My neighbor doesn't secure the internet connection.?

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First the lecture, then the technical details, OK? So, you know that jumping on, or piggybacking onto somebody else's wireless network is not only illegal but morally wrong, right? Your neighbor is paying an ISP for his/her right to connect to the Internet, but you, without asking, are taking bandwidth that they are legally renting from their ISP. When you jump onto his/her WAP signal, you are actually slowing down his/her access, and taking up valuable bandwidth which dictates how quickly an item can be downloaded from the Internet.

Some individual's will tell you that it is your neighbor's fault for not securing his WAP. That if these people who fail to secure their WAP they then somehow deserve or are inviting other people to take what they pay for for their own personal uses. That is a bunch of claptrap in order for those who take what they don't pay for to feel better about what they do. It is a way to remove any responsibility from off their own shoulders and place it on the victims. Not fair, and is simply wrong.

Now, it matters not if the neighbor knows enough about his/her WAP internal settings or not, or whether they are "stupid" and therefore somehow "deserve" what they get. That is saying that if you left your front door unlocked while having a BBQ in your backyard that gives permission for some stranger, or even another neighbor to come into your home and help himself to your food, or other belongings, and somehow you deserve that and it is your fault. Because you were stupid and left your door unlocked, unsecured. You know deep inside that it isn't right to take advantage of a neighbor, or anyone else for that matter. Some people think it funny to "get over" on others. That they are smart enough to not have to pay for their internet, food, clothing, etc. If somebody steals clothing from a store, it must be the clerks fault for not catching that individual right? It certainly isn't the fault of the theif. lol

OK, enough of the lecture, now on to the technical aspect of your question. First, the picture you are seeing of the two laptops and the labels is the setup of your neighbors network. They must have two Vista machines because Vista has the full graphical representation of the physical layout of the network, with icons populating the setup. So, not only has your innocent neighbors left their Internet door wide open, they have also obviously left their safe door open. Which means with some effort an amoral individual could access their files. Sad, but true.

Now, if your neighbor's are so lacking in technical experience that they do not know how to secure not only their network but their personal files, then do you honestly think they possess the experience needed to catch a hacker? I seriously doubt it. So, do you.

Now, more experienced individuals could do a trace on your connection and find out where you are and who you are. So, do be careful while stealing Internet bandwidth from other's. Don't want to be caught now do you? Of course not, otherwise you wouldn't have asked this question. So, basically, if these folks were experienced and had the proper tools, you bet they could catch you. However, if they were that experienced you would never have gotten onto their connection in the first place now would you? lol

But for the fact their files are open to potential access by the outside networks, I would say it could be possible your neighbor's are part of the Caravan Open Network Initiative, which invites regular travelers to "borrow" the WAP connectivity. Usually, this is on the basis of trust, and that trust is based on the ideal of recipriocity. In other words, those who "borrow" from those who "share", will take their turn sharing with other travelers when they are home. Thus, an entire network of individuals makes available, for free mind you, their Wireless Internet Connectivity. These folks freely jump onto these WAP, and offer up theirs for free to other travelers in return. Nobody will actually know if those who borrow a WAP connection really offers theirs to travelers also, but there you have it, an open and shared Internet connectivity which stretches across the U.S. of A. Most of these folks are retiree's who are Road Warriors. They spend a large portion of each year traveling the country in houses on wheels.

So, it is possible your neighbors are a part of this movement. However, go look at the area in front of their home and check for some symbol on the garage, or on the driveway area or the driveway itself. The folks who participate in this open offering of WAP connectivity place some type of symbol were it is readily viewable, so others can know for sure their network has been left open for such a purpose. However, as I said before, due to the fact that your neighbor has also left a door open to their personal files shows they are most likely very inexperienced users who haven't a clue they are wide open to attack and theft. So sad.

Bottom line is I seriously doubt these folks will catch you stealing from them. So, you can piggyback them to your hearts content as long as your conscience can handle the activity....Show more

If you are using an unsecured connection, remember: it's unsecured. Anyone can be connected to it and all the other computers connected.

They can find out that someone else is using it. They can see what websites you've been to. But most people that do not know how to secure their wireless won't be able to tell any of these things. There is no alarm that screams out "Your neighbor is looking at porn on your unsecured wireless connection!" So don't worry.

But you do need to worry about someone that is just looking for unsecured internet connections so they can get to the computers connected to them. This is not so common anymore because there are so many. In my neighbor hood, I have 6 unsecured with excellent signal strength. And I will admit I did use them until my own connection was installed after we moved in. But you want to make sure your computer is secure before using an unsecured wireless connection....Show more

It depends how technically savvy your neighbor is and how much you are abusing his internet connection. General web browsing? He won't notice an impact on speed. Downloading streaming video or large files? He will notice and will eventually ask a friend or figure out how to cut you off.

As for the ability to track you? The chance is very little. The only way they can is if they are monitoring what traffic you are generating (which they can) and they find identifiable information in it (bank login, email login, shopping cart with address, etc).

If they do find a "leech" (you) on their internet, most people will just attempt to secure it more. Consider that a warning and do not try to use it again. If you do get caught and reported to authorities you are not facing jail time - most you will get is a fine....Show more

Hello,
It actually is very easy to find out who is on your network just by clicking on network neighborhood and going to microsoft windows network. They can't see what you are accessing on your computer though. Just because it is easy to do the above doesn't mean that people will be bothered to do it.

The Laptop to laptop wireless signal you are getting means that their laptop is setup and acting like a remote access point with or without their knowledge and you are getting on their network through the laptop that they have setup and evidently don't turn off (lucky for you). If they ever figure that out then most likely that will be fixed real quick!!!

Good Luck!...Show more

Here Internet Connection Resolve http://internet.customer-supports.com/...Show more