Have you ever Piggybacked wireless (even hit connect)

Gary · Feb 21, 2008, 15:36:48

Quote from: madasahatter on Feb 21, 2008, 15:35:47
don't let the men in white coats come for me please Gary - I'm happy where I am

You're safe on this forum Mad, don't worry

Lance · Feb 21, 2008, 19:35:35

My answer is a yes! A couple of times when I've house sat my girlfriend's sisters' place, I've taken my lappy and logged on a network in range! Out of curiosity, I once found the ip of the router, logged onto it using the default username and password and saw which isp they were using - it was talk talk!

The thing is, when I have three different unprotected networks to choose from when I'm there, ranging from strong to medium signals, I'm spoilt for choice!

Captain K · Feb 21, 2008, 20:27:12

Yes, a couple of times. Once at home, to see which of my neighbours was being such a wally. The second time was when on hols in Australia at Christmas - no internet connection in our apartment, but it was a large apartment block and the wife "badly" needed the internet, so I had a snoop. 5 unsecured networks in range! I let her send a couple of emails before guilt got the better of my and I disconnected.

Baz · Feb 21, 2008, 22:17:52

question here. If you 'used' someone elses connection do they get any indication on their system that some one has connected

Lance · Feb 21, 2008, 22:28:11

Possibly not. The 2wire 2700HGV does show devices which have connected, whether they are currently active or not. It shows them either by PC name or ip number (in the case of my mobile phone). However, my linksys never used to show anything like that at all.

The only way they may be able to tell is if they see the lights on the router flashing when they wouldn't expect them to be.

Baz · Feb 21, 2008, 22:36:55

what about along the lines of similar to plugging in a USB pen drive, you get the icon popping up in the taskbar...anything like that.

I would like to think that if I was daft enough to not secure my network that I would at least be able to tell if someone was using it.

Saying that though, I still know of people that dont have any AV protection on their machines

. never understand that

Lance · Feb 21, 2008, 22:47:45

I don't think you'll get anything like that Baz. Like i said above, I think the only way you'll ever tell if someone has used your connection is by either getting a 2wire 2700 or by watching your activity lights on the router.

Rik · Feb 22, 2008, 00:02:24

Or, if you're not using wireless yourself and the light comes on... Lance is right though, check the network, it will show you what has connected and whether it's active, to a point.

Ann · Feb 22, 2008, 09:34:02

No, from me.. too honest and guilt ridden.

Rik · Feb 22, 2008, 09:45:32

I have some Freudian training if you want to discuss it, Ann.

MoHux · Feb 22, 2008, 22:25:27

I'm a NO ............ what's wireless??

Simon · Feb 23, 2008, 00:12:13

Don't tell me you never had a wireless, Mo!

Lance · Feb 23, 2008, 00:19:39

MoHux · Feb 23, 2008, 01:08:31

Oh! You are iggerant!! Us technically minded people call them things RADIOS!!

Simon · Feb 23, 2008, 01:18:57

Did you know, they don't even have valves any more?

MoHux · Feb 23, 2008, 01:32:36

Valves?? My cars got valves. $:-\$ My radio has this little crystal. I keep pinching the cats whiskers, but I still can't get it to work!!

Inactive · Feb 23, 2008, 02:10:10

Rik · Feb 23, 2008, 04:38:36

Try the other cat's whisker, Mo.

(Actually, I remember building crystal sets as a kid...)

Moley · Feb 23, 2008, 10:01:00

Yes but by mistake have to say! One of my neighbours has an unprotected network - now WEP or WPA - and my laptop connected to it when my isp was down (Tiscali strikes again). I wish I knew who it belonged to so I could warn them..

Rik · Feb 23, 2008, 10:37:10

If you right-click the connectoid in the system tray, Chris, you can 'view all networks', if you see it there, its SSID may give you a clue.

somanyholes · Feb 23, 2008, 19:30:28

QuoteYes but by mistake have to say! One of my neighbours has an unprotected network - now WEP or WPA - and my laptop connected to it when my isp was down (Tiscali strikes again). I wish I knew who it belonged to so I could warn them..

just use a laptop and use netsumbler, you can then walk around and see how string signal strength is, the stronger the signal the nearer you are to it. However people may not take kindly to being told, as they may think you have been doing things, you can never tell how people will react.

Philip · Feb 23, 2008, 19:40:18

no, but i would if i could

Ted · Feb 23, 2008, 21:05:22

Sounds like a good idea but don't get caught

somanyholes · Feb 23, 2008, 23:04:36

all it is, is passive scanning so there is no risk. You are not actually connecting to any devices so laws are not broken by looking at signal strength.

madasahatter · Feb 25, 2008, 17:41:00

Quote from: somanyholes on Feb 23, 2008, 19:30:28
just use a laptop and use netsumbler, you can then walk around and see how string signal strength is

Anyone who actually does that really does need to get a life