Stealing your neighbor's Net

[KiwiCoromandel]

Forty bucks for high-speed Internet access? Not a bad deal. But how does free sound?

To a growing number of Internet piggy-backers, it's the sweet sound of pirating their neighbor's wireless network.

Most new computers are equipped for wireless Internet access, and more and more people opting for Wi-Fi in their homes. But as the networks become stronger and more prevalent, more of those signals are available outside the home of the subscriber, spilling over into neighbor's apartments, hallways and the street.

Add to this the growing number of cafes and other public "hot spots" that offer Wi-Fi (for wireless fidelity) connections and the ability to buy more powerful antennas that can pick up signals several hundred feet away. The coverage in some places can be pretty near flawless.

read more.......

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/08/technology...dex.htm?cnn=yes

[rainbowdemon]

Good find, Kiwi!! When I first subsribed to broadband, the company rep asked me if I wanted wireless. I declined for this very reason. But that article explains it much better than I ever could.

Thanks.

:good job:

[Ken]

I live in a run down neighborhood with only one neighbor.

Also, nobody is aware of what type of Internet connection I have, nor do they know I have a wireless router (only one of my systems uses the wireless capability, and I have a filter that only allows that system's specific MAC address and doesn't allow wireless connections to any others).

Someone would pretty much have to take a chance and park out in front of my house with an antenna, and would also have to somehow get and have the exact MAC address needed to get past the filter.