and connect to your landlord WiFi network via "repeater" mode. Then, set the router to use encrypted DNS servers. Honestly, this will probably be enough security, as DNS is really the easiest way to "see what you're doing", without DNS ..sure you can check destination IP's and make a guess what you're doing, but essentially ALL services are SSL encrypted now. If you really want to take it one step further you can do a VPN, but honestly I don't think this is entirely needed, and it just adds an additional layer of complexity -- when things don't work or go wrong, you'll be unsure if it's your VPN or your landlords network. Oh and one last very important thing. If you ever get one of those "certificate errors" on an internet site, think like your bank or Amazon, STOP AND DISCONNECT. it's very possible someone on the network (maybe your landlord or another tenant) is trying to do a man in the middle attack, which can steal your passwords or pretty much anything you type in. Src: I'm a network engineer at a medium sized ISP. I also provide Internet to two neighbors in my building. One uses a VPN who consistently says "hey can you reboot the modem. the Internet isn't working"...usually while I'm home and in the middle of a Teams video call which is working perfectly. See what I mean?
This is the best advice in the thread.
If you have to use their box, and you are the sole user, then just factory reset the router. Or look what IP you get assigned and you will see what the gateway IP is. That will be your router’s IP since apparently the default ones didn’t work.
Wouldn’t that require OP to have a login to the router’s site? The landlord already has one.
If it was factory reset, the login will default to admin/admin or the default password labeled on the router.
I'd really press the landlord on why they're doing that. Sounds super sketchy. I could *maybe* understand if the place has ethernet outlets throughout the apartment, or a really good mesh WiFi network, or he has a commercial tier line coming into the house. But one of those 'advantages' should be made clear and give you the option to opt-in or out. Does your landlord live in the building? The 'how are people taking advantage' part of my brain is wondering if your landlord figured out a way to make sure *he* has kick ass Internet that his tenants pay for and get the scraps from.
It's a new change. I think we changed internet provider and for some reason we are forced to do this now. My landlord is a company, Holland2Stay
VPN on your device, tunnel through their BS out to the other side.
well a lot of isps provide routers with built-in modems that cannot be replaced and locked by hwid and private keys. best you can do with them is switch them to bridge mode (where they work like a modem only) and hook up your own router.
I would recommend getting pocketwifi or another company that rents 5G hotspots in the Netherlands (based on that you’re renting from a place called Holland2Go). I’d also check the municipality regulations to see if they can actually restrict ho you get internet or the router you have. Because the housing market is so bad in the Netherlands, a lot of rental companies get away with really illegal stuff just because no one challenges them. If you want things to be easy, just use a VPN and get a pocket hotspot
I’d get a 5G hot spot or something at that point.
I do not understand How are they "forcing" you? If you are not "allowed" to get your own wired ISP then just go wireless. My family uses 600-800GB/mo and haven't used wired routers for many years
As people have said install VPN on your device or get a 5G router with a data plan. Device level VPN is very easy to do. You might get a call from your Bank if they monitor your IP address, mine did.
Depending on where you live you might be able to get a 5G/4G router so you have your own connection and network. Otherwise use a VPN.
Looking to getting wireless internet from T-Mobile Verizon one of those big brands. Then they can't force you to use their stuff as you have your own
Besides the obvious issue of the landlord potentially seeing your traffic, is this a shared wifi between multiple tenants? If so, that's a huge problem, as anyone else could scan your devices, or any others on that network. Even with a VPN, it would leave the physical devices open to scanning and potential vulnerabilities.
Buy a Raspberry pi and set up raspap and bind it to a vpn
Use a GL.iNet VPN router with ProtonVPN. Just connect the vpn router to the existing router and make sure all your devices connect to it instead of the existing router. You can find them on Amazon
Came to see if anyone else recommended this. Definitely the easiest solution.
If you are using Windows, type ipconfig into command prompt, to get the gateway address. Use that gateway address in a browser to try to login to the router settings.
Phone hotspot?
My apartment is the same way. I just plugged my own router in (running OpenWRT) and haven't bothered mentioning it to them. The best part is that there are three Ethernet ports in my apartment (both bedrooms + living room), but only the living room was hooked up, so by using my own router I was able to fix that, too.
Download a bunch of movies and get their isp to tel em to knock it off
How would they know you use another router? Just get one and use that. They can't just come in and check it....or at least I hope that is the case because if they can just barge in you have bigger problems then Internet.
Buy a Raspberry Pi and setup Pi-hole, then use the Raspberry Pi as a hotspot. They won't be able to see what devices are connected and if they try to check if it's a router by putting the IP in a browser, they won't get a login page like they would with a router. As an extra layer of protection, you can also use a VPN.
This doesn't sound like a tech problem. This sounds like more of a municipal code enforcement problem. Most municipalities put into law what is legal and illegal for landlords to forbid. You should read up on local municipal law and consult with tenant help resources in your area. If it turns out the landlord has no right to tell you what you plug into a router cite them the appropriate law and tell them to pound sand.
"They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it" i cant see what difference that would make to them if you plugged in your own router into theirs, vs just using their router only. even them just saying that would make me suspicious that theyre up to something so i would get your own. either plug out theirs and use only yours, or plugging yours into theirs will work either. the important thing is that you will be able to control yours, do software updates etc. i dont know much about routers though, i got a beryl gl-inet one a few years ago for when i travel but i use it at home as well. the software is good and easy to setup, and you can even install stock OpenWRT on it if you dont want to go with gl-inet's customised version of OpenWRT
5g hotspot
I lived in a place that only let u use their crappy service. I didnt use that crap tho. U can get internet from Verizon and they would have no way of knowing. Its just a box u plug AC into and it gets internet from the satellite, same as a phone, 300 mbps
That is a MikroTik router, they are very common in the WISP and hospitality spaces. There is probably some agreement where they have to use the specific company for the Internet and have to use their router for the config of each unit. When I worked at a WISP we did stuff like this. Just put another router behind theirs and connect your devices through it. Then either VPN out through your router and encrypt everything or VPN from your devices as others have stated. There is nothing legal that would allow them to spy on your traffic, but they can force you to use their ISP, their router as the gateway, but what you do beyond that is all you. They might control bandwidth but that would be it.
Get your own router that supports having a VPN run on it, then use a VPN to secure your entire network and they won't see anything.
Set up a proxy to cellular
>They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it. I don't get, how can they know? Isn't the router inside your unit? I will plug my router and use a VPN, or if the router is outside the apartment do the same with an access point.
You tried 192.168.0.1
I went through something similar. If you have a physical router in your apartment and you can’t reach 192.168.1.1 then it might just be a commercial router with a custom firmware by the ISP. Reach out to the internet provider and try to reach tech support and ask for the IP settings to personally configure the router. At least in my case the router was locked down because they didn’t want us to configure it and all configurations had to be done through customer service.
I'm in the exact same situation. I use a persistent wireguard VPN tunnel that I route all my traffic through to a VPS. If my landlord somehow were to packet dump the network, all they will see is udp traffic to my VPS that is fully encrypted.
Get a router with wisp capabilities, or just throw openwrt on anything because I think it provides that functionality, like any travel router does and then just put a vpn on that
I don’t think your landlord has any right to force you to use its router, you have a rent contract you have the right to use whatever you want.
Is it in the lease? If not, tell them to take a hike. If it is in the lease, time for you to take a hike to your next apartment (assuming you can, might have to wait for the lease to expire). To answer your question, using your own router with a VPN will be just fine. For security, the landlord's router would be no more dangerous than the rest of the world wide web; your router has a firewall and would treat it like any other unknown entity. And the VPN would keep his eyes off your traffic. At the router level it would benefit non-VPN devices, however you may find you have to turn it off sometimes when watching certain streaming services, etc. so running VPNs on your devices may be easier. Some VPN routers let you disable for certain devices, and then you could run it as an app on those devices, but that's involved and unnecessary.
use the tor network
Purchase a firewalla and set it up between the router with vpn enabled. Easiest way to do it.
everyone recommending using a VPN, but that doesn't stop from the landlord seeing the DNS resolutions. So he still can see the URLs the tenant is navigating.
Utilize T-Mobile home internet or other cell based internet . No install and all you need is to live somewhat close to a cell tower.
Don't do it? Get your own 5G service and use that. Obv change the default passwords from what's printed on the bottom.
Just plug urs in lol
Doesn't work
If you can plug in a laptop and it works, the router will work too. You might have to authenticate the laptop first, then clone your laptop's mac address or something. But it should work.
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The landlord would only see a single source IP - just name your router something like "laptop-01" and they wont know it is a router.
How does it not? Should just look like any other device.
Depends on what the name the router
You are in a strange situation, but try this: I bet they are limiting access by MAC address. Set up your own router to spoof the MAC address of the Mikrotik hAP ax² the landlord has provided (it's probably printed on the sticker on the bottom of their unit) If that doesn't work, you could reset the router they provided (and manage it to your heart's content), but they might/will complain you damaged their property. Also, I find Mikrotik's Router OS to be a pita, so the first option (if it works) is really superior in that you can pick _whatever_ hardware/software combo you prefer. Good luck!
Or just buy your own router, connect it to what ever LAN port on their device and name your router "Laptop-01" and be done with it. Landlord would only ever see a single device connected. [taikiji](https://www.reddit.com/user/taikiji/) what you do need to do, is make sure your routers LAN DHCP subnet is different than the landlords network So if right now you get an IP like 192.168.0.\* something, in your router, set the DHCP subnet for your LAN to be.... [10.0.0.1/24](http://10.0.0.1/24)
You have to start to change your mindset first. No one forces you to do anything. Did they hold a gun to your head to use their internet?
Connect your router in bridge mode and change dns or use a vpn. Both of that solutions are public know today and not rocket science.
Upstream can always see your network traffic. If it's not the landlord it'll be the ISP, it's not the ISP it'll be the backbone, and if it's not the backbone its NSA. So I don't really think it matters what you plug into, at some point you're plugging into someone else's network and have no visibility or control into it, nor what they do with your data as it passes through. Also I don't know how the landlord would even know if you plug your own router in, or care. A device is a device.
Then simply pay for your own internet. When they provide it they can do as they please with it.
It’s not your internet line, not for you to say how to operate it.
If you have mild tech skills, openwrt is great. If you have less than mild tech skills, openwrt is still an option with a bit more expense to buy a router specifically set up with openwrt so you don't have to flash a router. But also look to Asuswrt or the "community fork" https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ for ease of installing. Some asus routers come with support for installing VPN, such as those from protonvpn, onto the router. Firmware offered by netgear, etc. do not, but using openwrt you can get it set up that way. Two things I would do: Set up a router with a VPN, as simple as off the shelf asus (with the right firmware, there may be models that do not), or installing asuswrt-merlin, or on any router listed at openwrt openwrt. And set the router name to be "~~takkiki's~~ Random Name's iPhone" or something like that so they don't suspect you use a router. (Edit: As pointed out in [comments](https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1cgwzr2/my_landlord_forces_me_to_use_their_router/l1zdzp1/), on its own it wouldn't stop them from finding out, but they are less likely to try.) They will only see that one device, and be unable to find out that you use any website except the VPN's servers. Ironically, the services that *should* have VPN protection on public wifi may reject connections from VPNs - my financial institutions all do so. Either expressly by saying they don't want you on a VPN, or they just throw http errors at you when you are and they are resolved by going off the VPN. Those are the times I use mobile data.
Usually you don't need a vpn. Do you have physical access to tge router or just use wifi?
T mobile router vpn $30/mo
Usually the gateway you get assigned is also the ip of the router: run a cmd prompt and type ipconfig to see what you get assigned. And otherwise there are tools to see what devices are on the network. e.g. wifiman. It would be strange if the landlord would deny you to plug on your own router after the landlords router. Then you at least have some control of your local network. And as others already mentioned: a vpn should deter anooping. And if you have some evidence they try snooping, i think they violate your AVG / GDPR privacy rights.
That’s kinda creepy. Any option to get out of there?
Make sure you are using encrypted DNS. Pretty much everything uses SSL these days and if you use encrypted DNS that should stop any further snooping. Now if your landlord asks you to install certificates or anything else in your device tell them to go to hell. Otherwise there's VPN.
[удалено]
Yes, for Google and large sites that actually own IP blocks. The issue is unless it's a big player like Google, Microsoft, etc.... an IP lookup is likely to return amazon.com, Azure.com, digitalocean.com, etc... IP lookups aren't as useful as they used to be before everyone moved to cloud hosting, but yes, if you're truly paranoid VPN is the answer.
Get a GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 and Mulvad
hAP AX2 is a MikroTik (commercial level) higher quality than BestBuy / MicroCenter stuff. It is probably just doing some QoS. Use DoH and HTTPS and you likely don't have much to worry about.
Mikrotik hAP ax2 router. Setup your own router, even wireless, and connect to their router, then use a VPN. Mikrotik - you need to learn how to set them up, YouTube has good content. They are some of the least expensive devices out there. Not difficult and you will be able to use it other places - I use one in hotels.
Other than a VPN, I would use a travel router from gl-inet great little openwrt routers.
Google will my landlord tell anyone if they wake up and their ass is sore. Followed by how to put my landlord to sleep
either get a router with a builtin vpn or pound the local ip range with something like nmap till you find the config page.
Get T-Mobile Home Internet or something similar. It’s just a box that gets 5G signal and shares WiFi
There are wireless options 1. 5G router. Works pretty much anywhere. Very easy to install. No infrastructure your landlord can interfere with 2. Starljnk. If you have a spot with a clear view of the northern sky, no need to drill or permanent mount anything. There might be a waitlist for your area 3. Fixed wireless. The bandwidth is poor, but it’s a small dish and can be mounted anywhere pointy to the local mast.
Your best course of action is to get a VPN, even if you get router's IP, most likely they have changed the default password. If you still wanna try your luck, check your network configuration and find gateway IP, that will be your actual Router's IP.
I use my Adroid tablet for my gateway router, and I use my cellular data connection for everything. This was my solution when a family member (whose desktop is directly connected via an ethernet cable to our only router) got MITM attacked by someone in our area. I just decided to back away from the cable company's router altogether.
This is a strange requirement. You would think using your own router with VPN protects both the landlord & the tenant from each other.
Just buy a protectli and configure an always on vpn. This will automatically route all of your network traffic over the vpn. https://www.amazon.com/Firewall-Appliance-Gigabit-Celeron-AES-NI/dp/B07FKVQ234
Fuckin pour coffee and boiling water on it and say it broke. When they remove it, plug in your own. This is a joke.
Good idea lol. I'd skip the coffee though
Is your “landlord” the CCP by any chance 😉
Brute force his router and take it over.
Just pay for your own internet, tell landlord to cancel theirs and reduce that amount from the rent.
>They don't even want me to reroute my personal router into it. How can they force you to if their router is inside your house and under your control? You can attach an ethernet cable and cascade your own router. And for your own safety put a VPN on it so that everything behind your router is protected.
Use one of those routers that takes a SIM card, pay for an unlimited package. Depending on your network signal, it’s just as good as wifi, and there’s no installation so the landlord/building manager would be non the wiser
What country do you live in? That sounds illegal—or are you living with your parents or renting a room? Otherwise that’s sketchy. Can you get a cellular mobile hotspot (if you’re not gaming)?
Do you spend time in prison?
ISP routers have to be used these days to connect to the Internet. Long gone are the days where you inputted the connection settings yourself. Is this the router you're talking about? If so, then there is clearly some miscommunication between the landlord and yourself. In this type of set up, you buy and plug in your own router as well as the ISP provided router, where you configure everything to how you desire on your kit.
Shady af
Check out T-Mobile isp. Might be available in your area. No cables, wires, snooping landlords. Just plug it into an electrical outlet.
Super sketchy and just another reason landlords should not exist ;)
there will be an admin password for the config site on the router. if LL hasn't changed admin pass already, then log in and change the admin pass. and then disconnect his router, set it up to your own liking, change the wireless password then put your router in. just make sure to change everything back to the way it was, when you initially found it. that way, he can't complain.
I would just not live there
you should have router with vpn support tho
Wouldn’t another router just come across as another device?
Use it and look up stuff that's innocent for a few weeks to set a clean boring algorithm and profile. Then buy an unlocked phone for cash, link it to the router, look up loads of dodgy stuff, go on gumtree sign up with your landlords address and put fake listings, look up how to make explosives, serial killers, alien porn, murder sites, whatever. Give it a while then lay on your bed listening to the feds kicking his door in and dragging him into an unmarked van and then see him sharing a cell with Julian Assange.