31 replies to this topic

[musicfreak]

Hey Guys im New im Mark***

(Based on Many true storys)

So im sitting home about 6PM thinking of a way to get online (now days without the internet is no fun) and i talking to my dad about getting a DSL Service, and my brother goes like "Well if wireless exist and we have laptops that works with wireless internet at school why dont you just get a High quality wireless antena?"(im not sure if i should say Brand names here but i will anyways) and i went to FRY'S (Computer Strore) and i was talking to this Networking guy and he was telling me about this great USB high speed Dish antena (hacking technology) and i wasnt very pleased with it due to the fact that i was running 1.0MBPS so i returned it and got a me a Belkin Wireless card and a Long distance D-Link wireless antena and so i was trying it all over my house moving my desktop all the time arround and so i finally found a network Whos name was "Linksys"(very usual all around) and it wasnt encrypted as WEP so i was online now but it was very rare to connect and i was using it for 3 months but finally 3 days ago i dediced to move the antena out the windows to c what i get (my computer is now in the garage and internet does not go out anymore) and i refreshed the connection once....got the same Twice ...and i got "05Z404704981" that network and now im finally online hoping for a better future running 18.0MBPS and im good to go cuz it never goes out and i can play online and do my projects cuz i got tons of web projects which you'll guys will enjoy!

Im Mark Again have a nice one!

[TikiPrincess]

Hehe, I did that for a little while at my apartment before I moved into my house. My husband's parents had AOL, so he used that as his provider since he didn't have to pay for it no matter where he moved. The problem was that he had to share the access with two other connections: his parents and his sister. So if one of the others was on, we couldn't connect to the internet. Even though his parents didn't use the internet that often, they felt that since they're paying the bill, they should be able to connect whenever they want, so they got first dibs, which meant that our access was limited to after 9-10PM at night! Then we had to try to log on before his sister. Did I mention the fact that it's AOL and not even AOL for broadband! It totally sucked. Then we got new neighbors in the apartment next door. I was typing up a paper for school on my laptop and it did the autocheck for wireless access for some reason and I had signal! A really strong signal too! I was sooooooo happy! About a month or so later I baked cookies, brought them over and asked if it would be alright if I tapped into their wireless. I figured it was the least I could do since I was already using it. They said it was totally fine with them, so I didn't have to feel guilty about it anymore. Then my laptop got sick and pretty much died.
But now I'm in a new place. I convinced my husband that we need to stop mooching off his parents and get our own (and better) DSL. I would have gone for cable, but the provider here makes you sign up for both the TV and the internet since too many people know how to hack into the internet line for cable TV. We didn't think cable was a luxury we could afford, so we went with DSL instead.

[truefusion]

Reading the post, i see there was a (very) quick end to convincing your dad (which, by implication, is capable of affording the service that can be provided by an ISP) to get your own Internet service. If you truly love your neighbor as you say you do, then you would stop using their service and get your own. Just 'cause you have the ability to steal—doesn't mean you should. Even if you are not able to afford it, you shouldn't resort to stealing. See, TikiPrincess did a good thing (although she should have done it before using it, and not waited a month): She went over to her neighbors house and asked permission. If i were you, Mark, i would reconsider my actions.

[9block]

I disagree. If you are using the internet for surfing&email and what not... I think it is fine as the other user will never notice and it wont affect them. If you thin you have nice neighbors, you can go over and ask and explain and everything should be fine. however if your downloading movies/pron/music ect and really abusing it, then it is wrong.

You should ask them anyways, or offer to show them how to secure their connection if they allow you to use their secure network. That way no one else can tap in.

[truefusion]

9block, on Aug 5 2007, 06:33 PM, said:

I disagree. If you are using the internet for surfing&email and what not... I think it is fine as the other user will never notice and it wont affect them.

Have you forgotten about e-mail attachments that are quite big? Have you also forgotten about graphic-heavy websites? Did you skip the part where the topic-starter says he uses the connection for playing games online? I find it really hard for the owner of the connection not to feel a loss in speed. Have you ever ran a home-based network before? Someone always gets slowed down if there is more than one user on it. And what if one of the computers get infected with a virus?

Quote

however if your downloading movies/pron/music ect and really abusing it, then it is wrong.

Heh, one of today's most popular things on the internet is doing exactly what is mentioned in this quote. It's neither the smart nor right thing to do, but it's done anyways.

[musicfreak]

truefusion, on Aug 5 2007, 05:16 PM, said:

Reading the post, i see there was a (very) quick end to convincing your dad (which, by implication, is capable of affording the service that can be provided by an ISP) to get your own Internet service. If you truly love your neighbor as you say you do, then you would stop using their service and get your own. Just 'cause you have the ability to steal—doesn't mean you should. Even if you are not able to afford it, you shouldn't resort to stealing. See, TikiPrincess did a good thing (although she should have done it before using it, and not waited a month): She went over to her neighbors house and asked permission. If i were you, Mark, i would reconsider my actions.

hey i would go knock on his door...but i dont know where the connection is comming from and im not fixing to go knock on people's door...i am gonna look stupid...plus i dont think he ever uses it cuz im doing full speed and so so on signal....so if u are not with me about steeling Signal...its ur problem...many people wishes they could get signal...not very people have the ability so THANK you...but what a negative post gosh!

[truefusion]

musicfreak, on Aug 5 2007, 07:59 PM, said:

[1]hey i would go knock on his door...but i dont know where the connection is comming from and im not fixing to go knock on people's door...i am gonna look stupid...[2]plus i dont think he ever uses it cuz im doing full speed and so so on signal....so if u are not with me about steeling Signal...its ur problem...[3:1]many people wishes they could get signal...[3:2]not very people have the ability so THANK you...[4]but what a negative post gosh!

[1]There are ways to find out the location of someone through their IP address. But you've already lost your integrity due to your actions, and are placing more effort in using someone else's connection.
[2]This statement just makes you lose more of your integrity.
[3:1]That doesn't mean one should resort to unjust ways of obtaining it.
[3:2]There are a few factors that come in when people aren't able to get a connection or signal, but you seem to be implying that it's because they can't afford it or because they're limited. If they can't afford it, no worries, it's not something that's needed for one to live like air and food, and refer to [3:1]. If it's because they are limited, then i'm sure their worries aren't on whether or not they can get a connection or signal.
[4]The negativity of a post can vary upon how the reader looks at the post (sometimes due to ones current mood during the reading), therefore it can go either way: positive or negative.

[master_bacarra]

lol I remember one of my former classmates said that she was using her neighbor's connection, much like this one. Honestly, I don't think it's a good thing, but it's more of your neighbor's fault not putting up a security to prevent the usage of the wireless connection by others. On the other end of the spectrum, you could have at least told them about it and that you wish to share a connection (although I doubt they'll let you). But then, truefusion's right, getting your own subscription isn't that hard. Convincing the folks of the perks of using a high-speed connection to do stuff like surfing the internet for assignments, read emails, etc shouldn't be a problem. And if they don't allow you, doesn't give you the right to use other connection without permission. That's not called resourcefulness.

[Watermonkey]

The rule of the law (I'll get back to you guys with the specific court case when I find it.) says if it's in the air, it's fair game. It's the responsibility of the owner of the radio to secure his router and/or signal if he doesn't want others leaching off it. There's no harm in leaving your network open in most cases anyway; it's not like there's a bandwidth usage monthly cap or multiple user cap for most providers. Many people knowingly leave their networks open just to be good Samaritans. It's not "stealing". It's simply using something that's being given to you without question. I don't know of any wireless router that doesn't have encryption ability. It's up to the owner to determine if that encryption is to be put in place. Same goes for the radio being transmitted by satellites. If you have the ability to capture those radio signals, it's up to you to do what you want with them. It's up to the satellite operator(s) or owner(s) to encrypt their content, or not. Watching un-encrypted satellite content does not make me a thief and there's no reason I should give the company whose programming I'm watching a call to inform them I'm viewing unencrypted channels off their sat.

Edited by Watermonkey, 06 August 2007 - 06:02 AM.

[musicfreak]

You guys are nuts...just let it be dont worry about it aint your problem...and if i dont want to go know on his door you're not gonna make me...that doesnt make me a bad person...im aproaching of what sir god gives me and i'll accept it as it is and where it is so i mean i'll use the network for as long as i want to and if they remove the service i wont cry but for now i'll use it all day long baby!

[truefusion]

Watermonkey, on Aug 6 2007, 01:48 AM, said:

Many people knowingly leave their networks open just to be good Samaritans.

I hope they make things obvious for those with wifi networks by having a network name like, "Free for those in the area," or whatever. But it would really stink for them if someone malicious comes by, uses their connection to commit a crime, and then gets traced back to the owner of the connection. The owner can be convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and the law won't be able to help them—it would in fact be against them.

[rvalkass]

This is why most routers now put at least some sort of protection on the connection, and keep reminding you to change the password to get into the admin panel. The few people I know who run free WiFi connections route everything through proxy servers and are often quite limiting on what sites you can actually access. For some sites this is good (banks, for example, are blocked to protect your security), but there are many occasions where it gets annoying.

You could always tell them you have spotted their network is unsecured, and help them secure it to prevent others using it. It would certainly get you in your neighbour's good books, and they'd be quite likely to let you use the connection after helping them out.

[Kioku]

I can only suggest that you be careful. It's not the entire neighbourly social stigma if you get caught, but it's more like they'd wise up and enstate some sort of key or password to the connection for their wireless router.

[dre]

Quote

hey i would go knock on his door...but i dont know where the connection is comming from and im not fixing to go knock on people's door.

That's when the magic of GPS comes in. But when it comes to wireless smooching, I used to be as guilty as you . Right now I'm thinking of setting up a network to allow people to log in, however, I'll restrict their bandwidth and make them register before they will be able to use it. Everything will be logged and I'll use Ethereal to check out exactly who is using my network.

[m4rk0551]

I've done this before a long time ago in my temporary apartment I was in. I had a laptop that had a built in Linksis card that found signals from routers and allowed me to connect to them. I had 24mb connection (thats what it said) and I had fast internet downloads, and online gaming was smooth. Now I changed and live in a house, I buy my internet and only have 1mb internet.

[FolkRockFan]

Even though I live way out in the middle of nowhere - as in: out of range for anybody but the neighbors across the road to even get a signal off my router - I secure my home network.

Why?

Because I'M paying for it. It's mine. If somebody else is too cheap, too dishonest, too whatever to pay for what he or she wants to use, then that's his or her own problem. Not mine. I'm not a good Samaritan when it comes to Internet access. It's not a necessity in this day and age, when you can get free wifi just by taking your notebook to Mcdonald's. (Or go to the public library. Even our podunk branch has Internet-ready computers.)

I'd give somebody food, or water, or some other necessity if I had it and s/he needed it...but people who can't be bothered to get their own Internet access...or at least ASK BEFORE they use somebody else's...bug me to no end.

One can argue that "It's the owner's fault for not securing the router/network." But that's not really a good argument. Is it the car owner's fault if she's carjacked because, hey, she was driving in the city with her doors unlocked? No. She doesn't deserve to be ripped off just for having something that a thief wants.

[csp4.0]

one of my friends would drive around town with his other friend's laptop on and when they hit an unencrypted wireless network they stop and use it

[Diffusr]

You might think you're clever going on an unsecured network until you find out they are running a good packet sniffer like wireshark and now have all your passwords and login details without you realising.
I use wpa2 on my network with a strong password which will drastically slow down any potential intruder long enough to decode someone elses encryption key or find an unsecured network.
If you are seen piggybacking the network (via them looking at the logs or the current network status) then there are all sorts of nasty things they can do to your dhcp assigned ip address. You are basically relying on the unsecured network you are going on being owned by totall n00bz.
If that's the case, don't slow their connection down too drastically and they will never call their ISP to check for them (unless they have another problem that develops so you should spoof your MAC address anyway)

[Lightning73]

I use one unsecured wireless connection too. I only use it for my Ipod Touch to update and download stuff. Or check my school roster. I have no idea who the connection is coming from lol. But hey, I don't do anything with passwords on my Ipod Touch so it doesn't matter.

[Evolix]

I used to get free internet from my neighbours... back in my n00b days lol. But now, I've got my own Wireless Router, and my internet is much faster. If your using your neighbours internet, it will be quite slow and the signal strength would usually be very low or just low. People should learn to put a password on their networks.

[Tran-Gate]

Go to your neighbors house and ask them to encypt a password......they can get in serious trouble if someone did something illegal on there connection...

[cemeteryrecords]

master_bacarra, on Aug 5 2007, 11:46 PM, said:

lol I remember one of my former classmates said that she was using her neighbor's connection, much like this one. Honestly, I don't think it's a good thing, but it's more of your neighbor's fault not putting up a security to prevent the usage of the wireless connection by others.

Hahahaha! Are you serious? That's like saying, "Well, they didn't lock their door, so I just went in, watched some TV and ate some of their food. I mean, it's THEIR fault for not locking the door!" Hahahahah!
I'm sorry this post wasn't very informative, but when I read that, I couldn't resist...

[miladinoski]

It's foolish not to lock your wifi network.

As many said, you can get in trouble if the 'stealer' of internet makes something illegal and it will be your fault for not securing the network and you could pay money. But if you want people to have access to the internet (but not the whole of it) you can let them access Gmail, Y! Mail, chatting on MSN, Google (if they search they can click on the cached link to see the content ), Wikipedia and that's gonna be it.

I'm not leaving the access on just for some 1337 |-|4X0|> to come in and put me in trouble.

[networker]

I used to use other peoples unencrypted wireless signals
sometimes.I never really download much so I was never
really bleeding away they're bandwidth.

In my backyard, theres all kinds of wireless networks.
No doubt some of them are unprotected.I don't have a wireless
now so I don't know.
The thing is, always have your wireless network protected.
For awhile mine wasn't, and people can eat up your bandwidth in no time.

[Parubilla]

I used to do that I didn't know who was the owner of the network but I use it for a long time.. until I got my own DSL so I didn't have to worry about that anymore, you are not causing any harm... and well it is their fault for not secure their signal, it's the same like the example of your house, don't lock the door when you go out and see what kind of surprises you find when you arrive, it's your fault anyways... Now I'm living in the city so people is more careful with the wireless connections so I cannot find a working unsecured connection..