ChatterBank1 min ago
Wireless Internet router
7 Answers
Up until yesterday I had a wireless router but for some reason it started to get very hot and was giving off smoke so I have binned it and connected the phone line direct to my laptop, however this morning when I booted up a message appeared saying one or more wireless connections are available (which I assume is my next door neighbour) I clicked on it and it asked me for a password so I just entered 0000 and it connected, I will of course tell my neighbour about this as we are good friends but my question is apart from using his phone bill
could this be used for more devious things, if so what ?
could this be used for more devious things, if so what ?
Answers
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There is so much wrong here!
1) you connected your phone line direct to the laptop
Fisrtly, do you have cable or ADSL broadband? if ADSL That won't work for your broadband, you need a broadband (digital) modem or router to use broadband, your laptop will only have an old type analog (dial-up) modem in it. you are going to need to get another wireless router. (and if it's cable you haven't connected your phone line to the computer, you've connected your cable modem to the computer, which will work)
2) you connected to a wireless network, entered 0000 and it worked.
I bet it's not working, wireless networks will normally let you connect and say they are working if you enter the wrong password, but once you actually try and use the connections you'll find it won't work (every web page will just say page not found)
Short answer is, if you want to keep using broadband you are going to need to buy another wireless router.
1) you connected your phone line direct to the laptop
Fisrtly, do you have cable or ADSL broadband? if ADSL That won't work for your broadband, you need a broadband (digital) modem or router to use broadband, your laptop will only have an old type analog (dial-up) modem in it. you are going to need to get another wireless router. (and if it's cable you haven't connected your phone line to the computer, you've connected your cable modem to the computer, which will work)
2) you connected to a wireless network, entered 0000 and it worked.
I bet it's not working, wireless networks will normally let you connect and say they are working if you enter the wrong password, but once you actually try and use the connections you'll find it won't work (every web page will just say page not found)
Short answer is, if you want to keep using broadband you are going to need to buy another wireless router.
Sorry I wasn't very clear, I should have said I connected my laptop to the modem which is supplied by virgin cable broadband, now when I boot up a message appears saying a wireless conection has been detected, BT home hub do you want to connect? it then asks for a password to which I entered 0000, it then seems to connect, I have tried this removing the cable from my laptop to modem and it still connects so it can only be from next doors wireless connection, apart from that we are not even with BT
OK Makes more sense now :)
yes connecting direct to your cable modem will obviously work, nothing at all to do with your phone line though.
Have you actually tried browsing the web while connected to the wireless (with your modem disconnected), like I said it will connect OK but I bet it won't actually work
Anyhow, to answer your original question about using a neighbours wireless,
1) it's illegal without their permission
2) even with their permission it is probably still against the terms of their broadband contract.
3) yes it could be used for more devious things, it is the holder of the broadband contract that is responsible for all traffic that goes through it, so if you were to start downloading music illegally (or worse) then your neighbour might end up with a large fine or the police knocking at their door which they are responsible for even though it wasn't them that downloaded the dodgy stuff.
yes connecting direct to your cable modem will obviously work, nothing at all to do with your phone line though.
Have you actually tried browsing the web while connected to the wireless (with your modem disconnected), like I said it will connect OK but I bet it won't actually work
Anyhow, to answer your original question about using a neighbours wireless,
1) it's illegal without their permission
2) even with their permission it is probably still against the terms of their broadband contract.
3) yes it could be used for more devious things, it is the holder of the broadband contract that is responsible for all traffic that goes through it, so if you were to start downloading music illegally (or worse) then your neighbour might end up with a large fine or the police knocking at their door which they are responsible for even though it wasn't them that downloaded the dodgy stuff.
It is actually illegal without their permission though? I do wonder about the legality of it.
However, if a person actively broadcasts a wi-fi signal with a SSID that other wi-fi devices can pick up and said signal is completely unencrytped and unsecured, how is it illegal to access that network? I mean, if someone has a photo album on Photobucket that they haven't made private, is it illegal for me to go into it a copy the pictures? There's nothing stopping me...
A lack of any security on a wireless homes network is user error or ignorance. Ignorance is no excuse. Instruction manuals for wireless routers are very explicit with their advice about securing the network, renaming it etc. If this person's neighbour hasn't done that, surely that's their own fault? Doesn't mean the network should be accessed for nefarious purposes of course, but it's basically an open door...
However, if a person actively broadcasts a wi-fi signal with a SSID that other wi-fi devices can pick up and said signal is completely unencrytped and unsecured, how is it illegal to access that network? I mean, if someone has a photo album on Photobucket that they haven't made private, is it illegal for me to go into it a copy the pictures? There's nothing stopping me...
A lack of any security on a wireless homes network is user error or ignorance. Ignorance is no excuse. Instruction manuals for wireless routers are very explicit with their advice about securing the network, renaming it etc. If this person's neighbour hasn't done that, surely that's their own fault? Doesn't mean the network should be accessed for nefarious purposes of course, but it's basically an open door...
it is an open door, but if you were to leave the door of your house open would that make it legal for anyone to walk in from the street and help themselves to your stuff.
Leaving an open door is stupid, and if you do so you should expect it to be used, but that doesn't make the use of it legal.
However, there are some arguments towards leaving your wireless security off, I personally would be happy to leave mine off, I know that I could secure the rest of my network sufficiently well that it would pose no security risk to me, I could also easily limit the available bandwidth to other connections and to be honest I would be happy to leave my network open for others to use if they wanted to, I doubt many would though, why sit outside my house to use a wireless connection when their is a warm pub with a wireless hotspot 100m down the road, and a coffee shop with the same not much further.
The only reason I have security on on my network is I wouldn't be keeping any sort of record of who was using it I would certainly then be leaving myself liable if somebody were to use it for illegal activities.
Leaving an open door is stupid, and if you do so you should expect it to be used, but that doesn't make the use of it legal.
However, there are some arguments towards leaving your wireless security off, I personally would be happy to leave mine off, I know that I could secure the rest of my network sufficiently well that it would pose no security risk to me, I could also easily limit the available bandwidth to other connections and to be honest I would be happy to leave my network open for others to use if they wanted to, I doubt many would though, why sit outside my house to use a wireless connection when their is a warm pub with a wireless hotspot 100m down the road, and a coffee shop with the same not much further.
The only reason I have security on on my network is I wouldn't be keeping any sort of record of who was using it I would certainly then be leaving myself liable if somebody were to use it for illegal activities.
I've been wondering about what you said there Chuck. Perhaps my original analogy was flawed.
It's wrong to go through an open door of a house because, if anything, it is trespassing. A wi-fi router broadcasts on a public radio spectrum though, therefore anybody who has a wireless network is "borrowing" the frequency/band used in that localised area, right? They don't own the airwaves in the same way they would own the property.
Doesn't that mean then that, if the network is broadcast, open an unsecured, that is effectively becomes public? If so, then if I access it routinely, rather than with intent, is it still illegal? An open door on a house requires me to walk through it, whereas an unsecured wireless network is literally transmitted into my property.
Or am I just arguing semantics?
It's wrong to go through an open door of a house because, if anything, it is trespassing. A wi-fi router broadcasts on a public radio spectrum though, therefore anybody who has a wireless network is "borrowing" the frequency/band used in that localised area, right? They don't own the airwaves in the same way they would own the property.
Doesn't that mean then that, if the network is broadcast, open an unsecured, that is effectively becomes public? If so, then if I access it routinely, rather than with intent, is it still illegal? An open door on a house requires me to walk through it, whereas an unsecured wireless network is literally transmitted into my property.
Or am I just arguing semantics?
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