Wi-Fi??????

[Nat]

I'm getting TBN on my new laptop by wifi and I don't have a router. Am I stealing or is it like an antenae for TV? Tell me what you think. later,Nat
PS I'm out it the country, but within 1/2 mile of a high school as the crow flies

 

[Wombat125]

You're apparently getting a wi-fi connection from somewhere, be it the school, neighbor, or some line-of-sight ISP.

Whether this constitutes stealing or not is probably a little subjective, based on the person you ask.

School = Open access wi-fi
Homeowner = "I'm paying for it. I can do what I want with it"
Homeowner2 = "What's an open access point?"
ISP = It's against our acceptable usage policy to redistribute Internet access

 

[Phils]

I too live in the country, but within a 1/2 mile from an elementary school. I've asked a buddy to bring his wi-fi laptop next time he visits. I have 26.4kbs dialup so it'd be GREAT if I could wi-fi into a T-1 line at the school!

It probably won't work but thanks for the post Nat. It's certainly worth a try.

Phil

 

[czechsonofagun]

Any chance of desktop in your house broadcasting Wi-Fi? Half a mile is a long distance. My linksys hub will not reach mu hammock 100' away

 

[jdbower]

it'd be GREAT if I could wi-fi into a T-1 line at the school!

If you've got any reasonable broadband access it probably wouldn't be all that great. The T1 is 1.5Mbps and shared by xx students and teachers (at least during the day). Most home cablemodems are at least 3Mbps these days - I used to like working from home because my Internet access was typically faster than at the office.

 

[Scooby074]

likely picking up a neighbors signal. I wouldnt call it stealing. Using WIFI here i can get 3 bases of various strength, 2 open 1 encrypted.

Is there municipal WIFI in your area?

 

[RonMar]

Yep, probably a neighbor who didn't lock their wireless router down...

 

[/pine]

My linksys hub will not reach mu hammock 100' away

If you want to remedy this...you can buy a supported router on e-bay etc and change out the firmware...here is a link to everything you need to turn a cheap wireless router into powerhouse...

generally the transmitting power of the average wireless router is 28mW...with this hack you can pump it all the way up to 251mW

Boost your wireless signal

 

[RadarTech]

As an IT professional, I say it is illegal.
Some time ago there was a posting on a one of the legal eagle sites about this. it comes to theft of service..
IE if you are buying cable TV and your neighbor runs a cable over puts a spliter inplace and uses your signal- that is theft.

Now-- will you be caught and procescuted? not likely--- only if you admit it to the wrong people at the wrong time..
should you do it? I would not risk it, but then again being an IT consultant I would have no defense...

as for wifi range-- this will vary based on where the Wireless router/access point is located, what is around it and the building materials that the signal must pass through..

A couple of notes:
1. If there is a 2.4Ghz cordless phone nearby this CAN affect the wireless performance and range---- some phones have actually BLOCK the signal Our wireless install team sees this often in some plants that use the throwaway phones...
2. Glass is one of the worst signal attenators. If the glass is the old lead glass or the wire "infested" safety glass it is worse..
3. Microwave ovens-- If within 30 feet of a wireless router will wreck havoc when the microwave is on.
4. Wireless AP/router in a cabinet-- one of our newest employees was on the geek squad at best buy and he said alot of home users put the device in a wood cabinet and that really created problems..
5. ranges--- average for consumer grade indoors about 100 ft
Avg for commerical grade-- up to 250 feet (special antenae)

6. Special antennae-- check with the geek squad for a range extending antenna


Hope this helps...


J

 

[DavidVT]

I suspect you are picking up a neighbors access point. 1/2 mile is most likely way too far for the stock radio in a laptop.

Go into Google or Bing or your favorite search engine and enter 'stealing wifi'. Lots of opinions on the topic.