Mystery BB Access

slumped

Hi

Got new laptop. Did a search for networks within range.

Got connected to a network with a super broadband signal.

Is this OK to piggy back on? Does anyone know if it is legit?

S

oblian

heh someone discovered "wardriving" sans the driving.its an unsecured network and no its not legit but thats part of the fun

Scoops

Probably one of your neighbours has an unsecured wireless network and you are picking it up, it will use up his bandwidth but apart from that I don't think much will come of it!

GrumPy

well, if whoever is running the network, hasnt got security like WEP or WPA then thats there own stupidity if they leave there connection open for people :rolleyes:

Roy16

HAHA, of course its illegal to pigy back another Broadband connection, but loads of people are doing. The end of the day its there own fault for not having a secure password.

I'll probably get banded for this, but a small bit of advice, just don't go mad downloading music/big files or he will use up his usage cap and will cop on whats going after he rings his ISP probably

Slippin Jimmy

slumped wrote:

Hi

Got new laptop. Did a search for networks within range.

Got connected to a network with a super broadband signal.

Is this OK to piggy back on? Does anyone know if it is legit?

S

I would imagine that it is not ligit, but I could be wrong. I hope I am for your sake. Is the signal in your estate, presumming you live in one? If so, then it is possible it is one of your nextdoor neighbours:) . If you feel guilty about using their connection, you could approach them and offer to pay half of their broadband bill. If you do not feel guilty, which BTW you should not, you should just carry on using the broadband.

Dr. Nick

How far do these signals typically go?

Patricide

Funny story to do with this actually, a guy i know went on a trip to dublin and he was staying in some hotel next to a net cafe, he ended up getting somthing like 2 megabit of every computer and there was 12 computers or somthing along those lines and he got some REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY fast internet for free. it was nuts.

jor el

Dr. Nick wrote:

How far do these signals typically go?

Usually no more that 100m for a home router. If it's coming from a business, it may have a greater range.


I'm not sure if it's illegal to connect to an unsecured network, but it's certainly immoral. Someone is paying for this, and just because they are ignorant of security measures doesn't give you or anyone else the right to hop on.

Creamy Goodness

think of it this way,

if you owned the router yourself (i.e paying for the broadband) how would you like to have someone leeching your bandwidth?

kirving

Patricide wrote:

he ended up getting somthing like 2 megabit of every computer and there was 12 computers or somthing along those lines and he got some REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY fast internet for free. it was nuts.

But having 12 modems at 2 mbps, wont equal a 24mb connection.

Patricide

I couldnt tell you for sure what the hell it was all i can say it was Extremely fast. And it was free so it was nuts.

jimmycrackcorm

Cremo wrote:

think of it this way,

if you owned the router yourself (i.e paying for the broadband) how would you like to have someone leeching your bandwidth?

I'd secure my router or leave it open if I was a sharing caring person.

JackKelly

thats funny. Just got a new laptop myself, and brought it up to my friends house today and noticed that he could pick two wireless signals from his room. One secured and one unsecured. (he doesnt have a pc)I connected to the unsecured network anyway, and was even able to open up the router settings as the password was saved. Bit stupid tbh. Anyone who's anyone could easily feck up the whole show. What was weird though, was when i pinged the range of addresess, only mine and the router showed up, noone else.

Hal1

TimAy wrote:

thats funny. Just got a new laptop myself, and brought it up to my friends house today and noticed that he could pick two wireless signals from his room. One secured and one unsecured. (he doesnt have a pc)I connected to the unsecured network anyway, and was even able to open up the router settings as the password was saved. Bit stupid tbh. Anyone who's anyone could easily feck up the whole show. What was weird though, was when i pinged the range of addresess, only mine and the router showed up, noone else.

Nice!

philologos

TimAy wrote:

thats funny. Just got a new laptop myself, and brought it up to my friends house today and noticed that he could pick two wireless signals from his room. One secured and one unsecured. (he doesnt have a pc)I connected to the unsecured network anyway, and was even able to open up the router settings as the password was saved. Bit stupid tbh. Anyone who's anyone could easily feck up the whole show. What was weird though, was when i pinged the range of addresess, only mine and the router showed up, noone else.

keep it then

parsi

Irish GrumPy wrote:

well, if whoever is running the network, hasnt got security like WEP or WPA then thats there own stupidity if they leave there connection open for people :rolleyes:

So I suppose the corollary applies as well - if you have a Yale-type lock on your front door then I can open it using a 7up bottle and take all your goods because hey that's your own stupidity using a weak lock...

You're missing a basic point - it's someone else who is paying for the service and that means it's theirs and not anyone elses.

event

Irish GrumPy wrote:

well, if whoever is running the network, hasnt got security like WEP or WPA then thats there own stupidity if they leave there connection open for people :rolleyes:

if you forget to lock your car, does it deserve to be stolen?

hobie

if you forget to lock your car, does it deserve to be stolen?

or, ..... if you found a car unlocked with the keys onboard, would you steal it? ....

I must say I feel uneasy about someone using a neighbours band width ..... a company? - well maybe .... a school or college? - maybe, but a neighbours? ....

you could always identify his add'y and get a message/warning to him/her .....

rem a lot of these guys are just starting out on the web and have a lot to learn about security .... :cool:

bk

While IANAL, no one has ever been prosecuted in Ireland for using an open wireless point and there is no law against it.

If you were to break the WEP encryption it would definitely be illegal.

I would advise you to try to find out who owns the access point and offer to pay to use it, that would be the moral thing to do.

Freddie59

Cremo wrote:

think of it this way,

if you owned the router yourself (i.e paying for the broadband) how would you like to have someone leeching your bandwidth?

I agree it's the person's own stupidity - but I would advise you NOT to visit any dubious sites - after all it would be traced back to his/her IP address and trouble could arise.:(

slumped

Original Poster Here

Have my own BB connection with BT so it's no Biggie for me.

I think I know where its coming from.

It's fairly weak most of the time. There is a guy a few 10 doors up got an Irish Broadband antenna on his roof so I'm guessing its him.

Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

S

hobie

Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

well done .....

Duiske

slumped wrote:

Original Poster Here


Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

S

If there was an award for "Boards Citizen Of The Week", you would be long odds on to win. Fair play t'ya.

jor el

slumped wrote:

It's fairly weak most of the time. There is a guy a few 10 doors up got an Irish Broadband antenna on his roof so I'm guessing its him.

Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

S

Connect to his network and send him a message with net send. If he has the messenger service on it should work. Tell him to google for WEP or WPA security.

JimmySmith

jor el wrote:

Connect to his network and send him a message with net send. If he has the messenger service on it should work. Tell him to google for WEP or WPA security.

No - Tell him you're watching him and to put that thing away.

Freddie59

slumped wrote:

Original Poster Here

Have my own BB connection with BT so it's no Biggie for me.

I think I know where its coming from.

It's fairly weak most of the time. There is a guy a few 10 doors up got an Irish Broadband antenna on his roof so I'm guessing its him.

Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

S

Fair dues.:D

slumped

OP here - not totally sure what all this means but maybe someone can help

There is an SSID called (HOME) and an IP address beginning with 10.X.X.XX i think.

If I did notify all neighbours about this, and didn't get the right guy, then I would just be advertising his connection !

S

_Turismo4

slumped wrote:

Hi
Got new laptop. Did a search for networks within range.
Got connected to a network with a super broadband signal.
Is this OK to piggy back on? Does anyone know if it is legit?
S

Lucky you finding a strong wireless unsecured network, and for free,> wish I had one in my area.
However most companies will be securing there systems soon enough so enjoy it while it lasts, because
It’s almost virtually impossible to hack a secure network Once it’s password protected.

hshortt

Maybe it's open for a reason. We hear about these types of things often enough on boards, if you own a wifi router, it's your responsibility to secure it.

But if you are using it, you do know that you are leaving a trail for the owner to follow, and maybe he's actively hacking your machine.

Unless you know what you are doing, get off, its not yours and if you get hackered and knackered you've no one to blame but yourself.

Cheers
Howard

Jumpy

slumped wrote:

Original Poster Here

Have my own BB connection with BT so it's no Biggie for me.

I think I know where its coming from.

It's fairly weak most of the time. There is a guy a few 10 doors up got an Irish Broadband antenna on his roof so I'm guessing its him.

Might do a mail shot in the letterboxes around the area to let them know!

S

Naah it cant be him, you said it was a fast connection no?