08-28-2007, 01:00 AM

My internet connection seemed to start going VERY slowly, so I thought to myself, well..I'll just turn off Airport and connect back to our apartment's network. After a couple of minutes I still wasn't getting a fast connection to load websites. So I noticed in big letters the words "NETGEAR" as another wireless connection. I had never seen it around before and of course it was unsecured.

I couldn't believe that there are still people out there who don't know how to secure a wirless network with even the slightest bit of encryption. I mean c'mon people, I was even able to connect to this person's personal computer since he had run the networking wizard on his PC! Luckily I'm not the type to invade privacy to the fullest, so I didn't go browsing through his shared folders. I reconnected to my own network and seemed to get decent speeds once again.

Sheesh, people really need to learn how to protect their wireless networks. I wish I knew what apartment it was so I could at least tell them what they should do, or even offer 5 minutes of my time to do it for them. It's totally unsafe!

What do you guys think on this topic? Do you think it's legal to hop on an unsecure wifi connection just to browse the internet (not trying to break in to steal files)? Technically it is sharing an internet connection. Should people have the common sense nowadays to secure their wireless signals?

08-28-2007, 03:24 AM

Jup... they should be warned about it. I don't know how though... Like, in the building I live in there are at least 3 unsecure wifi connections, 'cuz when sometimes my network goes cuckoo, my Airport automatically connects to one of them, but then I log off.

And same thing... if I knew what apartment it was, I'd give'em a hand, but I just can't go knocking doors and asking around, mostly because few ppl would know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I wouldn't say it's "ilegal" to hop on an unsecure wifi, but it is unethical (IMO), because the person probably don't know that it is unsecure (who in their right mind would share it?).

08-28-2007, 04:00 AM

I'm not exactly sure about this one... I haven't "borrowed" unsecured networks because I'm somewhat paranoid about someone else being able to access my computer from it. I'm even wary when it comes to hotel wireless networks.

08-28-2007, 09:17 AM

I think it's been established before as being illegal because you're "stealing" a service some one else is paying for, regardless of whether or not they know how to secure it.

But, I usually depend on people having unsecure networks when I go places like apartments and townhouses and such. I have friends that want home PC's fixed and they have no internet connection what so ever. Makes it easy to download any necessary fixes rather than drive home or some place with free wifi access.

08-28-2007, 10:02 AM

I wouldn't tell anyone whose connection isn't secure. You could be made the fall guy for anything that may have gone wrong, and perhaps prosecuted if in that jurisdiction it's illegal to connect without permission. That happened to the guy in a doughnut-shop parking lot who used the free connection offered to customers. He wasn't inside the store.

No good deed goes unpunished.

08-28-2007, 10:24 AM

True, but accidentally connecting to your neighbors network, which is what the OP posted, is a bit different than driving to you local shop just to sit in your car and use their wireless. Now if you are using your neighbors connection continuously, then it's a different story.

08-28-2007, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by baggss

True, but accidentally connecting to your neighbors network, which is what the OP posted, is a bit different than driving to you local shop just to sit in your car and use their wireless. Now if you are using your neighbors connection continuously, then it's a different story.

Originally Posted by Brown Study

That happened to the guy in a doughnut-shop parking lot who used the free connection offered to customers. He wasn't inside the store.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Brown said it was free though...

I think that it should only be illegal if the person paying for the internet service doesn't attempt to secure it. Key word, -attempt-. If you manage to forcefully pass security measures, then it should be illegal since you're going some where that is blocked off.

But then again I guess it's like property. If you're sitting in some one's front yard, you can be charged with trespassing regardless of whether or not there's a fence around it.

08-28-2007, 12:43 PM

I think the laws on WiFi access and what's considered illegal access differs from state to state.

Todd51, you could print up some flyers that tell people they need to secure their network if they haven't already and maybe include a web address where they can go to learn how.

As for me, I'm sure my network shows up, but I have a password on it. Is that enough to keep people off or is there more I should do?

08-28-2007, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by fleurya

I think the laws on WiFi access and what's considered illegal access differs from state to state.

Todd51, you could print up some flyers that tell people they need to secure their network if they haven't already and maybe include a web address where they can go to learn how.

As for me, I'm sure my network shows up, but I have a password on it. Is that enough to keep people off or is there more I should do?

There's always something more you can do and everything you do most certainly won't be enough if some one's trying to get in and knows how.

Another easy one is configuring your router to not broadcast it's SSID and changing it from default to something else. This does require you to type in the SSID every time you're configuring a new connection to the router (but not for previously configured connections) and your connection will not just show up in a list of available networks. There's ways around that though. It does make it a bit more difficult, especially if you're in an area with a lot of other networks that are visible.

Using a 128 bit key is more protective than using a 64 bit...there's other things too.

My studio's router is 13 hex pairs. 26 alphanumeric combination for the password.

08-28-2007, 01:12 PM

since you have access to his computer just hop onto the computer and put a note using text edit on his desktop telling him that he should secure his wireless network because its unsafe and tell him if he doesn't know how to do it to ask one of his neighbors or call netgear or geek squad.

08-28-2007, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

Another easy one is configuring your router to not broadcast it's SSID and changing it from default to something else. This does require you to type in the SSID every time you're configuring a new connection to the router (but not for previously configured connections) and your connection will not just show up in a list of available networks. There's ways around that though. It does make it a bit more difficult, especially if you're in an area with a lot of other networks that are visible.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to do a little research to learn how to do that. I figure I'm a little safer from casual "borrowing" since there are people around me without even password protection: someone trying to just get online will go to the path of least resistance. But I think I want to do more in case of malicious people.

08-28-2007, 03:12 PM

There's always MAC addressing....

08-28-2007, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by fleurya

Thanks for the info. I'll have to do a little research to learn how to do that. I figure I'm a little safer from casual "borrowing" since there are people around me without even password protection: someone trying to just get online will go to the path of least resistance. But I think I want to do more in case of malicious people.

What brand of router do you have? I'm sure we can help ya secure it if you need to. Generally nowadays WPA Personal is a very strong encryption that people can't break. WEP is easily crackable so I don't recommend it.

Although, my roomates and I currently use WEP since one of my roomates doesn't want to upgrade to Service Pack 2 on XP. Apparently SP 1 doesn't support WPA Personal??

08-28-2007, 06:35 PM

I found the story I mentioned by running a search for wi fi coffee shop parking lot computer arrest

A bunch of versions showed up. This is Ars' take on it. The linked stories on that page are worth reading, too.

08-28-2007, 11:47 PM

I'd like to apologize in advance for this post... It was too tempting and someone's gunna do it anyways!

There's always MAC addressing....

"It's a Mac, Not a MAC!!111"