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Thread: Satellite internet and wireless mouse

  1. #1
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    Satellite internet and wireless mouse

    Not sure this is the right place for this question, but I don’t know where else to put it...

    I have had Hughes net, satellite internet, for several months now. Basically, I really love it. It’s lightening fast, and I’m able to effectively use Zoom and FaceTime for online tutoring, which I could not do with the older, very slow, Frontier service. (I live in a rural area of California).

    Lately, I’ve discovered an amusing aspect, and a worrisome aspect. The amusing part is that the location feature of many websites, of course, reads where the satellite is, not where I live and my devices sit. It changes continually to reflect the orbit. I’ve had trouble ordering online from a couple of sites because they don’t allow me to over ride it, so I just don’t shop with them anymore. I also had trouble with online banking, because my location was changing rapidly, and that’s one of the indicators they use to identify potential fraud in action. Fortunately, the financial institutions call me if they are concerned.

    *** But the worrisome feature is that when I enable Bluetooth on any of my devices, other people can access my satellite service as well. I can see who is logged in, I recognize my neighbors’ pets names used as device names, etc. I’m concerned that they then also have access to my data, but I’m not sure. Anybody know? And does anyone have knowledge of how I could enable bluetooth without this happening?

    I have tried to contact Hughes net, unsuccessfully. TIA

  2. #2
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    I'm no expert in satellite Internet access, but I suspect your problem has to do with the wireless frequencies being used by various items in your house. Bluetooth uses 2.4 Ghz, as do some other items in your house. Some older microwaves emitted interference on that frequency, 802.11b routers (and newer ones, if you set them up that way) also use 2.4 Ghz. I don't know what the Hughes frequency is; maybe 2.4 Ghz for the sake of bandwidth (and because that's still faster than what most of their customers are used to).

    I'm not sure what your neighbors see. But if you haven't changed the ID and password of your satellite box and/or your router from what it arrived with (here's where what I don't know kicks in), you might want to change those now. Also, are you using a wireless router from the Hughes device to the rest of your home? Have you changed the ID/password on that as well since you got it?

    Changing those will require either editing or recreating the connection between your computer (and anything else that's connected to your home network, like a Roku box or smart TV), so you should know how to do that before you connect it. But if the issue is that your neighbors have figured out how to connect to your Hughes device, this should change that quickly.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  3. #3
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    Good thought re: passwords, Steve. I just changed them.

    However, neighbors can only connect when I specifically have the Bluetooth on my laptop enabled in order to use a wireless mouse. So it is something related to the Bluetooth frequency. Or perhaps the mouse?

    I think it’s just “open” much like my cell phone is “open” and can see and be seen by other devices when it’s connected to my car radio/phone/etc (which also worries me to some extent.) Since I first discovered they were connecting, I’ve been careful to manually turn off that Bluetooth setting when I’m finished, and I only use the wireless mouse when I’m editing docs, but it is a nuisance and a concern. And a mystery still.

  4. #4
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    I suspect you might have sharing turned on in Windows, probably under the Bluetooth settings, maybe under network settings as well.
    It has been a LONG time since I knew anyone with satellite internet. I suspect it still works the same, where your requests are sent via the phone line, and your downloads are via the satellite. If you have sharing turned on, your computer acts as a router for the items that connect to it. Bluetooth is a short range protocol and isn't exactly a secure communications protocol. Had a neighbor at work whose bt speakers I could see, and we connected to them and pranked them a couple times. (think if your speaker randomly said Oh a wise guy eh)
    Is your satellite modem connected via cable, or wireless? Is it wireless networking, or bluetooth?

  5. #5
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    Toomuchstuff, that was exactly the problem, Sharing was turned on in Windows. Fixed now, and I’m very grateful. Thank you!

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