Forget twitching the curtains – if you really want to know what people in your area are up to, you can find out on the web. Robert Irvine heads the neighbourhood watch
Are your neighbours hacking your Wi-Fi?
When you search for available wireless networks from home, you’re invariably presented with a list that includes your neighbours’ Wi-Fi, sometimes with amusing names such as ‘ItHurtsWhenIP’ or ‘TellMyWiFiLoveHer’. However, that means your network also shows up in their lists, and if you haven’t secured it properly using a strong password and encryption, unscrupulous types may try to ‘piggyback’ on your connection.
You can find out if your neighbours are stealing your Wi-Fi by using a free tool called Wireless Network Watcher (www.nirsoft.net/utils). This tiny program scans your Wi-Fi and lists all the computers and devices that are currently connected to it, including their names, IP addresses, MAC addresses and network adapters. If you spot a suspicious entry, it’s time to change your security settings (and have a word). Turning on MAC filtering for your router adds a second layer of defence, because you can specify exactly which devices are allowed to connect to your router and network, although it doesn’t make your Wi-Fi impervious.
Are your neighbours getting faster broadband than you?
It’s bad enough if the people next door have a bigger garden and a better car than you, but if they’re downloading films faster, too, maybe it’s time to sell up and move on. You can find out if your broadband speeds are below or above average for your street using Ofcom’s new ‘Mobile coverage and fixed broadband checker’ (bit.ly/checker395). Enter your postcode to view a map showing the quality of 3G and 4G internet in your area, as well as the average speeds of standard and super- fast broadband. If you don’t know your own mobile or home broadband speeds, visit Speedtest.net (www.speedtest.net).
You can find out even more about your neighbours’ internet connections, including which ISPs they use, by visiting uSwitch.com’s StreetStats site (bit.ly/streetstats391). The information is shown on a map, with markers pinpointing the places where broadband speed readings have been taken within the past six months. To help you compare like for like, you can filter the results by internet provider and telephone exchange.
What are your neighbours uploading to YouTube?
Have you ever seen a video on YouTube and thought, “hang on, I recognise that man falling over/dog on a skateboard/car crashing into a convenience store”? If so, you’ll love the unofficial YouTube Geo Search Tool (bit.ly/upload393), which shows you videos that people in your area have uploaded to the site. Search for a location to view a list and a map of local clips uploaded within the past hour, day, week, month or year. Only videos that have been geotagged will appear in the results, but you might still discover something illuminating about your neighbours, such as which football team they support, or if they’ve been stealing your milk and posting the evidence online.
How much is your neighbour’s house worth?
Recent research found that around 10 million Britons have used the web to check the value of their neighbours’ homes, even if they had no intention of buying or selling. If you’re tempted to do the same, there are several sites that tell you how much people have paid for properties in your area recently. Our favourite is the comprehensive tool from leading online property website Zoopla (bit.ly/zoopla395), which lets you enter a postcode to view current and past sale prices going back 20 years. You can filter the results by property type and street; view the average current and paid price for the postcode; and see the total number of sales, as well as changes in value. Zoopla provides full details of each property, including a breakdown of its monthly running costs. Rival property site Rightmove offers a similar tool at bit.ly/rightmove395.
What are your neighbours doing to their homes?
Barely a week goes by without a story appearing in the papers about someone upsetting their neighbours by building a kitchen extension, children’s playroom or underground swimming pool that will cause “years of untold dirt, noise and disruption”. You can find out if anyone in your street is intending to foist unwelcome construction work on the community by searching your local council’s online database of planning applications. The quickest way to do this is to visit Gov.uk’s ‘Search the register of planning decisions’ page (bit.ly/planning395) and enter your postcode. This will give you a link to the relevant planning-applications page of your council’s website (England and Wales only). Click through and enter as much information as you can to discover who’s up to what, and to lodge any objections you might have before it’s too late. Some councils helpfully provide a map showing all planning applications made in your area in the past 14 days, so you can quickly pinpoint how close to your home the potential disruption will be. With most residents and businesses now submitting their applications online, it’s an easy way to keep abreast of local developments.
What crimes are your neighbours committing?
Everyone has a right to respect for his or her private life, both online and off, but it’s still useful to know about the number and type of criminal offences that have been committed near you.
If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the most reliable and up-to-date source of such information is Police.uk (www.police.uk). Click the ‘Find Your Neighbourhood’ button on the homepage, then either enter your postcode or click ‘Use this location’ to view how many crimes were reported in the vicinity in the most recent monthly figures. Click ‘Explore the crime map’ and you can find out exactly what your neighbours have been up to and where (anonymously, of course) – hether it’s antisocial behaviour, bicycle theft or shoplifting. There’s even a nifty tool that lets you draw a specific area on the map to confirm your suspicions about that crack den at number 22.
What are your neighbours giving away online?
If the previous tips in this feature seem rather nosy and suspicious, here’s a friendlier one to finish. Suppose you need a drill to do some DIY or some cardboard boxes to clear out old copies of Computeractive – who can you turn to? Why, your neighbours, of course (when you’re not accusing them of stealing your Wi-Fi or uploading dodgy videos). This is where Streetbank (www.streetbank.com) comes in handy. It allows you to borrow or acquire items from your neighbours for free, arranged in categories that include Gardening Equipment, Electrical, Furniture, Tools & DIY, and Kitchenware. You can also give or lend your own stuff to your neighbours. It’s this latter aspect that gives Streetbank more of a community feel than Freecycle (www.freecycle.org), as does the fact that it means neighbours in the real sense, rather than ‘local’ people who live on the other side of town. You can’t use the site unless you offer something of your own when you sign up, which deters freeloaders and means you actually meet some decent, generous people. And that, as the cheesy song goes, is when good neighbours become good friends!