Bandwidth capping is something many internet users in the US are going to find unavoidable very soon, especially in areas where the dominant data-capped ISP, whatever it may be, is the only "good" (as in "least worst") choice.

What data capping has done is made bandwidth more valuable, and therefore more of a target to be stolen. Because of this, yes, wireless bandwidth will be stolen more.

Who are the biggest targets of wireless bandwidth theft?

It’s not just the idiots who run their Wi-Fi routers "open" at home anymore. Rather it’s anyone who lives in a densely populated area where the dominant ISP uses data capping. If you live in an area where there’s a lot of people around you and your ISP has GB limits per month on what you can use, you’re a target.

What can you do to avoid wireless bandwidth theft?

1. Secure your router as best you can

There’s documentation aplenty across the internet on how to secure your Wi-Fi router. Granted, Wi-Fi router security absolutely sucks – even if you use WPA2 – but it’s certainly better than running it with no security at all.

One of the better ways to secure a Wi-Fi router is to use WPA2 and wireless MAC filtering. This obviously doesn’t guarantee the elimination of break-ins, but it does require the would-be bandwidth thief to bust through two measures of security instead of just one.

2. Force a Wireless B environment (if your router has the option)

One simple way to keep bandwidth thieves out is to purposely force a Wi-Fi B-only environment. Yes, it’s notably slower than G and certainly a ton slower than N, however if it’s an environment you can deal with (meaning you’re OK with no video streaming or large data transfers on Wi-Fi), no bandwidth thief will touch it because it’s too slow to be useful.

An additional perk of using Wi-Fi B is that if you have spotty wireless connectivity issues, using B almost always clears that up in a pinch.

3. Know how to see all computers connected to your router at any given time

Every Wi-Fi router to the best of my knowledge gives you the ability to examine any currently connected machines. On a Linksys WRT54GL for example, this is seen by launching the Administration program in the browser, then going to Status, Local Network, and clicking the DHCP Clients Table button.

If you feel someone is stealing your bandwidth, that’s how you find out if someone is or not because you’ll see it in the tables report.

4. Disable wireless radio when not in use

This is your absolute best defense against any bandwidth thief because if Wi-Fi isn’t on, it cannot be used. Your wireless bandwidth is absolutely 100% secured because there’s no way to get to it until you re-enable the radio.

You can disable the wireless radio from your router’s Wi-Fi Administration program. Using the Linksys WRT54GL again as an example, this is done by clicking Wireless, Basic Wireless Settings, and next to Wireless Network Mode, click the drop-down menu and choose Disabled. When you want to re-enable it, go back to that same setting and choose what it was before (most likely "G-Only").

"Couldn’t I just turn the router off when I’m away instead?"

You can if you wish and it does the same job, but there are some who need the router on all the time for wired-network PC internet connectivity. Knowing how to disable your Wi-Fi radio is the better option and keeps you from having to having to disconnect the power from the router whenever you leave the house. In addition, it saves the hassle of waiting for your router to ‘talk’ to the modem to acquire a connection from a cold start.

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