So....I'm in the process of hooking up a wireless router in my house, and realize that one of the neighbors has an open access wireless connection, which I successfully connected to without issue. In order to cut costs, I'm tempted to cancel my net account, and just leach off the freebie connection. Any downside to this that I'm not considering? Anything unethical/illegal about doing this? Thanks!

 

Lotso unethical stuff about it, and there're some legal issues as well. The bottom line is that the neighbor is paying to use a commercial service, you're not. If you walk over and work out a deal to split the bill with him, that kinda' covers the ethical issues within Da' Hood, but of course, not to the ISP.

The technical issues are simply that if he gets a clue, then you'll be out of a connection, and you might have an angry neighbor on your doorstep trying to find out who/what the strange MAC address was on his router. "Denial" would be key here, but there's that guilt thing in your stomach.

Another side is that "when" (never "if") there's an issue on the line, then you won't be able to call anyone about it.

Is it cable or DSL? If he's active online at all, then he may notice the slow-down on a DSL circuit before he would on a cable circuit, 'cause of the native speed difference, but also 'cause the marketing folks may have told him "DSL is dedicated to you" or "cable is shared to Da' Hood" depending on which he has.


Now, would "I" do it? Hmmm... It's hard to say. There's an open router around here that I can hit, but it's sketchy and I'm online enough that I want a known circuit. But, it'd also save me $32/month. I dunno... I'd probably be tempted to give it a shot.


Oh... if you do decide to do it, then kill your computer name. (You're running XP, right?) Control Panel | System | Computer name | Change. Change the name to something that doesn't relate to you. "Green4Runner" and "DavidB" is bad, or "Marathon" would be bad as well. The reason being is that depending on protocols and such, that computer name can show up on _his_ router. Oops. "B-765.4" is a good pick. )

Also, if you add printers and run them off of a printer server box (instead of sharing them directly off of your machine), then look to change their sharepoint names. If Angry Neighbor Dude shows up asking what type of a printer you have (under the guise of needing to print something special) then you'll give yourself away from a share named Panasonic "KX-P7305".

 

I agree with midiwall... there are 4 open routers in this area. one person had pretty much his her whole hard drive shared another person had all of his her pics shared. I left a notpad document in there folders i hope they find telling them they need to learn how to set up there routers wireless sercurity. also it wasen't hard to change what ever i needed in the routers i could of open any port i needed.

 

Midi has mentioned many great suggestions. But the use of an open wireless network its more of an ethical, rather than legal issue. Its the responsibility of the subscriber/provider to secure/protect his/her systems when it comes to wireless access.

Open air space is free to anyone and cannot be registered. Any signal(s) present in open air can be intercepted by anyone, at any time, if not secured/encrypted. This is especially true if such signals are advertised over someone else's property or public domain (malls, airports, sidewalks/streets, parking lots, parks, etc).

 

I would say go for it, keep it free as long as you can. Unless you do some heavy downloading that will suck up a lot of bandwidth, they probably wont notice. And if they do notice and they are just your average mom or pop internet user, not a tech geek, they probably wont figure out how to make it secure and you could have free access for a long time.

 

Hmmm...yeah, bit of a tough call. Based on the fact that its not protected at all, I'm leaning towards a non-tech person who set it up. There is another connection in the area that does happen to be encrypted. Its the "free" part that seems so attractive at the moment.

 

just play dumb .. be like

" I just got this laptop and when I turned it on, the internet worked. I just thought the cable company screwed up, I didn't know it was your internet I was using. I'm sorry man."

 

dont do it. Would u like someone leeching off of u? Paying $30+ a month.. and someone else benefits and u have to take a hit with slow internet access?

 

Think of it this way. Go outside park your Runner on the street, roll down the windows, leave the keys in, and engine running. Which senario would you like more:

Neighbor A comes over hops in and takes a weekend trip in your Runner that you pay for.

Or

Neighbor B that kocks on your door and lets you know that your Runner is a prime target for neighbor A to take for a weekend trip and this is what you need to do to keep him from taking it.

I can't believe you would post such a stupid question. It is stealing no matter how you look at it or try and justify it. The person is paying with their money for something and you are concidering stealing it. why don't you just help yourself to the food in their fridge so you don't have to buy groceries anymore. That is what is wrong with society today, everyone want's something for free. All of you who said he should just do it and hide the fact should be ashamed of yourselfs and need to grow up!!

 

I don't see anything wrong with it. The person broadcasting the signal obviously doesn't know any better, so as long as you aren't harming their computer(s), then enjoy the free service. Their ignorance is your bliss.

I was also going to suggest to offer to your neighbor to help secure the network as long as they agree to let you keep using it as a fee. However, that's acknowledging a shared internet connection between two separate residencies, which violates every ISP agreement that I know of and is punishable by law.

Play dumb and see how long it stays open. They might wisen up and lock it down. If so, oh well... if not, more power to you. This happens so much it's not even funny, so you really don't have anything to worry about now.

What sucks is that I'm sure ISP's are aware of this and they're probably trying to figure out a way to prevent it from happening. That's going to suck, because if they figure that out, then they're probably going to charge more to allow you to set up a wireless network. What goes around, comes around.

 

i used to bring my laptop to work with me and when I got bored I find a house with and open connection and park out front. Sometimes if I didnt want to get caught I'd find a d-link router, enable extended range and I'd be able to park in a parking lot or somewhere totally unnoticable. Then turn it back when I was done. Netgear routers get pretty good range too. Once the signal gets outside its travels for a long distance since there are no walls or anything to block it.

Unethical yes. Illegal pretty much. Its kinda weird though. If you broadcast an unencrypted signal to the world you wouldnt think it would be illegal to use it. Like if you set up a radio station and someone listen too it would they be in trouble? I think the illegality of it though is because you are sending information back too it, not sure though.

If i was on an EXTREMELY tight budget I might do it. If I did though I wouldnt download large files. If I did want to download music I would wait until they werent home. Not from fear of getting caught but just because its not ethical to slow down someones connection while they are trying to use it and you are stealing it.

As far as tracking it too you. Well, thats unlikely, some routers will show your computer name. This can easily be changed. Some dont. But all show your MAC address which you cant change, well I imagine there is some sort of work around but I dont know it. MAC address is like a built in computer name. But if the people dont have WEP or WPA setup I seriously doubt that they are going to be able to find out who is stealing their internet. Not only that, they probably will never know anyone is stealing their internet. Make sure you arent sharing any folders in XP though. If they go into their network and see your folders they will definately think somethings up.

Worst came to worse you could, as said earlier. Play stupid. Or even be straight up, I mean what are they gonna do....have you arrested?..I guess they COULD do something but if they called a cop the cop would say..."uhm...dont do it again" then laugh....Most likely the neighbor will say well dont do it or they might not even care.

I have a router setup in MD without WEP or WPA on it. I do have a password to protect myself from someone changing the router settings. I havent checked it but since its in a condo i'm sure its gonna be getting all sorts of hits. When I eventually move in up there I'm going to change the router name to "haha_no_more_internet_4_you", thats after I see if the people are sharing any folders. I might upload some porno onto there HD if they are.

 

There's one problem with your scenario. Someone owns the truck (private property). The difference is his neighbor is advertising a 'free' service in the public domain, knowingly or not. Using the advertised signal does not prevent his neighbor from using it the way eating his food would. I'm not saying its ethical to use it, but its not illegal.

Go wardriving sometime... you'll be surprised what you find.

 

problem with your scenario too...hehe

hes not wardriving

Wardriving (this is from your link) - Wardriving is the gathering of statistics about wireless networks in a given area by listening for their publicly available broadcast beacons. Wireless access points (APs) announce their presence at set intervals (usually 100 milliseconds) by broadcasting a packet containing their service set identifier (SSID) and several other data items. A stumbling utility running on a portable computer of some sort (a laptop or PDA) listens for these broadcasts and records the data that the AP makes publicly available.


He wants to connect and use there network. Which IS illegal...as per your link

"If you connect to other people's networks illegally, it's your butt in a sling and nobody else's, but if you brag about it and the press picks it up, you hurt us all."

The law, although I never heard it enforced on a residence (i have on commercial connections though)...looks at it more like if you leave the front door to your house unlocked or open, its not legal for your neighbor to walk in, even just to look around. And ESPECIALLY not to use or talk anything.

 

The more I think about it... who's actually breaking the law? The person broadcasting the signal illegally or the person picking it up?

 

I had the same choice in my recent move, the new townhome community i moved into had ~14 wireless connections that i got a signal from, about 6 of them unlocked. I used it for a month and got sick of the relatively weak signals i was getting and decided to pay for my own. Theres three people splitting the utility bills here so its not so bad to just pay for it myself.

 

I know many people that leave the access point open, so that anyone can use it, I have no problem using someone elses access point and no problem with someone using mine. If I don't want others to use it I will block access for others.

 

That's the problem. There may not be a defined distinction depending on local codes, especially if the actual perp can't be located. At which point the responsiblility usually falls on the head of the network owner.

But I stand corrected according to this FBI statement I found:
"Identifying the presence of a wireless network may not be a criminal violation, however, there may be criminal violations if the network is actually accessed including theft of services, interception of communications, misuse of computing resources, up to and including violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute, Theft of Trade Secrets, and other federal violations."

 

its not illegal to broadcast 2.4ghz rf (same as cordless phone) cept wi fi of course unless it doesnt meet FCC regulations. Which they do....

Your always broadcasting whether its encrypted or not....

 

[IGNORE=PirateFins]

Anywho...an interesting debate. I was looking for comments, not a lesson in morality from PirateFins.....

 

just a thought like hillbilly stated ... but isnt using someone elses wireless signal like stealing cable? i know thats illegal, they have commercials on tv about it... tis show and tell tell and htis girl say my daddy gets cable without paying for it because of his magic box..... then the next kid is like my dady's a policeman, he puts bad people in jail.....