Wireless connection--am I bad?

[Martha]

We cancelled our cable internet broadband connection. It wasn't all that fast. It would bog down on occasion. It was expensive. The cable company is irritating. We switched to Clearwire, a wireless broadband service. Generally it works pretty good and fast but sometimes no. Like this morning.

So I have my laptop at home today. There is someone in our neighborhood with an unsecure wireless connection so I am connecting through him. Very fast. It is great. I have done this a few times now. My questions:

--Is this morally wrong? Am I somehow hurting this guy?

--Am I exposing myself to hackers or otherwise putting my computer at risk? I am not doing anything important, just surfing around the internet. No online banking or anything.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You are actually committing a crime in many jurisdictions. You may be reducing his bandwidth. Depending on your security (firewalls, etc) he may be able to 'see' your resources, including your files if you have file and printer sharing turned on. He may be able to record your wireless 'conversations'; many of these like email and web postings are clear text. Even if you're using some kind of encryption, the conversation can be recorded and decrypted at leisure.

Not a bad idea if its an open "hotspot" or someone advertising its ok to use their connection. And you have the right security requisites.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/08/08/HNwifi_1.html

Now that you've posted that you're aware you're using his connection, if he's capturing your data, he can show you have complicit knowledge that you were using it.

Put on the foil hat now! Nail sheet metal over the windows!

Seriously, unless he's a geek, he'll probably never know.

 

[maddythebeagle]

hmm. I will be putting a wireless network in my house soon. Can there be 2 different computers surfing on the same connection at different sites?

 

[SteveR]

There are 4 other wireless networks in my area and mine is the only one that is secured. I have one that has a stronger signal than even mine so the computer wants to link to it...have to tell it No, bad boy..stay..sit.

I have never used the other connections..and have actually told the PC to just ignore anyother signal except mine. That keeps DW from accidentally breaking the law.

Firewalls are good to have.

 

[REWahoo]

hmm. I will be putting a wireless network in my house soon. Can there be 2 different computers surfing on the same connection at different sites?

Yes.

 

[cube_rat]

I had neighbors that were getting a free ride from my network until I locked it down. My service runs ~46 bucks a month and I'm not sharing anymore.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You could have changed your SSID to "Call 555-1212 for access, $10 a month"

 

[Martha]

I had neighbors that were getting a free ride from my network until I locked it down. My service runs ~46 bucks a month and I'm not sharing anymore.

Did it effect your connection? Slow you down or anything?

 

[cube_rat]

Did it effect your connection?  Slow you down or anything? 

Yep, my speed would slow down to a grinding halt around 5-6pm. As soon as I locked down my network (I'm a very lazy IT person at home-->stuff does NOT get done), there were SBC and Comcast trucks lining my street the following week

 

[Martha]

The gist of the responses is that "I am bad." I'll take it under advisement.

 

[REWahoo]

The gist of the responses is that "I am bad." I'll take it under advisement.

Hmmmm. When she was good she was good, but when she was bad she was absolutely awesome!!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Naughty, naughty girl.

Do note that cable modems share a common media "channel" thats going to be capable of roughly 27-36Mb/s depending on how old your cable companies data gear is. That means everyone on your street, perhaps neighborhood (up to the nearest cable "big box" that has a switch or router) is sharing that media. Many cable companies are giving 2-4Mb/s per user, throttled at your cable modem. So 10-15 people all start downloading big files at the same time, you're going to get crap for throughput even though you're not doing much.

Usually when the kids get home from school to when people come home from work are the times the shared media take a beating...3-7ish in the evening. And weekends.

DSL can be better as you have your own slice all the way to the phone company CO that terminates your DSL line, but even there some older setups or where they went cheap might have you getting 384-768Kb/s for yourself up to that termination point, and then 32 people sharing 10Mb/s into the backbone router. Thats still going to suck when everyone turns on the computer at the same time.

I got a cable internet hookup the day after at&t offered it in my old mcmansion neighborhood. Speed was incredible...for about a year and a half until the neighborhood saturation increased. Around 4-5pm it'd slow to a crawl.

People sharing your wireless from a distance can also create similar problems. Someone far, far away from the router might pick up your SSID and bond to you, get a connection, and be able to use it, but distance and interference might cause extensive retransmissions. In a wireless world, you're usually again sharing a limited bandwidth and throughput between all wireless users. If someone 600 feet away is hooked up to your access point, but they're requiring 3-5 retransmits per packet, they might be eating most of the wireless bandwidth before it even gets to the routers WAN side.

 

[maddythebeagle]

Yep, my speed would slow down to a grinding halt around 5-6pm. As soon as I locked down my network (I'm a very lazy IT person at home-->stuff does NOT get done), there were SBC and Comcast trucks lining my street the following week

I guess that since I live in the sticks, I can assume that I wont need the lead based paint and window treatments that CFB is selling for security.

 

[cube_rat]

You're such an uber-geek, CFB  


I've actually haven't experienced performance degradation since I encrypted my network.  What baffles me to this day is when my network became *unencrypted* all of sudden.   So now I check every other day to make sure my pants aren't down.

 

[HFWR]

I check everyday to make sure my pants ARE down...

 

[cube_rat]

I check everyday to make sure my pants ARE down... 

Yep, you caught the sexual innuendo of the day. My mind is perpetually in the gutter. I should've been a man...

 

[Cut-Throat]

We cancelled our cable internet broadband connection. It wasn't all that fast. It would bog down on occasion. It was expensive. The cable company is irritating. We switched to Clearwire, a wireless broadband service. Generally it works pretty good and fast but sometimes no. Like this morning.

Martha,

Was DSL available in your area? - I switched from Dial-up with an extra phone line and AOL for DSL. Got rid of AOL and the Phone line for a savings of $45 per month. DSL costs me $25 a month, so I am still saving $20 a month.

How much if Clearwire?

 

[HFWR]

I woke up this morning, and it looked so pretty out, that I thought I'd leave it out all day...

 

[Martha]

Martha,

Was DSL available in your area? - I switched from Dial-up with an extra phone line and AOL for DSL. Got rid of AOL and the Phone line for a savings of $45 per month. DSL costs me $25 a month, so I am still saving $20 a month.

How much if Clearwire?

No DSL at all in our area. The only options are Clearwire at $19.95 and cable at about $50.

 

[JB]

Why don't you just asked the neighbor if you can use their connection when your's goes down? I let my neighbors and friends on my network. (We used to split the bill before I moved.) I wouldn't feel bad about using an open access point in a crunch. Just make sure that you are running a firewall and don't have important information on folders you are sharing. Windows XP Home sharing capabilities are very limited, so if you are sharing files on a home network, you'll be sharing them on your neighbor's too. If you share, it's a good idea to setup your firewall to only allow access from the computers on your network.

One risk of leaving your own access point open is that someone uses your bandwidth (IP address) for illegal activity.

 

[Martha]

Why don't you just asked the neighbor if you can use their connection when your's goes down?

Be nice to ask, but I don't have a clue who he is.

 

[CRABBY JERRY]

How far out of my house with a G ROUTER WILL THE signal be able to be picked up and does the router (linsky) have a built in firewall. My friend just hooked this up for me. As you can tell, I don't have a clue, however this is working great and I look foward to having use of this on our motorhome trips. If anyone can tell me for security reasons what I should have, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[free4now]

There is someone in our neighborhood with an unsecure wireless connection so I am connecting through him.  Very fast.  It is great.  I have done this a few times now.  My questions:

--Is this morally wrong?  Am I somehow hurting this guy?

--Am I exposing  myself to hackers or otherwise putting my computer at risk?  I am not doing anything important, just surfing around the internet.  No online banking or anything.

I think it is a moral grey area... you are reducing his bandwidth, but if you are primarily going to text-based sites like this one it's probably negligible.  If you start watching videos or doing big file downloads, then it becomes more onerous.

I wouldn't worry about online banking or using your passwords; that is totally encrypted anyway.  

I share a WEP encrypted wifi connection with my neighbor and we split the monthly costs.  I think it's a great way to save money.  If he were technically savvy and nosy he could peek at what sites I go to.  In fact anyone within range of the signal could.  He can't get my passwords, but could theoretically intercept my emails or anything that appears in text or graphic format in my web browswer.   On a practical level it would be so difficult and time consuming that it wouldn't really be worth it.   The idea that anyone would be so interested in my online life is more flattering than threatening.

 

[kramer]

I agree with fireme.

Actually, if you closely read your user agreement with your service provider, you will see that sharing bandwidth across households is prohibited in the contract. It is not inherently illegal -- a service provider could decide to allow this.

There are a couple of coffee shops around here, etc., that let anyone log on for free. I always wondered if they were breaking their agreement, or if they pay more to the service provider . . .

Kramer