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A lady I know has been having trouble with her ex partner, so serious that the police are involved and he is currently on bail and must not go anywhere near her or her home.

Several times she has lost her internet connection. When they got Vodafone they photographed the password and stored it. So he is repeatedly going close to her home and getting the internet connection reset to factory settings which means he can reset the password. Vodafone have been repeatedly asked for a new password but have refused. And she cannot afford to change internet server provider as she still has 4 months left on her current agreement with Vodafone.

That's somewhat difficult to accept at face value. What kind of password is this? Is she not the account holder; if not, why is she paying the bills anyway? In most cases the customer would control passwords and access to their wireless network; it would be straightforward to effectively shut out the ex partner unless they're some kind of expert hacker.

Vodafone might not be in a position to help for technical or practical reasons, rather than refusing to do so. My best guess would be that she could probably change the password herself, but might not know how, whereas Vodafone would have to send out an engineer to do it for her, with an associated cost. Perhaps she just needs to ask a knowledgeable friend for assistance?

I presume he has access to the Admin password on the router. Few people actually change this, although it can be done.

If the Admin password remains at the default value, anyone can reset the router....

"repeatedly"
So each time he changes the password, she is able to rectify the situation?

And he can only do this when in the proximity of her home? It sounds like wifi proximity, so presumably he is able to log into the router/hub with Admin rights, where he is resetting the password for the Vodafone broadband connection.

If your friend changes the admin password on the router, perhaps that will stop him?

He accesses the router and resets it to factory setting which means it is using the original password and Vodafone are refusing to change that password. She can supply them with proof that she is the one you has use of the router and the person doing the resetting is breaking bail conditions. So enough surely for Vodafone to change the router's original password.

It's highly likely she could change it herself and that Vodafone can't do it remotely. If her ex has already changed it, that would potentially be a problem, but not if factory reset is restoring it to the initial setting. She should change both the router admin password and the WiFi network password (preferably the WiFi network SSID too) to keep him out, but will need to update the configuration of her devices after making those changes.

How does she fix the problem each time?

She could go back to the court/police explain the problem and get a further injunction/condition added to his bail stopping him from interfering with it.

Chadwick wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 20 2022 6:42pm

How does she fix the problem each time?

IF he is using the Admin password to reset the router, then changing the password (or replacing the router) would stop him....... so no need to fix any problem in future.

If the admin password has been reset (and she doesn't know it), replacement of the router might be the only remedy. The ISP should be able to advise.

Vodafone will not help her and is refusing to change the factory setting password so she can change it to one that only she knows.

The police are aware and he is currently on bail so is breaking his bail by getting so close to the house.