Does a home modem capture Facebook messages

[Fervent Freyja]

Does a home modem capture facebook messages from a cell phone if Wi-Fi is set as the data usage preference? If so, how to find it in my log?

Is there a log on my modem for all the devices that have been in my home, attempting to connect to my Wi-Fi?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What modem/router are you using?

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Arris TG826G
I don't have the router model at hand.

Is it possible that it logs all devices that at least attempt to make a connection for a long period?

 

[Fervent Freyja]

That would be so cool, to know the dates and times someone else was in your home, wouldn't it?!

 

[jedishrfu]

My understanding is that the info collected refers to packet transmission and receipt and not the actual data sent or received. I'm a router can be hacked to record that kind of stuff because for a system tester it makes sense to have that capability even if its turned off or not easily accessible by endusers.

Here's one such router's log info:

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-check-a-routers-log

Some sample logging is shown in the article:

https://www.loggly.com/docs/troubleshooting-rsyslog/

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Okay. The modem belongs to my cable provider, can I still take it to a specialist to look at?

 

[jedishrfu]

It depends as you'll need the admin password for it.

If this is for some legal matter though you may need to have someone provide an affidavit that they extracted the info otherwise it would have limited use in a court of law. I'd check with your lawyer first as they may know someone who can do this.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I have access to my modem.

Legally, I already have what I need.

I just want to know what specific devices have been near my bed.

I will run it by my lawyer though.

Wouldn't that be cool, to know what devices were near your own bed at all times! Someone should create an app for that!

 

[jedishrfu]

The trouble is you can't get that kind of localization as neighboring could be accessing your router if it's unprotected or if they know your password. That means they could access upto a 100 feet or so.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

The trouble is you can't get that kind of localization as neighboring could be accessing your router if it's unprotected or if they know your password. That means they could access upto a 100 feet or so.

My stuff is locked down. I would like to access a log of all devices that have passed and devices that attempted more than once.

 

[jedishrfu]

pass word for admin will be needed.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Got it.

Have you ever heard of facebook messages sent over cell being logged into a modem? Would it even show the content of the message?

 

[jedishrfu]

No, I don't think so. There may be a feature to do it but manufacturers would turn it off because it would fill up storage too quickly.

 

[rcgldr]

You'd could use a computer with some type of "packet sniffer / analyzer" program connected to the LAN between wifi and modem to capture packets, which would probably require a switch. I've never used one of these, but I'm aware that packet sniffers have been used for "abandonware" games in order to create player made servers that emulate the official servers that were shut down when the game was "abandoned".

 

[Fervent Freyja]

K

You'd could use a computer with some type of "packet sniffer / analyzer" program connected to the LAN between wifi and modem to capture packets, which would probably require a switch. I've never used one of these, but I'm aware that packet sniffers have been used for "abandonware" games in order to create player made servers that emulate the official servers that were shut down when the game was "abandoned".

Alright. Can I set up a device in my home to capture ALL facebook messages incoming and outgoing from here this day forward? What software do I need or what do I need to set my modem to, to capture this activity?

 

[rcgldr]

Can I set up a device in my home to capture ALL facebook messages incoming and outgoing from here this day forward? What software do I need or what do I need to set my modem to, to capture this activity?

I've only read about packet sniffers / analyzers being used as mentioned above, for the purpose of emulating a game's online server when such a game has been abandoned and the official server was shut down. I don't know what software to recommend. Try doing a web search for such a program.

 

[Tom.G]

Note: the OPs stated modem mode,l Arris TG826G, does not seem to exist, The available documentation of the Aris TG862G is quite skimpy.

A Packet Sniffer program, such as Wireshark (free at wireshark.org), can capture all traffic when the computer it is on connects to a network. If the computer is connected to a Router, only traffic between the Router and that computer is available. This is because a Router directs traffic only to the computer that the traffic is addressed to.

To see/capture incoming and outgoing data on the whole network, you need to connect between the Router and the MODEM. This is typically done with a device called a Switch, which has multiple ports to connect to computers, modems, and Routers. A Switch reads its ports and everything coming into it is repeated to all the other ports. Think of it as a splitter or copy machine. Four and five port Switches are common with prices starting around $15.

Addendum
There MAY be a way to load capture software onto the Arris MODEM/Router. Perhaps someone more familiar with the details of the Arris can contribute something here.
end Addendum

Unfortunately, your MODEM, Arris TG826G TG862G, is a combination MODEM and Router so you can't connect between them. You would have to turn off the wireless function on the Arris, wire the Arris to a Switch, wire a new Router ($50 and up) to the switch, and wire a computer with Sniffer software to the switch. Notice the need to wire those together.

Once all of that is done you will be able to see the numeric IP address of all incoming and outgoing communication; including the DNS requests for named URLs (the online lookup that reports back the numeric address for named addresses).

Since everyone is concerned about privacy these days, most content is encrypted so you won't be able to read messages, etc. Some older encryptions are 'relatively' easy to subvert given enough data. How to do so is beyond my knowledge and probably not something that could be posted here anyhow.

Since each device that connects to the Internet has its own unique address, that's how you can track what is connecting thru your network. Of course then you have to find the actual device that has that unique address.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[CWatters]

I doubt home modems/routers store much useful information after the power has been switched off so physically taking it to an expert would be a problem.

Not sure about Facebook posts but some website content is captured by sites like "wayback machine" if that helps any..

http://archive.org/web/

 

[CWatters]

I'm wondering if you are asking the right question. Are you just trying to create a backup of all your own Facebook activity or efrectively spy on the activity of another person using that computer? There might be better approaches to use than looking at network traffic.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I'm wondering if you are asking the right question. Are you just trying to create a backup of all your own Facebook activity or efrectively spy on the activity of another person using that computer? There might be better approaches to use than looking at network traffic.

I think my modem might have been switched weeks ago. The cable account isn't in my name- they wouldn't tell me!

Because, my cell phone AND the internet/modem and router stopped working for days right around the time a "stranger" contacted me with information that I needed to know. Last ditch desperate attempts to prevent me from getting that information, I reckon.

I haven't been at "home" for a few days, if I try to log onto the modem log from there, I should be able to tell then if it really had been switched weeks ago?

Trying to figure out how the internet had been disabled at that time. The router and modem/router had both been blinking as if working. I haven't actually used the internet from the house since then. I have no idea if it had been cut off by calling the provider or if it had been physically disabled.

 

[Tom.G]

Because, my cell phone AND the internet/modem and router stopped working

About your cell phone not working. Many smart-phones will use an available WiFi connection for Internet access. Routers can be configured to respond only to devices specifically enabled. If you could still make telephone calls without phone Internet access on the phone, it was probably a router issue; else someone may have gotten to the phone company.
Edit:
Or the phone company had an outage. Call them and ask!
end Edit

 

[CWatters]

Could just be a fault somewhwer. If the cable account isn't in your name perhaps the person who normally pays the bill hasnt done do?

 

[sysprog]

Instructions on how to log into your Arris TG862 router are available here -- from that interface, you can see the MAC addresses of currently connected devices, and view the recent connection log, but the information is rather scanty -- nothing like logging actual http packets -- if you want to do anything like that, look at sniffer tools -- snort.org is a good starting point for that.

 

[newjerseyrunner]

There is absolutely zero chance that you can extract a facebook message from your router. There are a few reasons for this, first and foremost is that routers do not log that info. Your hard drive would fill up very quickly, people don't realize how much data gets transmitted in a normal day. Secondly, once you log into facebook, all communications are encrypted. It's https.

For logging connections, my guess is that the router is nothing but a customized Linux box. All of it's networking should be very similar to any vanilla Linux install. There are probably log files in /var/log/networking. Your configuration is almost certainly in /etc/networking, and if you want a complete log of everybody connecting, you could create a cron that occasionally does a netstat and compares all the ips to a list it already knows about.

 

[sysprog]

You might want to check whether your modem is being used by Comcast for its xfinity wi-fi hotspot offering, and switch off the option if it's on: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-disable-xfinity-wifi,news-19036.html