Sharing internet may or may not violate the TOS. "Theft of service" is a legal term, however, and doesn't apply. There are no unlawful means to obtain the service if the provider (the neighbor) agrees to sharing.
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Internet costs
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Sharing internet may or may not violate the TOS. "Theft of service" is a legal term, however, and doesn't apply. There are no unlawful means to obtain the service if the provider (the neighbor) agrees to sharing.
rbmrtn
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WEP was cracked some time ago, so it is not recommended. Current standard would be WPA2-PSK for home use. windows prior to XP SP3 didn't support WPA2 without a patch. WPA2 also is better wireless N speed.
LakeTravis
Recycles dryer sheets
There is a setting on all wifi routers that lets you turn off the broadcast of the hotspot name (SSID). You have to know what it is, of course, in order to connect to it because you aren't going to see it on a list of locals.
For those using Time Warner/Roadrunner, check out Earthlink. They are provisioned using the same TWC infrastructure and billing systems, and can often have cheaper service rates in markets where TWC has been confident enough to charge a premium.
Turning off the broadcast of the SSID is a good move.
Internet speed and stability is a big deal to me. It is my #2 criteria when I choose a place to live, right behind cost of living. Not only are most of my hobbies related to it, but I will eventually be using it for 100% of my work, so it will be a very big deal that I have multiple options with various speeds and prices. That basically knocks out a most of the country, kind of sad. My work would subsidize a large chunk of the costs, so I have deeper pockets than most for it.
If I want to have a substantial amount of choice, there is basically only one city in the entire country that goes way beyond 65mbps upstream (upstream is how you really separate them) and provides a truly stable latency connection, though a second one is just starting to establish itself. Even if I just want a dependably low ping connection, I am limited to less than 1/5 of the country, in which the ISPs mostly no longer compete except in the two previous cities I mentioned, it takes some serious digging to even find the areas that do make some sort of attempt at competing.
If I want to have a substantial amount of choice, there is basically only one city in the entire country that goes way beyond 65mbps upstream (upstream is how you really separate them) and provides a truly stable latency connection, though a second one is just starting to establish itself. Even if I just want a dependably low ping connection, I am limited to less than 1/5 of the country, in which the ISPs mostly no longer compete except in the two previous cities I mentioned, it takes some serious digging to even find the areas that do make some sort of attempt at competing.
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I've got Verizon Fios bundled TV, Internet and phone. Don't ask me why I keep the landline but we do use it 90% of the time when home rather than the cell phone. I really don't understand the internet speeds that well but we have 35/35 what ever that is. They have a promotion going now to upgrade to 75/35 for a few more bucks a month. However, you have to sign for a two year agreement. Current cost is $40/month. Don't know what the 75/35 would give me except faster downloads and I don't need that.
Had a little go around the other day with a Verizon billing lady (this happens monthly). Their service is great but their billing sucks. I am convinced that they put this junk on bills and hope you don't catch it. I'll bet there are many people that just pay it every month and never even look at the detail. I catch something almost every month.
Anyway, I keep telling Verizon that I might go back to Brighthouse service. Sometimes they will give me a credit or free something for six months. My total bill runs about $178/month. I told them that if I can't keep it at $175/month, I'll just go back to Brighthouse or a dish service.
Had a little go around the other day with a Verizon billing lady (this happens monthly). Their service is great but their billing sucks. I am convinced that they put this junk on bills and hope you don't catch it. I'll bet there are many people that just pay it every month and never even look at the detail. I catch something almost every month.
Anyway, I keep telling Verizon that I might go back to Brighthouse service. Sometimes they will give me a credit or free something for six months. My total bill runs about $178/month. I told them that if I can't keep it at $175/month, I'll just go back to Brighthouse or a dish service.
Have just finished listening to the Diane Rehm show. Direct link to audio:
Audio Player | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR
The interview with Susan Crawford will set your teeth on edge. It wasn't what I expected...
The essence was that the internet is a monopoly that was bought, owned and paid for by the four big players... Comcast, Time Warner, At&T and Verizon, who have divvied up the territory to avoid competition, and who have developed a revenue stream of income without investing in infrastructure.
The case was made that by restricting internet broadband to the higher income areas, with no impetus to widen the coverage and to increase affordability,.. that the end result was to place a very high percentage of the US Public in a non competitive role in the future of an economy increasingly dependent on high tech.
That's my "take" on the program. IMO, very worthwhile.
Audio Player | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR
The interview with Susan Crawford will set your teeth on edge. It wasn't what I expected...
The essence was that the internet is a monopoly that was bought, owned and paid for by the four big players... Comcast, Time Warner, At&T and Verizon, who have divvied up the territory to avoid competition, and who have developed a revenue stream of income without investing in infrastructure.
The case was made that by restricting internet broadband to the higher income areas, with no impetus to widen the coverage and to increase affordability,.. that the end result was to place a very high percentage of the US Public in a non competitive role in the future of an economy increasingly dependent on high tech.
That's my "take" on the program. IMO, very worthwhile.
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Rustward
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Johnnie, 35/35 is 35 megabits per second download, + 35 megabits per second upload (probably half duplex, and half duplex vs full duplex is a different discussion), which is probably way way way faster than anything that you can connect to. Unless you have a herd of people at your location sharing this connection, it should be plenty fast for you (a herd would be at at the very least 3 or more people streaming video or other bandwidth intensive activities simultaneously). You probably do not need to upgrade to 75/35 yet, but if you can get it on a trial for a month and revert to 35/35 if you want to, then try it and see if you like it.
Here, we are two and have FiOs at 15/5 and we rarely need more bandwidth.
UnderTheRadar
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Two comments:
1. I just so happened to call Time Warner Cable today and simply asked for them to look at my service and see how we could trim some cost (Internet, tv, DVD = $130). She came back and said they could " rebundle" my plan for a year and cut it by $15/month with no change in service. Done.
2. I just moved from Texas - a fairly low cost of living state I believe. However the idea of deregulation is not popular there with regards to electricity rates. It is a silly game trying to manage and re-negotiate electric providers and contracts when it all comes from the same plant! Highest electricity I have ever paid.
1. I just so happened to call Time Warner Cable today and simply asked for them to look at my service and see how we could trim some cost (Internet, tv, DVD = $130). She came back and said they could " rebundle" my plan for a year and cut it by $15/month with no change in service. Done.
2. I just moved from Texas - a fairly low cost of living state I believe. However the idea of deregulation is not popular there with regards to electricity rates. It is a silly game trying to manage and re-negotiate electric providers and contracts when it all comes from the same plant! Highest electricity I have ever paid.
Bestwifeever
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You can now move your landline phone number to a cell phone. We still have a landline too, but are planning to do that. At least your mother would know your cell no. that way.
Dawg52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Please provide a link to an ISP's terms and conditions for residential service that does not preclude sharing service with those outside the household.
Here is what Verizon FiOS says:
"... you may not provide Internet access to third parties through a wired or wireless connection or use the Service to facilitate public Internet access (such as through a Wi-Fi hotspot) ... "
Incidentally, here's the part that covers what we were referring to earlier:
"You are responsible for all use of your Service and account, whether by you or someone using your account with or without your permission, including all secondary or sub-accounts associated with your primary account ..."
My Verizon
Verizon's billing system had been intrinsically intertwined with their provisioning system. That worked well when I worked for the Bell System (back when there was a Bell System) but hasn't been a good idea for at least 25 years. They have been making changes - very slowly - to extricate billing from the mess its legacy tendrils inflicted on it, but evidently it is much more difficult or costly than we can imagine.
Did she set forth any suggestions to change things, or was it just a bitchfest?
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tryan
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Paying comcast $126 for the "bundle" (cable, internet, phone).
Every time I look at divorcing comcast I am reminded that we'ld have to give up our email addresses. My vacation rental would take a major hit since I have 7 years of contacts with that address. Almost as bad as giving up the cell phone number I've had for 20+ years .... ain't gonna happen!
So to level the playing field I called comcast customer service and bounced the intro offers the competitors offer and asked to be given THIER intro "bundle" price for the intro term .... they AGREED (under "customer appreciation"). So we can fight back - a little.
Every time I look at divorcing comcast I am reminded that we'ld have to give up our email addresses. My vacation rental would take a major hit since I have 7 years of contacts with that address. Almost as bad as giving up the cell phone number I've had for 20+ years .... ain't gonna happen!
So to level the playing field I called comcast customer service and bounced the intro offers the competitors offer and asked to be given THIER intro "bundle" price for the intro term .... they AGREED (under "customer appreciation"). So we can fight back - a little.
tryan
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But try to get customer service to help you set up a secured wireless network ... they tell you to call the router manufacturer. My network is unsecure at the lake ... third/forth/fifth parties using it all day long (when they're there)
Why not password protect your router?
tryan
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The signal only reaches my house and 1 neighbor (who has his own internet) ... renters come from out of state (and international). Really don't want the phone calls when they can't connect. If they do something stupid ... I have enough contact info for the police to track them down.
Sure. There are a few listed here. If ya want the TOS, you can contact them.
https://www.eff.org/pages/wireless-friendly-isps
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jimbee
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It doesn't matter. Even if you "block" broadcasting the SSID in your router settings, it is still available. Anybody with the capability to hack into your system can find your SSID if your wireless access point is online. Thinking you can hide your SSID is false security.
jimbee
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Register your own domain, and use email forwarding to your email provider so you never have to change your email address. I've done that since 1996, and have not regretted that. I've used the same email address through multiple ISPs.
Interesting, though note that some of those are just EFF stretching the truth to put forward their preference as fact. For example, Covad's FAQ states that multiple users in the same home may share the same internet connection. Yet they include Covad on the list because some random unnamed CSR say something off-the-cuff. Continet is on the list, despite their rule, "Internet Access is provided on a single user basis, unless you contract with us separately." And those are just the first two I checked. EFF's prevarications promoting transgression are part of a big problem in this country.
There probably are some genuine examples, though. However, you cannot trust EFF to outline them for you, because EFF has a vested interest in fostering transgression against rules they don't like, and have a history of prevarication, as demonstrated above.
