For those who think using any "open" wifi is OK...

Tozer

tomsolomon wrote: »

Its easy enough if people can be bothered to go and find the information both online and in the documentation provided with the equipment they buy.

Just a simple matter of changing a few settings. A few clicks of the mouse is all it takes most of the time.

Who honestly reads the instruction manual when they buy something new.... And for the sake of your personal information and your tidy little nest egg in the bank, its more than worth it to take the time to do a little homework.

But if you want to lose everything you have, who am I to say dont bother securing your home network....:D

I'm not disagreeing. But clearly the ISP's are not getting the message across and making it sufficiently easy as people are still doing it.

esuhl

BritBrat wrote: »

What was those free routers that you could get a while back?

But you had to leave your wireless connection open for a year for others on the system to use for free.

I seem to remember that those routers had some kind of dual access point. Your own connection would be secure, and (in theory) private, but there was a second unsecured access point that provided unsecured public access.

I also read that there was some kind of hack you could apply to turn off the public access.

If someone did download content of a dubious nature via one of these routers, I'm not sure whether it would be clear to the authorities that the violation occured on the public side or not...

wolfman

I think as open free wireless points become more common, it'll just add to the confusion of the whole thing.

In some cases it's obvious what you shouldn't connect to, but there will eventually be cases when you won't know what is a free hot spot and what is someone's personal wireless.

People should be more informed about locking down their wireless, and if they don't it's their own fault.

odowdchr

It's confusing in some cases. I used a hotel's wi-fi in Bangkok once.....the amount of unsecured networks that came up was mindblowing, off the screen.
In the end, i just let it connect to anything and used it.....it's got to be up to the individual to secure if they want to restrict access.

sleep2much

odowdchr wrote: »

It's confusing in some cases. I used a hotel's wi-fi in Bangkok once.....the amount of unsecured networks that came up was mindblowing, off the screen.
In the end, i just let it connect to anything and used it.....it's got to be up to the individual to secure if they want to restrict access.

I've had the same in K.L. Very handy.
There is also an unsecured network in range of my house, I've used it a few times to connect to the internet when my connection has been down (old wanadoo grrr) but rest assured I tell myself off after I've done it.

Conor_3

fwor wrote: »

My guess is that I probably wouldn't be breaking the law, as there's no intent to steal, but what do I know about legal stuff?

Intent is irrelevent. Like chucking a bag of rubbish in a skip someone else has rented, you're denying them (partial) use of something they're paying for.

Conor_3

alexjohnson wrote: »

Sarcasm is much more effective if married with accuracy.

What you describe, as I suggested, is actually very hard.

ROFLMAO. You've not tried it then. If they're sharing files or printers, it's so easy it's not funny.

Fire up your Linux Laptop, run Linneighborhood and browse all those hidden Windows shared (C$ etc) which are WIDE open.

Conor_3

wolfman wrote: »

I think as open free wireless points become more common, it'll just add to the confusion of the whole thing.

In some cases it's obvious what you shouldn't connect to, but there will eventually be cases when you won't know what is a free hot spot and what is someone's personal wireless.

People should be more informed about locking down their wireless, and if they don't it's their own fault.

So going on that if at any point you leave your front door unlocked, whether you're in or not, I'll be OK coming into your house, watching your telly and eating your food before walking out the house with the TV under my arm.

Cheers mate. Can you post your address so we can all pop round seeing as you're so public spiritied?

geekgirl

When I first used wi fi connection around 7 years ago I always left my connection open. I wasn't bothered if others used it. Then when I found out there was a potential security risk I passworded it. I change it on a regular basis as well. From my house I get around 4 unsecured and around 5 secured.

A lot of people just don't have the knowledge about leaving their connection open.

wolfman

Conor wrote: »

So going on that if at any point you leave your front door unlocked, whether you're in or not, I'll be OK coming into your house, watching your telly and eating your food before walking out the house with the TV under my arm.

Cheers mate. Can you post your address so we can all pop round seeing as you're so public spiritied?

What???

How does that example compare?

I think you've lost yourself. If you re-read my post you'll see two points. The first is that more confusion will be created as free hots spots become available. How will you know what is a free hot spot and what is someone's wifi.

I lived above a high street in London recently which had access to a free hot spot. I could also see a number of other stupidly named open networks. How do I know if they're free hot spots or not.

And the second point, I said people should be more informed about protecting their wireless. And if they don't it's their own fault, ie as in if their service gets used, goes over quota, abused etc... it's their own fault. I never said it was right to connect into someone else's wireless.