Piggybacking --technical and ethical questions

I live in a large apartment building. I have a PC laptop with a
wireless card. Some weeks ago, I noticed that I was connected to the
Internet via wireless signals I was picking up from one or more
neighbors. So I then had an Airport card (not Extreme) installed in
our iMac, but it doesn't work. The little radar-looking icon shows a
signal and when you click it, it shows "Verizon Wi-Fi," but the
computer will not connect to the Internet. Clicking on the Airport
icons in Utilities, I got a message that the utility had "unexpectedly
quit."

1. What are the ethics of piggybacking? Should I try to find out
whose signal I'm getting? If so, how? And what if, as I suspect, I am
getting signals from more than one neighbor?

2. Why doesn't the Airport card work? How can I get it to work?

In article <(E-Mail Removed) >,
(E-Mail Removed) (Jay) wrote:

> I live in a large apartment building. I have a PC laptop with a
> wireless card. Some weeks ago, I noticed that I was connected to the
> Internet via wireless signals I was picking up from one or more
> neighbors. So I then had an Airport card (not Extreme) installed in
> our iMac, but it doesn't work. The little radar-looking icon shows a
> signal and when you click it, it shows "Verizon Wi-Fi," but the
> computer will not connect to the Internet. Clicking on the Airport
> icons in Utilities, I got a message that the utility had "unexpectedly
> quit."
>
> 1. What are the ethics of piggybacking? Should I try to find out
> whose signal I'm getting? If so, how? And what if, as I suspect, I am
> getting signals from more than one neighbor?

technically, the ISP has not granted you or your neighbor permission to
share their connection with you. At the very minimum you should get
permission from your neighbor.

A utility such as MacStumbler or APGrapher or KisMac
(http://versiontracker.com/macosx) if you had a Mac laptop. I would
suggest you find the equivalent type of signal strength program for your
PC and then use it to find your neighbor's door with the strongest
signal and knock. Assuming you have nice neighbors :-)

> 2. Why doesn't the Airport card work? How can I get it to work?

Get MacStumbler mentioned above. It gives a little additional
information about the WiFi access point. Not much, but there is always
a chance it will give a clue.

If you pull down the Airport signal strength menu item, you can use it
to open the "Internet Connect" utility (Applications -> Internet
Connect). Try to make an Airport connection using Internet Connect. It
might show you more information. If the connection fails, maybe it will
give your more information to work with.

Bob Harris

"Jay" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> I live in a large apartment building. I have a PC laptop with a
> wireless card. Some weeks ago, I noticed that I was connected to the
> Internet via wireless signals I was picking up from one or more
> neighbors. So I then had an Airport card (not Extreme) installed in
> our iMac, but it doesn't work. The little radar-looking icon shows a
> signal and when you click it, it shows "Verizon Wi-Fi," but the
> computer will not connect to the Internet. Clicking on the Airport
> icons in Utilities, I got a message that the utility had "unexpectedly
> quit."
>
> 1. What are the ethics of piggybacking? Should I try to find out
> whose signal I'm getting? If so, how? And what if, as I suspect, I am
> getting signals from more than one neighbor?
>

If you need to ask about the ethics, then you are not interested in the
answer.

Entity Jay spoke thus:

> 1. What are the ethics of piggybacking?

I have an open access point in a dense neighborhood. I don't care who uses
the service as long as it's used not abused.


-- Gnarlie
http://www.Gnarlodious.com/

Gnarlodious <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:BCF65ECB.4D9E1%(E-Mail Removed) ahoo.com:

> Entity Jay spoke thus:
>
>> 1. What are the ethics of piggybacking?
>
> I have an open access point in a dense neighborhood. I don't care who
> uses the service as long as it's used not abused.


Does Earthlink allow you to run an open AP off your connection? I wish my
ISP would let me do that.


--
Lucas Tam ((E-Mail Removed))
Please delete "REMOVE" from the e-mail address when replying.
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/coolspot18/

Entity Lucas Tam spoke thus:

>> I have an open access point in a dense neighborhood. I don't care who
>> uses the service as long as it's used not abused.
>
> Does Earthlink allow you to run an open AP off your connection?
Yes, but it's a crappy service. My IP address changes about 6 times a day
and I must reboot the modem about 5 times per week.

Unfortunately, we signed for a one year contact...

> I wish my ISP would let me do that.
How are they going to know?


--
Gnarlie's virtual Tour de Santa Fe
http://www.Gnarlodious.com/SantaFe/Tour.php

Lucas Tam <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Does Earthlink allow you to run an open AP off your connection?

"You and members of your household or business, if you have purchased a
business account, are the only authorized users of your EarthLink
account and must comply with this Agreement."
<http://www.earthlink.net/about/policies/dial/>

In article <BCF68B91.4D9C4%(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
Gnarlodious <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > I wish my ISP would let me do that.
> How are they going to know?

same way rental car companies know if you drove the car out of state or
it is driven by someone not listed on the contract. unless something
goes wrong (and there is no gps tracker installed), they won't know.

same with an isp - if usage patterns are 'normal' and nothing bad
happens, they won't know and likely not care.

however, if someone uses your account for illicit purposes or bandwidth
demands are significantly higher than normal then they might notice.

Jay <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> 1. What are the ethics of piggybacking?

You're getting commercial service without paying for it. What do you
suppose the ethics of that are?

--
Mike Rosenberg
<http://www.macconsult.com> Macintosh consulting services for NE Florida
<http://bogart-tribute.net> Tribute to Humphrey Bogart
Toyota Prius fans: Check out alt.autos.toyota.prius

In article <BCF68B91.4D9C4%(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
Gnarlodious <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Entity Lucas Tam spoke thus:
>
> >> I have an open access point in a dense neighborhood. I don't care who
> >> uses the service as long as it's used not abused.
> >
> > Does Earthlink allow you to run an open AP off your connection?
> Yes, but it's a crappy service. My IP address changes about 6 times a day
> and I must reboot the modem about 5 times per week.
>
> Unfortunately, we signed for a one year contact...
>
> > I wish my ISP would let me do that.
> How are they going to know?

Well, you did just post that fact to a worldwide public forum...

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Macaroni, Automated System Maintenance for Mac OS X.
Version 2.0: Delocalize, Repair Permissions, lots more.
See http://www.atomicbird.com/