Three cheers for morons with unsecured wireless

[Theben]

I thought this thread would be about the cornflaker virus.

[-Jrabbit]

I don't have a wireless network.

If your comp has wi-fi capability, just turn it on. That should activate a screen that shows the wireless networks it can "see" in the neighborhood, and shows the signal strength. Unsecured networks usually have easy-to-ID default names (e.g., "linksys"). Just pick the strongest unsecured network and you're rockin'.

[MOBIUS]

Unfortunately I'm surrounded by non-altruistic Asher types...

[Asher]

I use WPA-2, I turn off SSID broadcasting, and I employ a MAC address filter on my custom-firmware router.

I've even turned down the transmission strength as it's overkill for the area it needs to cover.

Bulletproof.

[The Mad Monk]

so out of curiosity... how would you find this unsecured wireless? What do you need to recieve it?

My laptop attempts to access every network in range as soon as I turn it on. It's...embarrassing.

[Dis]

i only have a desktop, no wifi capabiliity. I'm just trying to understand what it is. Is it an antenna?

[-Jrabbit]

No wifi, no free internet. Bummer.

[The Mad Monk]

i only have a desktop, no wifi capabiliity. I'm just trying to understand what it is. Is it an antenna?

Yeah, but it's not one you would notice; sorta like a cellphone.

[snoopy369]

WiFi is just internet over radio waves (of a particular frequency, usually 2.4Ghz). You need either a motherboard that supports it built-in, or an external or internal card (external via USB usually, or internal as a PCI card) to access it. You need a router to provide it (or, someone else's!).

[onodera]

I use WPA-2, I turn off SSID broadcasting, and I employ a MAC address filter on my custom-firmware router.

I've even turned down the transmission strength as it's overkill for the area it needs to cover.

Bulletproof.

[KrazyHorse]

WiFi is just internet over radio waves (of a particular frequency, usually 2.4Ghz).

Technically this is into the microwave part of the spectrum, though some people do lump it in with radio.

[-Jrabbit]

Well, it's all just spectrum, and most of it can be used (to varying effectiveness) for any common application. Identifiers like AM, FM, VHF and UHF are really just historical markers.

It's all wireless, commonly called RF, which is short for "radio frequency" transmission. In the 30s, AM radio was commonly referred to as "wireless." In the 90s, "wireless" began referring to mobile telephony.

So yeah, "Radio waves" is accurate enough. The waves are all the same, after all, delineated only by frequency, amplitude and how they are modulated.

[snoopy369]

WiFi is just internet over radio waves (of a particular frequency, usually 2.4Ghz).

Technically this is into the microwave part of the spectrum, though some people do lump it in with radio.

If I said it worked via microwaves we'd have an awful lot of people scared ****less that their WiFi was cooking them

Also, JR, I suggest not lecturing KH on physics He's technically right, 'radio waves' are a specific range of EM radiation frequencies. Light, Radio, Microwave, etc.

[-Jrabbit]

As well they might!!!

[Lorizael]

If I said it worked via microwaves we'd have an awful lot of people scared ****less that their WiFi was cooking them

Not us, just our water.