I've posted this problem elsewhere, and someone suggested this was a potential MoCa problem, and that my neighbor and I were able to see each other's networks because of some miscommunication at Frontier, or a missing filter of some kind. I'm editing and posting this here to see if anyone can give me some insights.
On Sunday, my neighbor stopped me to ask if I had a Denon receiver (which I do). He told me that my wifi-enabled audio receiver was showing up on his network. I thought that was odd, but then the next day he told me he could see one of my named PCs on his network -- let's call the PC "Snuffy". There was no way he could have known my PC's name, and this PC has no wireless card and a static IP address (not getting it from DHCP). That's when I knew we had a serious problem.
My network:
Router #1
Verizon/Frontier Router
192.168.1.1
Running DHCP for 192.168.1.10 - 192.168.1.254
Runs wifi using a broadcasted SSID, let's call it "Hickory"
Uses WPA2 security with a strong password
Router #2
Netgear running DD-WRT
Connected via Ethernet to Router #1
192.168.1.2
DHCP disabled
Setup as AP mode (Access Point)
Runs wifi using same broadcasted SSID ("Hickory"), same WPA2 password as Router #1
Router #3
Netgear running DD-WRT
Connected via wifi to Router #1
192.168.1.3
DHCP disabled
Setup as Client Bridge (acts as a wireless bridge for some Ethernet-connected devices)
Runs wifi using same broadcasted SSID ("Hickory"), same WPA2 password as Router #1
All of my other devices are setup to use DHCP and are grabbing leases from the 192.168.1.1 subnet. This setup has worked flawlessly for a couple of years, and I have never seen any devices on my 192.168.1.x subnet that I didn't know what they were.
Neighbor's network:
Router #4
Verizon/Frontier Router
192.168.1.1
Runs wifi without broadcasted SSID, confirmed with neighbor their SSID is NOT the same as mine (not "Hickory")
Uses WPA2 security with a strong password
Router #5 (new)
Netgear Router
192.168.2.1
Connected via Ethernet to Router #4
DHCP enabled for some portion of subnet 192.168.2.x (not sure of the exact settings)
NOTE: This router is brand new, has only been running about a month. It is the newest factor in the entire setup, and somewhat suspect.
My neighbor and I have verified that we both have completely different SSIDs and strong passwords. There are no open wifi networks at play. Some additional information:
So given the parameters above, I can think of NO WAY these two networks should be able to see each other. They are each running closed wifi networks with different SSIDs and strong passwords. However, I can confirm that we're able to see some of each other's equipment. Here are some things I've noticed:
Right now, my Denon receiver is getting an IP lease of 192.168.2.32 -- an IP lease from my neighbor's DHCP. The receiver is configured to connect to my wifi network.
If I run Advanced IP Scanner from one of my PCs (192.168.1.111), and scan the subnet 192.168.2.1, I am able to see multiple devices from my neighbor's network. I see a Dell Inspiron laptop (192.168.2.5), a desktop that I don't recognize (192.168.2.33), a couple of other unidentified devices, and I see my Denon receiver with the aforementioned 192.168.2.32 address.
I called Frontier this morning to get some help. The automated attendant said that it detected some problems with my setup and would attempt to fix them. When it did, it booted me off the Internet for about 60 seconds. When everything came back up, most devices in my network had grabbed IP addresses from my neighbor's subnet (192.168.2.x). I confirmed that my main PC had one of these IPs -- and when I used whatismyip.com, my public IP was showing as my neighbor's IP address! After the call with Frontier, I had to call my neighbor, have him shut off his 192.168.2.1 router, and renew all of my DHCP leases to get off of his network.
This is scary stuff. After an hour-long call with Frontier, they agreed to send a tech out on Friday, which is great. Does anyone have any suggestions of what the problem might be? Does this point to a MoCa problem with Frontier? What are the chances the tech coming out on Friday will have any idea how to troubleshoot this kind of issue?
Thanks!
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