As technology continues to advance, Bluetooth has been installed on many devices. But with it, comes the worry of intrusion. Today, we explore whether your neighbor can connect to your Bluetooth devices and more related questions.
In the past Bluetooth was used to transfer files. Nowadays Bluetooth is used to play music, make calls and send messages between connected devices.
Check out our list of the best pairing Bluetooth speakers that we recommend because they are easy and secure to pair.
Bluetooth has made life easier when it comes to sharing files. Bluetooth has its flaws too. Anyone within the surrounding can connect to Bluetooth devices when they are on.
If malicious, your neighbor can connect to your Bluetooth device if he or she has the technical expertise to intrude or hack. However, this can only happen if he or she pairs the device and is close enough to your house. If the distance between them and you is more than 30 feet then a neighbor cannot connect.
To prevent neighbors from connecting to your Bluetooth speaker, always switch it off when you are not using it. No one can connect to your speaker if the Bluetooth is not discoverable.
There is no privacy with Bluetooth. Imagine living in an apartment and you leave your Bluetooth device on and later find your neighbor connected to it. That sounds disgusting.
Devices neighbors can connect to include:
Mobile phones, PCs, laptops Bluetooth enabled TVs, Bluetooth speakers, Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth headsets and earbuds, lighting systems, and smartwatches.
How Someone can Connect to your Bluetooth devices
To connect two Bluetooth devices, they both have to be on. When a neighbor’s Bluetooth device is on, it scans new devices around and can easily pair with your device if it is on.
For someone to connect to your Bluetooth device, he or she must be within a range that your Bluetooth device will be scanned as a new device on his device.
The distance mostly does not exceed 10 meters. This varies on the Bluetooth technology installed on the device.
Bluetooth technology has evolved over the years to cope with overall developing technology. From Bluetooth 1.0 to the latest Bluetooth 5.2 which was released in January 2020.
For devices such as PCs, laptops, and mobile phones, neighbors can’t connect to them easily. This is because you will have to click allow on a notification that asks you to allow the device to pair with another device. Unless you had connected with the neighbor’s device there before, he or she cannot connect to these devices.
How to Tell your Bluetooth Devices was Hacked.
In most Bluetooth devices it is impossible to know that someone else is connected to the device unless you are there and see it yourself. When you leave your device’s Bluetooth on, anyone around it can connect.
However, there are a few pointers you can leverage to know if someone has connected to your devices such as speakers and headphones.
When your device doesn’t connect automatically as it used to, it means that somebody else used your speaker or headphones to play music.
These devices are programmed to connect automatically to the last connected device.
If you have to re-establish the connection again it means that the headphones or speaker connected to another device which if it is around and on will connect automatically. You cannot know when someone is connecting to most headphones and speakers.
Pairing headphones and speakers, with other devices, is automatic unlike in mobile phones where you have to allow the pairing. PCs and laptops, unlike mobile phones and Bluetooth headphones, keep a record of all devices that they have been paired to.
You just have to check and confirm the device that is connected. It is important to note in these devices only devices that they are paired to can connect automatically.
To prevent this, you can click on forget whenever you have connected your device to another device through Bluetooth.
It is only on mobile phones, PCs, and laptops that you also can identify when someone else is connecting or has connected to your device. You can scan all devices that are nearby in these devices.
How to Kick Someone off your Bluetooth Devices
When someone is already connected to your Bluetooth speaker, it is not easy to kick them out.
This is because you need to first identify them, identify their gadget that is connected to you, and then get them out of your device.
Even after switching the speaker off, it automatically connects to the last connected device.
But this shouldn’t make you feel helpless. There is a trick that many have argued that has worked.
1. First, switch off your speaker
Then go to your phone’s Bluetooth and turn it on. Since the Bluetooth speaker is on the list of paired devices, click “pair device.”
While it is showing pairing, turn on your Bluetooth speaker. This method is not always guaranteed to work.
2. Reset your Speaker
The other way you can use to kick someone else out of your Bluetooth device is by resetting your Bluetooth speaker.
Different Bluetooth speakers have different ways of resetting their settings. All you have to do is revisit your user manual and see how to do it.
In some speakers, you long-press the power button while in others you long-press the mode button or the Bluetooth button to reset.
The speaker is hence restored to factory mode and will be on pairing mode when switched on without the memory of any other previously connected device.
3. Limit multiple connections
There are speakers with advanced technology that allow the connection of multiple devices. This means that if another device using your speaker, you can connect and play music too.
Some speakers come with a software control panel that allows this feature to work. An example of such a speaker is the BlasterAXX.
The disadvantage of this is that, if your neighbor knows the type of speaker you own he or she will keep changing too and it ends up becoming a kind of competition. These kinds of speakers were made purposefully for personal use.
4. Move out of Bluetooth Range
You can also kick someone out of your Bluetooth speaker manually. If your speaker is portable, take it and move out of range.
Once the connection is disabled you can connect back your speaker and come back. It sounds awkward but it is one of the reliable ways to regain your connection.
5. Ask them to Switch Off
Another way to regain your connection is by switching off your speaker and searching the Bluetooth device that is on. Once you know the device you can go to the owner and ask them to switch his device off.
This way you will regain back your connection but risk losing it again if you leave your device on.
How to Prevent Someone from Connecting to your Bluetooth
Security is always a concern with the rising development of technology. Your privacy should be a priority or concern before buying any networking device.
In wireless speakers, you do not want to listen to music that is not your own as a result of other people connecting to your speaker.
Sometimes this may be accidental, or someone may have just hacked your Bluetooth speaker. Several ways can help you ensure that your speaker is secure and no one can connect to it. These ways include:
1. Using codes
Many modern-day devices do not allow Bluetooth pairing just like that. They ask you to provide a code which should match both devices for the pairing to be successful. You have to confirm this match.
Bluetooth Speakers that support this code setting ensure that you are the only one using it unless you share the code with someone else.
It is important to note that codes only work with devices that support actual display or devices that will speak the code to you in an audio format.
2. Turn off the Speakers’ Bluetooth
This is the easiest way to make sure that no one establishes a Bluetooth connection with your speaker.
Once you are done listening to your music or program, switch off your speaker’s Bluetooth. No one will establish the connection if Bluetooth is not visible.
3. Using Audio Jerks
This option does not work with all devices. It works with devices that support both wireless and wired modes.
When you insert an audio jerk on the speaker, no Bluetooth device can connect to it even if the Bluetooth is on. This is because the mode of use has changed from wireless to wired.
If you do not have an audio jack, you can cut the jack of old headphones you don’t use and use it on the speaker. This should effectively solve your problem.
4. Turning off the visibility
If your speaker allows display it is easy to keep off other speakers from your device. On the Bluetooth settings, make the Bluetooth of your device invisible. This ensures that nobody sees your device’s Bluetooth on.
To prevent Bluetooth from becoming invisible to you also you can connect before establishing this setting or you can add the device’s name when looking for a Bluetooth device.
You have to make sure that you do not cause yourself problems also. When there are notifications of new devices trying to connect with your speaker, make sure you decline the request.
Here are video illustrations of how we can do it?
Parting Shot
You can safeguard your privacy by being privy about devices that may be seeking to connect to your own Bluetooth devices without your consent.
As we determined in another post, Bluetooth speakers can be hacked, the only way is to keep your device safe. These tips are a good way to keep away unscrupulous neighbors from your devices or even cause harm.