One In Eight “Borrows” Neighbors Wi-Fi Says Report
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According to a report by Acenture, it is estimated from their survey that about one in eight of us borrows the wi-fi signal of their neighbors. Though the practice is illegal in most areas of the world, the practice is common among those in the 18 to 34 year old age bracket. But is this really true?
I can only speak from my own perspective and what signals are available in my neighborhood. From my home alone, I can pickup 4 unsecured systems, ranging from a b signal all the way thru g and n signals. But I can easily disconnect from my own system [which is secured] and connect to any of these 4 easily. The b is very slow, but still works.
What is odd, is that about once a month or so, my wife’s computer jumps off of our wi-fi and likes to connect to the strongest of our neighbors signals. Unless she actually checks the connection she doesn’t have a clue she is on another network until she goes to print something. Oops. Hello neighbor. A quick disconnect and reconnect and all is well.
Bot to put anyone under the microscope, does anyone reading this actually use a neighbors connection as their primary connection? Do you have your neighbors permission? Let us know.
Comments welcome.
Additional article information is here.
Tags: network, connections, neighbors, wi-fi, borrow, connection, knowledge,
8 Comments
Don Naphen
April 19th, 2008
at 1:01pm
Hi Ron; hard to believe that people are still running unsecured Wireless these days, especially with all the horror stories resulting from them! I’ve been wireless for almost a year now, with a ZoneAlarm Z100G router. I can’t believe how many attempts have been made trying to access it. I get a weekly report via email showing them all, as well as being able to check a daily log report.
I would guess and say that the unsecured systems out there are probably running plain vanilla wireless through a hub. Oh, if they only knew! LOL
Ron Schenone
April 20th, 2008
at 5:52am
Hi Don,
Even more annoying when you tell your neighbors about it and offer to fix the problem!
Denny
April 20th, 2008
at 7:41am
Geeeeezzzzzzz,,,,,,
. . . . I can see 5 WI-FI’s from my house but there all SECURE-NETWORKS
I set-up 2 of-um
Ron Schenone
April 20th, 2008
at 11:38am
Hi Denny,
Thanks for the info.
BlackWolf
April 22nd, 2008
at 2:55am
Hi Ron:
No surprise really. I have “borrowed” a wireless network from time to time when I needed to connect and didn’t have my own nearby - once for almost a month.
Usually I try to let the person know I’d like to borrow their wireless signal to check e-mail and such.
Occasionally, I’m not sure who to contact but because of “need”, I’ll use it anyway.
I’ve found that people who don’t secure their networks have no idea that others are using their network, or they don’t care. Sometimes, they leave it unsecure just so that others CAN use it - which is much appreciated.
While I wouldn’t mind letting someone use my internet connection through my wireless router to check e-mail and such, I prefer not to allow that loophole to exist and secure my routers by using WPA Personal Encryption, A MAC filter, and limiting the number of IP addresses that can be given out at any one time. I also turn off the SSID broadcasting.
Blackwolf
Ron Schenone
April 22nd, 2008
at 4:44am
Hi Blackwolf,
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your experience[s]. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Regards, Ron
Fredo
April 22nd, 2008
at 8:07am
About once every 3 months I spend a week or so visiting my 88 y/o mom in assisted living. I can see a big apartment building across the way, and from it, I can see several wi-fi networks. Hopefully, some are unsecured. I use the strongest of those to check my e-mail. I know it’s not really legal, but I figure my usage is so little that it doesn’t effect their service. And I have no other way to check.
Ron Schenone
April 22nd, 2008
at 8:27am
Hi Fredo,
Thanks for sharing your comments. All the best to your Mom.
Regards, Ron