Surfing for Free--

I have discovered that I can surf wireless with my hp notebook. I set
up the connection manually; I am getting a fast connection- but a very
weak signal. I believe that this is my neighbor's broadband connection
and that he is using a router; therefore I can surf on his connection??
I have firewalled this wifi connection and all ports were found to be
stealth.
Is there any way to make my signal stronger(without entering my
neighbor's apartment)?
Anyone with knowledge on this subject, please post.
I am a novice on wifi but have considerable knowledge on software,
configuration, os, etc
When I hold pointer over my connection it says netgear(linksys) signal
strength very low,5.5mbps, sometimes 11.0mbps, right now says 2.0mbps.



Robert

Robert wrote:
> I have discovered that I can surf wireless with my hp notebook. I set
> up the connection manually; I am getting a fast connection- but a very
> weak signal. I believe that this is my neighbor's broadband connection
> and that he is using a router; therefore I can surf on his connection??
> I have firewalled this wifi connection and all ports were found to be
> stealth.
> Is there any way to make my signal stronger(without entering my
> neighbor's apartment)?
> Anyone with knowledge on this subject, please post.
> I am a novice on wifi but have considerable knowledge on software,
> configuration, os, etc
> When I hold pointer over my connection it says netgear(linksys) signal
> strength very low,5.5mbps, sometimes 11.0mbps, right now says 2.0mbps.
>
I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing
and his ISP may also.

I have read about this in the USA but let me get it clear, for example in a
Starbucks or coffee house and wifi is allowed this is ok to use? I live in
Canada and we have wifi hot spots completely free and fine to use.
Universities, shopping centers, coffee houses, to be another example. I
understand security invasions with using a neighbors wifi signal however I
don t believe it is illegal here. Excuse me but I know nothing about the USA
except for your television programming.

thanks


"ken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Vs-dnSeVxuzORzzeRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Robert wrote:
> > I have discovered that I can surf wireless with my hp notebook. I set
> > up the connection manually; I am getting a fast connection- but a very
> > weak signal. I believe that this is my neighbor's broadband connection
> > and that he is using a router; therefore I can surf on his connection??
> > I have firewalled this wifi connection and all ports were found to be
> > stealth.
> > Is there any way to make my signal stronger(without entering my
> > neighbor's apartment)?
> > Anyone with knowledge on this subject, please post.
> > I am a novice on wifi but have considerable knowledge on software,
> > configuration, os, etc
> > When I hold pointer over my connection it says netgear(linksys) signal
> > strength very low,5.5mbps, sometimes 11.0mbps, right now says 2.0mbps.
> >
> I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
> you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
> intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing
> and his ISP may also.

"Robert" wrote in message ...
> I have discovered that I can surf wireless with my hp notebook. I set
> up the connection manually; I am getting a fast connection- but a very
> weak signal. I believe that this is my neighbor's broadband connection
> and that he is using a router; therefore I can surf on his connection??
> I have firewalled this wifi connection and all ports were found to be
> stealth.
> Is there any way to make my signal stronger(without entering my
> neighbor's apartment)?
> Anyone with knowledge on this subject, please post.
> I am a novice on wifi but have considerable knowledge on software,
> configuration, os, etc
> When I hold pointer over my connection it says netgear(linksys) signal
> strength very low,5.5mbps, sometimes 11.0mbps, right now says 2.0mbps.

Well...

You could get a card for your laptop that allows an external antenna to be
connected, or you could run a repeater.

Before doing either, I'd ask your neighbors if its okay if you use their AP
though. Its likely they won't care. I have one AP that is open for
anyone to use (using a captive portal) -- even showed my (elderly) next door
neighbors how to use it from their back porch.

> I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
> you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
> intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing
> and his ISP may also.

I can see it being a violation of the ISP's Terms of Service.

(Hypothetical)

If all parties cared enough to "take action" in that situation, the ISP
could cancel the neighbor's service by his breaching the Terms of Service.
They could also file a civil action against the neighbor, seeking damages.
The neighbor, in turn, could file a civil action against the OP, also
seeking damages. The OP could file a counter civil action, against the
neighbor, stating that his laptop was setup to automatically connect to the
nearest open AP -- and his neighbor was connecting to him to cause damage!
(Comms work both ways.)

.....but "illegal"?

What laws are being broken by someone connecting to an open, even
unintentionally open, AP?

(Ethically, I agree that someone shouldn't take advantage of an AP simply
because it is unintentionally left open.)

What kind of card do I get that allows an internal antenna to be used w
my notebook? Can you give me the item number and what site I can
purchase this from?
Someone from tech depot recommended a repeater but when I called up
tech support for the manufacturers of this item, they said I would have
to have access to the router(which is in the neighbor's apartment). I
believe the item mentioned by tech depot was by "Buffalo".
Can you please give more details as to how I would use these devices to
amplify the signal?
Thank you.

"Robert" wrote in message ...
> What kind of card do I get that allows an internal antenna to be used w
> my notebook? Can you give me the item number and what site I can
> purchase this from?

Google down again or not finding any hits with keywords like, oh I don't
know:
"laptop", "pcmcia", "cardbus", "rp/sma/mmcx, mc-card", "antenna", ect...?

> Someone from tech depot recommended a repeater but when I called up
> tech support for the manufacturers of this item, they said I would have
> to have access to the router(which is in the neighbor's apartment).

You don't have to physical access to an originating AP to set up a repeater
off it.
This was probably his indirect way of saying, "Why don't you ask this person
if you can use his AP?"

> believe the item mentioned by tech depot was by "Buffalo".
> Can you please give more details as to how I would use these devices to
> amplify the signal?
> Thank you.

Hold on, lets stop and think about this for a second. You can see your
neighbor's AP. When you set up a repeater, don't you think your neighbor is
going to see it? Even if your neighbor's AP is open unintentionally by
his/her own ignorance, they going to see a duplicate of their SSID -- coming
from an unfamiliar MAC address. You might as well hang a sign up.

I don't mean to come off as "pompous" (or whatever the word is), but,
seriously -- just talk to your neighbor and ask if you can use it. Not only
might they not care, but they might even help you do so. I did for my
neighbor.

"ken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Vs-dnSeVxuzORzzeRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Robert wrote:
>> I have discovered that I can surf wireless with my hp notebook. I set
>> up the connection manually; I am getting a fast connection- but a very
>> weak signal. I believe that this is my neighbor's broadband connection
>> and that he is using a router; therefore I can surf on his connection??
>> I have firewalled this wifi connection and all ports were found to be
>> stealth.
>> Is there any way to make my signal stronger(without entering my
>> neighbor's apartment)?
>> Anyone with knowledge on this subject, please post.
>> I am a novice on wifi but have considerable knowledge on software,
>> configuration, os, etc
>> When I hold pointer over my connection it says netgear(linksys) signal
>> strength very low,5.5mbps, sometimes 11.0mbps, right now says 2.0mbps.
>>
> I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
> you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
> intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing and
> his ISP may also.

Illegal? Please quote which law is being broken......

Eric wrote:
>>I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
>>you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
>>intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing
>>and his ISP may also.
Snip..............................
> What laws are being broken by someone connecting to an open, even
> unintentionally open, AP?

In the UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4721723.stm
he was prosecuted under the Communications Act and found guilty of
dishonestly obtaining an electronic communications service

>
> (Ethically, I agree that someone shouldn't take advantage of an AP simply
> because it is unintentionally left open.)
>
>
>

Rob wrote:

> Eric wrote:
>>>I don't know where you live, but most places in the States consider what
>>>you are doing to be illegal. It doesn't matter if your neighbor is
>>>intentionally allowing access, many locales still consider it stealing
>>>and his ISP may also.
> Snip..............................
>> What laws are being broken by someone connecting to an open, even
>> unintentionally open, AP?

"Theft of service", but it would have to be without even implied consent.
You _can't_ steal from someone if they don't object to it. Just because
the authorities "consider" it to be illegal doesn't make it so.

> In the UK
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4721723.stm
> he was prosecuted under the Communications Act and found guilty of
> dishonestly obtaining an electronic communications service
>
>> (Ethically, I agree that someone shouldn't take advantage of an AP simply
>> because it is unintentionally left open.)

In Canada, and I'm pretty certain in the US, it would require the owner of
the open AP to press charges. If sharing his Internet connection was a
violation of his terms of service, the ISP might force him to press charges
to keep his service. Nothing in the cited article indicates whether this
was or was not the case in the UK.
--
derek