Wi-Fi??????

[Nat]

I'm getting TBN on my new laptop by wifi and I don't have a router. Am I stealing or is it like an antenae for TV? Tell me what you think. later,Nat
PS I'm out it the country, but within 1/2 mile of a high school as the crow flies

 

[Wombat125]

You're apparently getting a wi-fi connection from somewhere, be it the school, neighbor, or some line-of-sight ISP.

Whether this constitutes stealing or not is probably a little subjective, based on the person you ask.

School = Open access wi-fi
Homeowner = "I'm paying for it. I can do what I want with it"
Homeowner2 = "What's an open access point?"
ISP = It's against our acceptable usage policy to redistribute Internet access

 

[Phils]

I too live in the country, but within a 1/2 mile from an elementary school. I've asked a buddy to bring his wi-fi laptop next time he visits. I have 26.4kbs dialup so it'd be GREAT if I could wi-fi into a T-1 line at the school!

It probably won't work but thanks for the post Nat. It's certainly worth a try.

Phil

 

[czechsonofagun]

Any chance of desktop in your house broadcasting Wi-Fi? Half a mile is a long distance. My linksys hub will not reach mu hammock 100' away

 

[jdbower]

it'd be GREAT if I could wi-fi into a T-1 line at the school!

If you've got any reasonable broadband access it probably wouldn't be all that great. The T1 is 1.5Mbps and shared by xx students and teachers (at least during the day). Most home cablemodems are at least 3Mbps these days - I used to like working from home because my Internet access was typically faster than at the office.

 

[Scooby074]

likely picking up a neighbors signal. I wouldnt call it stealing. Using WIFI here i can get 3 bases of various strength, 2 open 1 encrypted.

Is there municipal WIFI in your area?

 

[RonMar]

Yep, probably a neighbor who didn't lock their wireless router down...

 

[/pine]

My linksys hub will not reach mu hammock 100' away

If you want to remedy this...you can buy a supported router on e-bay etc and change out the firmware...here is a link to everything you need to turn a cheap wireless router into powerhouse...

generally the transmitting power of the average wireless router is 28mW...with this hack you can pump it all the way up to 251mW

Boost your wireless signal

 

[RadarTech]

As an IT professional, I say it is illegal.
Some time ago there was a posting on a one of the legal eagle sites about this. it comes to theft of service..
IE if you are buying cable TV and your neighbor runs a cable over puts a spliter inplace and uses your signal- that is theft.

Now-- will you be caught and procescuted? not likely--- only if you admit it to the wrong people at the wrong time..
should you do it? I would not risk it, but then again being an IT consultant I would have no defense...

as for wifi range-- this will vary based on where the Wireless router/access point is located, what is around it and the building materials that the signal must pass through..

A couple of notes:
1. If there is a 2.4Ghz cordless phone nearby this CAN affect the wireless performance and range---- some phones have actually BLOCK the signal Our wireless install team sees this often in some plants that use the throwaway phones...
2. Glass is one of the worst signal attenators. If the glass is the old lead glass or the wire "infested" safety glass it is worse..
3. Microwave ovens-- If within 30 feet of a wireless router will wreck havoc when the microwave is on.
4. Wireless AP/router in a cabinet-- one of our newest employees was on the geek squad at best buy and he said alot of home users put the device in a wood cabinet and that really created problems..
5. ranges--- average for consumer grade indoors about 100 ft
Avg for commerical grade-- up to 250 feet (special antenae)

6. Special antennae-- check with the geek squad for a range extending antenna


Hope this helps...


J

 

[DavidVT]

I suspect you are picking up a neighbors access point. 1/2 mile is most likely way too far for the stock radio in a laptop.

Go into Google or Bing or your favorite search engine and enter 'stealing wifi'. Lots of opinions on the topic.

 

[tallyho8]

Since I have high speed cable, my son whose house is 500' from mine, rigged up antennaes that look like Pringles cans on my house to transmit and on his to receive and his internet is lightning fast and doesn't slow mine down noticably.

When my cable was out he aimed his antenna across the Mississippi River and picked up a connection from at least a mile away.

 

[CurlyDave]

It really doesn't matter what the owner of the source thinks--law enforcement believes that picking up a "stray" wi-fi signal is stealing.

 

[/pine]

law enforcement believes that picking up a "stray" wi-fi signal is stealing.

that is debatable...I personally know a "person" in law enforcement that has been all across the country testifying in child pornography cases...he recently asked a federal prosecutor about accessing openly broadcast wi-fi signals and was told that unless there is a local ordinace specifying said access that it was NOT illegal...the duty lies with the person that is broadcasting the signal to encrypt (WEP) their broadcasts...

 

[Scooby074]

It really doesn't matter what the owner of the source thinks--law enforcement believes that picking up a "stray" wi-fi signal is stealing.

Maybe, but has anyone ever been convicted? The law in canada at least says that you cant use a network when your unauthorized. However many librarys, coffee shops, schools etc have wide open networks as a public service. Therefore unless you have expressed permission to use it, your technically in violation, but nobody that i know of has ever been charged.

My take is different and by the letter of the law illegal. Its up to YOU to secure your network.

If someone hacks into your encrypted network, then they should be charged with that offense, however if its open, your just asking for people to use it. Like listening to a radio station.

On a related note, i hate WIFI for the above reasons. My network is hardwired.

EDIT: /pine beat me too it my darn slow typing

 

[/pine]

On a related note, i hate WIFI for the above reasons. My network is hardwired

me too...if I have company with a laptop I turn the radio on to give them access then shut it back down but always use WEP...

 

[aczlan]

me too...if I have company with a laptop I turn the radio on to give them access then shut it back down but always use WEP...

If you have the capability to, I would recommend using WPA or (preferably) WPA2 for your network. WEP encryption will keep most random strangers from connecting, but it can be cracked in 20 minutes. WPA encryption can theoretically be cracked (but is MUCH harder to crack) and WPA2 encryption is impossible to crack with todays technology.

Aaron Z

 

[Alan L.]

I don't consider it stealing at all. When I have my laptop I latch on to whatever I can get. If its not secured then they must intend for anyone within range to get it. This would go double if I am in my own house. You don't want me to have the signal, then get your signal out of my house.

 

[BarryinMN]

Hmmm.

Maybe the provider wants you to use his access point. Then he can take a look at your surfing habits, hard drive, accounts and passwords at will.

 

[Scooby074]

Wep is weak. and may not protect your data, however it shows that your trying to prevent access and therefore if someone is on your network theyre "hacking". So theyre there uninvited. This could provide deniability if your network is used for illegal purposes.

 

[/pine]

and WPA2 encryption is impossible to crack with todays technology.

Unfortunately for most...todays crackers (as opposed to hackers) use "tomorrows" technology... there is NOTHING that can't be cracked...just do a search for "cracking WPA2"

The way most signals are hacked/cracked is they use a program that interupts the connection...then as the connection is being re-established the credentials (encryption key etc) are intercepted...and IPs logged...

for my rare use of wireless WEP is sufficient...if the signal is interupted my software matches IPs with MAC addresses...if they don't match it sets off an alarm...it is easy to fake an IP but not the MAC...

It easy to download and burn any one of several "special" Linux CDs that have all the cracking scripts installed...all anyone needs is a laptop and a CD to crack just about any "protected" network... the best way to truly protect a network is to monitor it