Public wifi takes over my computer...

My home wifi network has been up and operating well for a number of
years. Recently, Portland started installing public wifi all over the
city (MetroFi). At work, i connect with my laptop to the wifi network
with no problem, but at home it's a different story. I'll connect to
my home network, with an excellent connection - but the public wifi
will "take over" my system. It takes me to its home page where I would
have to sign up for their service - it doesn't let me do anything
else. Sometimes, if I repair the wireless connection, it will solve
the problem for a while - but later, usually, their signal will take
over again, rendering my connection worthless.

I honestly have no idea how or why this is happening. I've removed
this public network from my preferred list in my wireless setup;
sometimes clearing my cache helps temporarily. What could this be? So
far their support has not been able to help me. They say they transmit
on channels 6 and 11, so I made sure and changed my router to a
different channel - same result.

Please help!
Doug

On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:53:18 -0800 (PST), Doug Wells <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in
<4891bb09-7a48-4cac-a51c-(E-Mail Removed)>:

>My home wifi network has been up and operating well for a number of
>years. Recently, Portland started installing public wifi all over the
>city (MetroFi). At work, i connect with my laptop to the wifi network
>with no problem, but at home it's a different story. I'll connect to
>my home network, with an excellent connection - but the public wifi
>will "take over" my system. It takes me to its home page where I would
>have to sign up for their service - it doesn't let me do anything
>else. Sometimes, if I repair the wireless connection, it will solve
>the problem for a while - but later, usually, their signal will take
>over again, rendering my connection worthless.
>
>I honestly have no idea how or why this is happening. I've removed
>this public network from my preferred list in my wireless setup;
>sometimes clearing my cache helps temporarily. What could this be? So
>far their support has not been able to help me. They say they transmit
>on channels 6 and 11, so I made sure and changed my router to a
>different channel - same result.

You've probably got Windows XP configured to connect automatically to
any unsecured network. Turn that off! Then make sure your home Wi-Fi
has a _unique_ SSID with WPA and a strong passphrase.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Jan 15, 7:53 pm, Doug Wells <d...@dnld.net> wrote:
> My home wifi network has been up and operating well for a number of
> years. Recently, Portland started installing public wifi all over the
> city (MetroFi). At work, i connect with my laptop to the wifi network
> with no problem, but at home it's a different story. I'll connect to
> my home network, with an excellent connection - but the public wifi
> will "take over" my system. It takes me to its home page where I would
> have to sign up for their service - it doesn't let me do anything
> else. Sometimes, if I repair the wireless connection, it will solve
> the problem for a while - but later, usually, their signal will take
> over again, rendering my connection worthless.
>
> I honestly have no idea how or why this is happening. I've removed
> this public network from my preferred list in my wireless setup;
> sometimes clearing my cache helps temporarily. What could this be? So
> far their support has not been able to help me. They say they transmit
> on channels 6 and 11, so I made sure and changed my router to a
> different channel - same result.
>
> Please help!
> Doug


Take a look at your Windows "Wireless Neighbourhood" list, pick a name
that make your home router unique, ex: "myrouter"

Then give it to your wireless router, set WEP or WPA authentication if
you so desire. Reboot the router for the change to take effect.

Now, give the same WEP/WPA handshake code to your laptop's wireless
card.

Finally, pull up the "Wireless Neighbourhood" list again, click on
"myrouter" to connect. The public WiFi will leave you alone. You may
have to set up two profiles for your wireless card, in case you're
away from home and want to connect to the public WiFi

Cheers

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:15:24 -0800 (PST), (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
<b3618baa-464d-4f12-8736-(E-Mail Removed)>:

>Take a look at your Windows "Wireless Neighbourhood" list, pick a name
>that make your home router unique, ex: "myrouter"

NOT a good choice. What I recommend is using your street address as
your SSID, which ensure uniqueness, and makes it easy for neighbors to
locate your wireless if they need to.

>Then give it to your wireless router, set WEP or WPA authentication if
>you so desire. Reboot the router for the change to take effect.

WEP is NOT a good choice -- it's useless -- use WPA. If the router
needs rebooting, it will do it itself.

>Now, give the same WEP/WPA handshake code to your laptop's wireless
>card.

Use a strong passphrase. See wiki below for details.

>Finally, pull up the "Wireless Neighbourhood" list again, click on
>"myrouter" to connect.

NOT how to do it -- use View Available Wireless Networks.

>The public WiFi will leave you alone.

Not necessarily. See my prior post.

>You may
>have to set up two profiles for your wireless card, in case you're
>away from home and want to connect to the public WiFi

Profiles? Only if running 3rd party software with that capability.
And NOT needed if Windows is configured correctly.

Bad advice is worse than no advice.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Jan 16, 11:06 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:15:24 -0800 (PST), bi...@scn.org wrote in
> <b3618baa-464d-4f12-8736-cd75db1ce...@21g2000hsj.googlegroups.com>:
>
> >Take a look at your Windows "Wireless Neighbourhood" list, pick a name
> >that make your home router unique, ex: "myrouter"
>
> NOT a good choice. What I recommend is using your street address as
> your SSID, which ensure uniqueness, and makes it easy for neighbors to
> locate your wireless if they need to.
>
> >Then give it to your wireless router, set WEP or WPA authentication if
> >you so desire. Reboot the router for the change to take effect.
>
> WEP is NOT a good choice -- it's useless -- use WPA. If the router
> needs rebooting, it will do it itself.
>
> >Now, give the same WEP/WPA handshake code to your laptop's wireless
> >card.
>
> Use a strong passphrase. See wiki below for details.
>
> >Finally, pull up the "Wireless Neighbourhood" list again, click on
> >"myrouter" to connect.
>
> NOT how to do it -- use View Available Wireless Networks.
>
> >The public WiFi will leave you alone.
>
> Not necessarily. See my prior post.
>
> >You may
> >have to set up two profiles for your wireless card, in case you're
> >away from home and want to connect to the public WiFi
>
> Profiles? Only if running 3rd party software with that capability.
> And NOT needed if Windows is configured correctly.
>
> Bad advice is worse than no advice.
>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

nothing personal, but you seems way too ignorant about wifi to include
these wiki links in your post. i bet you dont even understand their
contents

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:58:29 -0800 (PST), (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
<7abe8426-3de4-490f-8635-(E-Mail Removed)>:

>On Jan 16, 11:06 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:

>> NOT a good choice. What I recommend is using your street address as
>> your SSID, which ensure uniqueness, and makes it easy for neighbors to
>> locate your wireless if they need to.

>> WEP is NOT a good choice -- it's useless -- use WPA. If the router
>> needs rebooting, it will do it itself.

>> Use a strong passphrase. See wiki below for details.

>> NOT how to do it -- use View Available Wireless Networks.

>> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
>> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
>> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
>> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

>nothing personal, but you seems way too ignorant about wifi to include
>these wiki links in your post. i bet you dont even understand their
>contents

You'd lose that bet -- they were written by me and Jeff Liebermann.

Please post any real evidence you might have that what I've written
above is incorrect -- if I've made mistakes, I'd like to correct them.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Jan 17, 11:35 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:58:29 -0800 (PST), bi...@scn.org wrote in
> <7abe8426-3de4-490f-8635-4d5864095...@j78g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>:
>
> >On Jan 16, 11:06 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> >> NOT a good choice. What I recommend is using your street address as
> >> your SSID, which ensure uniqueness, and makes it easy for neighbors to
> >> locate your wireless if they need to.
> >> WEP is NOT a good choice -- it's useless -- use WPA. If the router
> >> needs rebooting, it will do it itself.
> >> Use a strong passphrase. See wiki below for details.
> >> NOT how to do it -- use View Available Wireless Networks.
> >> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> >> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> >> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> >> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
> >nothing personal, but you seems way too ignorant about wifi to include
> >these wiki links in your post. i bet you dont even understand their
> >contents
>
> You'd lose that bet -- they were written by me and Jeff Liebermann.

You've just proved that you are a fraud! Every article on Wiki is an
collaborative effort of the community. You wrote them? Yeah,
well...you know, i wrote the Bible.. bwahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

>
> Please post any real evidence you might have that what I've written
> above is incorrect -- if I've made mistakes, I'd like to correct them.
>

You can claim the author's right of your moronic NG posts, dumb ass.
And i don't give a fuck about that!!

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> On Jan 17, 11:35 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:58:29 -0800 (PST), bi...@scn.org wrote in
>> <7abe8426-3de4-490f-8635-4d5864095...@j78g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>:
>>
>>> On Jan 16, 11:06 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>>>> NOT a good choice. What I recommend is using your street address as
>>>> your SSID, which ensure uniqueness, and makes it easy for neighbors to
>>>> locate your wireless if they need to.
>>>> WEP is NOT a good choice -- it's useless -- use WPA. If the router
>>>> needs rebooting, it will do it itself.
>>>> Use a strong passphrase. See wiki below for details.
>>>> NOT how to do it -- use View Available Wireless Networks.
>>>> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
>>>> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
>>>> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
>>>> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
>>> nothing personal, but you seems way too ignorant about wifi to include
>>> these wiki links in your post. i bet you dont even understand their
>>> contents
>> You'd lose that bet -- they were written by me and Jeff Liebermann.
>
> You've just proved that you are a fraud! Every article on Wiki is an
> collaborative effort of the community. You wrote them? Yeah,
> well...you know, i wrote the Bible.. bwahahaha!!!!!!!!!!
>
>> Please post any real evidence you might have that what I've written
>> above is incorrect -- if I've made mistakes, I'd like to correct them.
>>
>
> You can claim the author's right of your moronic NG posts, dumb ass.
> And i don't give a fuck about that!!
>

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> On Jan 17, 11:35 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>> You'd lose that bet -- they were written by me and Jeff Liebermann.
>
> You've just proved that you are a fraud! Every article on Wiki is an
> collaborative effort of the community. You wrote them? Yeah,
> well...you know, i wrote the Bible.. bwahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

A professional in the industry will quickly recognize the wiki cellular
was written by a person(s) that collected information from various
sources and the wiki WiFi was written by persons actively involved in
the everyday and practical implementation, using their professional
experience.

Tossing up a few WiFi access points for residential or small office use
and advocating consumer grade Linksys, Buffalo, Netgear, and D-Link
products is not near the same league as installing full blown
commercial systems enterprise advocating business, carrier, or
enterprise products.

I'm not belittling those that install small systems or that advocate
consumer grade products as a component failure would only affect a few
computers, but its different when a failure affects hundreds of users.