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How to screw with people stealing your wireless internet


  3. TheRealEdwin
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My neighbours are stealing my wireless internet access. I could encrypt it or alternately I could have fun.

Check the link for several ways on messing around with people who steal your wireless internet.

Linux machine required.
TheRealEdwin

21 responses // How to screw with people stealing your wireless internet

  • http://www.xkcd.com/
    xkcd
    xkcd
    A fun site!

    That's awesome messing with net-thieves. Except I don't have a linux machine of course. And it looks kinda complicated. And I'm not sure I'd ever find ti worth the time and effort to mess with someone on my net. But it's still cool to know how. Just in case!
    Tori
  • If you have a resource that others can use at no harm to you, why "screw" with them at all?
    arcaro
  • Because it's rude to steal.
    TheLetterM
  • TheRealEdwin, I didn't realize people could do that. I'm thinking about telling my neighbors.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • whatever, internet-nazis! there have been times that i could not afford internet, and i used my neighbors. now i happily share with my neighbors. it's called karma.

    also, nothing is being stolen from you, so get over yourselves.
    sunshinedreamer
  • Perhaps you could use your talents for the betterment of our society rather than the harrassment of it.
    VoyagerFilms
  • @sunshinedreamer -- I like your theory of wifi karma. It's funny, some companies have begun to formalize that pact -- there's this outfit called "Fon" that gives you a free router if you promise to share it with other Fon users. And you, in turn, get to use everybody else's. Slick.
    sloan
  • I fail to see how it is stealing if the WIFI network is unencrypted and openly broadcasting.
    somerandomdude
  • " also, nothing is being stolen from you, so get over yourselves."

    Bandwidth. Stealing bandwidth.


    steal (stēl) pronunciation

    v., stole (stōl), sto·len (stō'lən), steal·ing, steals.
    v.tr.

    1. To take without right or permission.
    2. To present or use as one's own.
    3. To get or take secretly or artfully
    tpalmer
  • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
    WiFi and your IP
    WiFi and your IP
    Any other computer connecting to your WiFi router will be identified by the IP that is allotted to you by your provider. If a pedophile in your neighborhood manages to connect into your WiFi and posts child porno or sells it or do whatever else it is that pedophiles do on the internet, these transactions and photos and all will be traced to you. This is why adequate protection is very important, so whatever means are used (so long as they do not do damage to other computers) to ensure this protection is okay by me.
    Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka, it's really nice you've informed people of the annonymity it provided, perhaps you've empowered someone who shouldn't have been empowered.

    Truthfully, the percentage of "pedophiles" in our society is way way over exaggerated for it to be of real concern. Such fear mongeuring (I used the French spelled version, NR) only serves to help the companies providing the service. Based on your position, coffee shops should denie us all for fear of conspiracy or something.

    Lastly, if a person is suspected of something via a computer it is trackable by other means. Simply tracking it via an IP address to a router doesn't provide prosecutable proof or evidence.

    Look, try looking beyond the propaganda aspect of it. If it's criminals you are concerned about, the reason why it's good to let people use open wireless connections is that it enables the "Fed" to track a certain computer(s) physical location in conjunction with that individuals physical locations, providing better and stronger evidence against the nefarious.

    It actually helps law enforcement ultimately, rather than provide a hideout (that's the propaganda aspect).

    Scared individuals will allow the big service providers to make more money, which means the average struggling American will have less, or be denied internet access.
    VoyagerFilms
  • I don't steal bandwidth as such, I just borrow it
    SusanB
  • VoyagerFilms, I disagree. One should be able to protect onseself - there are not only pedophiles, there are the spreaders of spam, the phishers, the identity-thieves, and many other activities which might be ascribed to your IP and therefore to your person. Oh, and "mongeuring" is not a French word. :) (je parle et j'écris le français aussi bien que l'anglais)

    If methods of protection are offered free as is the case here, that will cut the big service providers off and not give them the opportunity to charge more. What's more, I'm not talking about open wireless transmitters but private routers.

    You wrote "Based on your position, coffee shops should denie us all for fear of conspiracy or something." I frankly don't see the logic there, nor the parallel. Sounds like a Post Hoc to me, or a Non Sequitur. :)

    With regard to the liability, perhaps you should read the article I linked to.
    Vierotchka
  • SusanB, so you give it back after having borrowed it? ;)
    Vierotchka
  • totes
    SusanB
  • Whoever you are, with those unencrypted 'linksys' and 'belkin' networks? Thank you so, so much for saving my tush countless times.

    With that said, Vierotchka's point is sound. I've "borrowed" wifi in the past, and as such, I've long contemplated opening my SSID to others in my building. I like the idea of wifi karma. On the other hand, when the feds show up because someone's bittorrenting movies and reselling them as VCDs on eBay, boy oh boy, I don't want to be held liable.

    Wifi should be free! And I should do my part! But my sense of ethics really butts heads with my sense of not being hassled by the MPAA or RIAA. Is it 'stealing' when the connection is freely available? In internet-years, it's already an old conundrum. As best as I can figure, if you don't want it "borrowed," you just gots to encrypt it.

    All this said: upside-down-ternet is *adorable.*
    jennatar
  • WTF? This is a non-issue people. A) anyone who needs copious amounts of bandwidth with be capable of requiring a pass code to access the network. Point blank. The kind of Internet user who does NOT issue a pass code is usually going to be a casual, dare i say novice, user, so I doubt that other users on the signal will be hindering their use. It's a simple matter. Use a password, or don't. Now, if you know how to issue a pass code, and choose not to, clearly you are just a nice (not GREEDY) person, who knows that they don't OWN THE NET. B) As for Vierotchka, I'm disappointed. That was a bit nasty in my opinion...But on to your point...Let's think this through...Let's say the gov is trying to track down a "child molester" (nice fear tactic, is Bush hiring?), and they find that he/she has been traced to back to an IP address issued by your wireless router. Okay, well, they'll also see that your router has no passcode...hmmmmmm....let's think about it. They'll also notice that you don't have any kiddy porn on your computer. There are also, by the way, other digital signatures that can be used, especially dependant on the perps surfing habits or other online activities such as uploading images, to track it down to a specific computer. Bottom line, on an open network, an ip address simply is not going to be enough to make you a suspect. Give me a break. That theory doesn't even CLOSE to hold water.........................................Cities are now putting up wifi that covers the ENTIRE CITY. Oh my god! How will they track down sexual predators!?!?!?! Look, the day is coming where wifi will be a given. Stop being such bratty little prisses. Good God! .......I don't know about you guys, but where I live, in San Jose CA, we have A LOT of wireless, and thank GOD! How many times have I been lost somewhere in the Bay Area, opened my laptop, and been able to find a network, get connected, and get directions. i suppose I COULD have downloaded child porn, but that's just not my cup of tea. Let's give our neighbors a little credit. We should be taking care of each other, not nitpicking over bull like this. Get a grip. Oh yeah, and put a pass code on your network or stop whining.
    AngelinaH
  • Oh yeah...another thing to piss off you greedy bastards... I have subscribed to T-mobile's Hot Spot At Home deal. When near a wireless network, my cell phone connects to it, and I don't get charged minutes! That's right...I'm using YOUR open wifi to make FREE calls. Oooooooh doesn't that piss you off? If it makes you feel any better, I don't get charged when I'm at (or near) Starbucks either. (BTW, it's a GREAT service if you have WIFI and spend a lot of time at home.)
    AngelinaH
  • Attitude problem...
    Vierotchka
  • I could say the same...
    AngelinaH
  • http://home.uchicago.edu/~jett/ridiculous.jpg
    ...
    ...
    So anyone capable of using bittorrent is also capable of password decryption?



    Right.
    tpalmer

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