No, that makes you a politician.

 

It's not necessarily stealing. There are thousands of wireless networks all over the country that have been left open intentionally for anyone to use. I had mine open at first, and would have left it open, but I'm afraid of hackers so I locked it..

 

Good thread, as I am about to bite the bullet on a Dell Inspiron 6000, I think (not getting rid of my desktop).

Wireless ready, etc. Anything I should know? Also, I'm buying a wireless router from Dell. Is it pretty easy to hook up to my RCA cable modem? (I'm on Comcast, by the way). Is it just something I "plug in"?

Sorry for the dumb questions; computers are NOT my forte'!

 

Wireless routers work plug and play right out of the box. No set up at all required. However, security is well advised.

WEP is not very secure at all. It will keep your novice neighbors off from just clicking connect, but annyone curious to get in can get in with many utlities in about 10-15 minutes or so.

WPA is a better choice, much more seure.

In either case, not broadcasting your SSID and filtering by MAC address for only YOUR comuters is a good idea to add an extra layer.

And wifi networks are free to use anywhere you are. It is the owners resonsibility to secure them.

 

If somebody want's to use mine they can feel free to... I don't care if you take any of my music, either...

At least if your network's open you can blame the kid next door for stealing the NSA's personel lists, for example... (Always make sure that you have at least one trojan horse installed on your computer, just for safety's sake...)

 

No one has really answered my question yet though , how do i scan for networks , say as i drive down the street?

 

There's a utility called NetStumbler that you can DL and install on your laptop. Then you just drive around and it will pick them up. If you also hook up a GPS unit it will create a database of hotspots and their locations.

http://www.netstumbler.com/

http://www.wardriving.com/index.php

Edwin

 

If you are only using 802.11G because it is on the computer but you can use ethernet via Rj-45 you are intentionally slowing down your system transfer to 54 mb/s where as your wired network is a solid 100 mb/s or in instance 100 mb/s. Doesn't maks sense to me if you pay all the money to have DSL or broadband only to create a bottleneck.
I am on my new laptop now and I have the wireless disabled and am plugged in through the ethernet, but if I get up to eat I will switch it on so I can go to the table with it.
I have had a problem being on the internet when a window would pop up showing activity on my wireless. I know it was my neighbor 2 houses down because his name/ ID would show.
But as of today he has moved.
I know people who use the wireless modem on a laptop with a homemade yagi in a pringles can go out and look for open networks.
Speaking of open wireless hot-spots you are paying for most of them when you buy a $5.00 cup of coffee from Starbucks and they let you cse the hot-spot.

Wireless is a neat thing if you need it but if you don't, I would not use it.
I just had a job where a couple of attorneys tried to set up a wireless network in their office after the bid I gave them they thought was too high and I told them it will not work. They spent alot of money and could not get a strong signal.
The building is a steel frame, metal studs inside, "perfect fariday shield" then they called me with their tail between their legs and had me wire the suite and fix the network.

IMO If it is not your network then you have no rights to it. I have equipment to check and access anybody's telco line from telco rooms and pedestels but I don't do it.

 

High speed internet. 5Mb/s. Wireless internet 54Mb/s.

Wireless is far from being a bottleneck in internet. I hear people selling people new wireless G vs the older B (11Mb/s)... idiots actually think it will make the internet faster, when their network card is already twice as fast as the fastest high speed internet.

 

There is a free program called "Jiwire" which you can download at "download.com"
One of the features of this program is a data base of all the known wi-fi hot spots.
It also tells you which ones are free and which ones charge a user fee.

You woulld be supprised how many free ones are out there.