The Reddit user posted an account of his smart revenge after he found the reason behind his slow internet connectivity. In the post on the popular forum website, the man, who goes by the user-name ‘Illuminatus-Prime’, recounted how he had moved into a flat while his house was undergoing renovations and noticed that his Wi-Fi speed would dip at specific times.
After reaching out to his internet provider, he discovered that a neighbour had been accessing his Wi-Fi without consent. Sharing his experience on the social forum, he wrote: “I noticed my video and download speeds had been reduced to a crawl, and that my ping time was in the low to mid triple-digit range. Several calls and a single service visit later, I found out that at least one of my neighbours had tapped into my Wi-Fi.”
“I changed the name of my router to BADGE357 and changed the password to a randomised character string of maximum length. My net speed went back to normal, and my ping time came back down to the low to mid double-digit range.”
Later, when he went to the main office to pay his rent, he encountered a neighbour who began complaining about the “cops shutting down her internet connection”.
When he asked why she believed that, she mentioned that the cop had put up his badge number. Interested, the author of the post questioned why they would cut off her service, to which she revealed she operated an adult webcam business – entirely legal but quite explicit.
“I told her that my service was just fine, so she started the whole bat-the-eyes and wiggle-the-tush routine and suggested in a real sweet, seductive voice that I could allow her to tap into my service in exchange for favours (nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say-no-more! ). ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘My router is BADGE357, and my password is…
“At this point, she realised what was happening and began yelling at him for ‘ruining her business'”. Pleased with teaching her a lesson, he walked away, grinning. He added: “I think she eventually got her own service, because I never heard from her again, although the cold, icy looks she gave me as we passed in the parking lot were somewhat amusing. ”
One user commented on his post, saying: “That’s good. You really had her going thinking you were going to give her free Wi-Fi”.
Another chimed in: “If she’s any good at what she does she can earn the monthly cable bill in ten minutes. No need to steal it”.
However, playing devil’s advocate, a third user pointed out: “She wasn’t stealing anything. You were offering free service to the neighbourhood by leaving it wide open”.