Unsecured WiFi router: should I try to let the owner know?

Personally, I'd try to notify, but wouldn't push. If I know the neighbor's location, I might even print out some information on Theft of Services and how they can be held responsible for actions taken via their unsecured WiFi.

Don't get into a debate, IMO. Just inform and let them decide if it's an action they want to rectify.

Must be a pretty strong wifi signal. Mine isn't good beyound our front yard...

I had very earnest young neighbours warn me that I'd left my wifi connection open.

They were thoroughly confused when I explained that I did it deliberately - I don't get charged for extra bandwidth (they just throttle it) and I don't use the entire amount .. why shouldn't I give it away to my neighbours?

To keep them happy I put a lock on it. And changed the name to 'Public Wifi: Password=password'.

I know people use it. That's fine with me.

Mac

I wouldn't unless you know them fairly well.
It freaks some people out--a did this for a neighbor and gave them a print out of how to change it and why they should (you are legally culpable if your WiFi is used to access illegal files).

They were deeply suspicious.

JoeEkaitis said:

should I try to let the owner know via email that the router is wide open?

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I would, if I knew them well enough and my neighbors and I had a civil relationship, which my family doesn't get along with our neighbors that well here in my house, so I'm sad to say that if that happens to my neighbors, no one in my house would care. At least we sleep peacefully knowing we've got our own wifi connection or whatever, our own service.

robjvargas said:

Personally, I'd try to notify, but wouldn't push.

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Exactly, it all depends on the relationship you have with your neighbors.

thothguard51 said:

Must be a pretty strong wifi signal. Mine isn't good beyound our front yard...

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I'm new here and I had to find a laughing smiley because that was funny. Our wifi signal is not that strong either. We have four different devices connected to the internet 24/7 in our house, and I noticed yesterday how sometimes I have trouble web browsing when the other three computers are connected to the net doing random things.

Mac H. said:

I had very earnest young neighbours warn me that I'd left my wifi connection open.

They were thoroughly confused when I explained that I did it deliberately - I don't get charged for extra bandwidth (they just throttle it) and I don't use the entire amount .. why shouldn't I give it away to my neighbours?

To keep them happy I put a lock on it. And changed the name to 'Public Wifi: Password=password'.

I know people use it. That's fine with me.

Mac

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At the last house I lived in, I would share my internet connection, and it was secured. Yes, I gave away my password because those neighbors didn't have their own internet access and I noticed I wouldn't get charged for extra bandwith, so I would let them use it. No problem. If this internet service were under my name and I got along well with my neighbors, I would do the same thing here, too.

Medievalist said:

I wouldn't unless you know them fairly well.
It freaks some people out--a did this for a neighbor and gave them a print out of how to change it and why they should (you are legally culpable if your WiFi is used to access illegal files).

They were deeply suspicious.

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Yes, you have to be careful because sometimes when you try to do something for the own good of the other person, they become suspicious of your true intentions and they hold you responsible. It's like they're saying, "How the hell do you know, because you're using my internet connection, too? Why don't you get your own?" You might want to think twice about this. When we get services like that one we have the option to put a password on it to secure it. Just think about it this way: if they have no password it's because they don't mind other people using their internet. If you don't get along with them that well or they just don't trust you, leave it alone. When it does bother them for other people to use their service, they'll put a password on it to secure it.

Mac H. said:

I had very earnest young neighbours warn me that I'd left my wifi connection open.

They were thoroughly confused when I explained that I did it deliberately - I don't get charged for extra bandwidth (they just throttle it) and I don't use the entire amount .. why shouldn't I give it away to my neighbours?

To keep them happy I put a lock on it. And changed the name to 'Public Wifi: Password=password'.

I know people use it. That's fine with me.

Mac

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This is not a very good idea. It's possible for a nefarious individual to change his IP address to match yours, and then download protected content from the internet. When the authorities come calling(RIAA), you will be left holding the bag.

Mac H. If you're OK with the legal responsibility for how that Internet connection is used, that's your business. Just realize that you *are* responsible.

It *may* also violate your terms of service for the Internet connection. Comcast's residential service prohibits a variety of business-type uses of the connection, and sharing the connection outside the physical home has been deemed one of those prohibited uses.

JoeEkaitis said:

It's been estimated that every suburban house is within receiving range of at least one unsecured router. Talk about a hacker's playground!

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And I suspect some of them are genuine honeypots, set up to collect login and credit card data.

Mac H. said:

I had very earnest young neighbours warn me that I'd left my wifi connection open.

They were thoroughly confused when I explained that I did it deliberately - I don't get charged for extra bandwidth (they just throttle it) and I don't use the entire amount .. why shouldn't I give it away to my neighbours?

To keep them happy I put a lock on it. And changed the name to 'Public Wifi: Password=password'.

I know people use it. That's fine with me.

Mac

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It's good you put password protection on it even if it's meant to be public. Whether you don't mind them using it or not doesn't really matter so much as the fact that leaving it open is insecure. Turning on WPA encryption, even if everyone knows the password and uses it, puts of a level of security between the computers connected to it that open WiFi doesn't have.

There's a techy movement trying to encourage other sources of open WiFi (coffee shops, etc.) to adopt the policy of using a secure, password protected network, with the password given out to everyone.

JoeEkaitis said:

The DHCP Server page on the router listed about a dozen wireless clients, so I'm not the only one who knows about it.

It's been estimated that every suburban house is within receiving range of at least one unsecured router. Talk about a hacker's playground!

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I haven't bothered putting a password on my brother's router, simply because I'm pretty sure he's the only one in the neighborhood that actually has a computer, and 100% sure no one within several miles of the place would have any idea how to hack it to gather passwords or anything. (This is an Indian rez we're talking about.)

kuwisdelu said:

It's good you put password protection on it even if it's meant to be public. Whether you don't mind them using it or not doesn't really matter so much as the fact that leaving it open is insecure. Turning on WPA encryption, even if everyone knows the password and uses it, puts of a level of security between the computers connected to it that open WiFi doesn't have.

There's a techy movement trying to encourage other sources of open WiFi (coffee shops, etc.) to adopt the policy of using a secure, password protected network, with the password given out to everyone.

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They should do what they do over here in Europe. When you buy a coffee at the shop, they provide the password as part of the receipt. (Obviously the password changes every day)

thothguard51 said:

Must be a pretty strong wifi signal. Mine isn't good beyound our front yard...

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Same for me. I've set my router's transmission range to the lowest setting. Some parts of my house doesn't get the signal at all.

-cb

kuwisdelu said:

I haven't bothered putting a password on my brother's router, simply because I'm pretty sure he's the only one in the neighborhood that actually has a computer, and 100% sure no one within several miles of the place would have any idea how to hack it to gather passwords or anything. (This is an Indian rez we're talking about.)

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Drive by users are a bigger concern than neighbors. Neighbors often use an unsecured routed innocuously. Drive by users, and there are many of them who spend most of their time driving around looking for unsecured routers, , are often hackers, and can get you in a world or trouble fast.

I live in a small town, but we had an man arrested a couple of years ago because a drive by user used the unsecured router to download child porn. If the police hadn't actually caught the drive by a couple of weeks later doing the same thing, there's no telling how far it would have gone.

We also have a neighbor just three houses away who had an unsecured router, and rive by users were downloading all sorts of things. Fortunately for them, a Comcast truck came on a call, saw someone parked and using a laptop, checked into it, and found they were using our neighbor's router. Comcast went in and put a password protection on for free, but that could have been problematical, too.

I don't see the debate here. There's no reason at all not to tell someone their router is unsecured. You might save them a world of trouble.

And having your own router unsecured is just begging for real trouble. Playing the odds is fine, but if such trouble does come, it can potentially ruin your life.

Jamesaritchie said:

Drive by users are a bigger concern than neighbors. Neighbors often use an unsecured routed innocuously. Drive by users, and there are many of them who spend most of their time driving around looking for unsecured routers, , are often hackers, and can get you in a world or trouble fast.

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Going to Zuni to do that would be like driving across the country to hold up a lemonade stand. It's the one place I don't mind playing the odds.

cbenoi1 said:

Same for me. I've set my router's transmission range to the lowest setting. Some parts of my house doesn't get the signal at all.

-cb

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That also depends on the frequency.

My 2.4Ghz Wireless-N goes through walls no problem.

My 5Ghz Wireless-N gets degraded big time by any wall.

I still get strong signal out in the parking lot of my apartment complex with my dual-band Airport Extreme.

I have mine password protected. I live in a village. I'd have everybody and their brother hacking in if I left it open. From my house, if I use my jornada, I can see the other ones around me as well as my own. I can pick up the signal from the hunting store just short of 100 feet, but its free wifi. I remember when mine was out, I pulled up front of the library and sat in my car. It was night time and the library was closed(also free wifi) But I can tell you there are at least 3 personal ones that are wide open whose signal I can pick up. They gave them weird names so I don't know whose they are to tell them. (NO I have never logged in, don't need to but I bet there are some who have.) Problem also is we have quite a few pedophiles in our village and I bet they wouldn't think twice about using someone elses if they could access it.

Keep in mind that the owner / admin of a router you use can see and collect all your data, every single character.

Yep. If I log into the router itself I can see if anyone other than us is on. I gave a couple of my sons friends the password so when they come over with their gadgets they can get on. BUT there is an area in my router user panel where I click "allow" next to their IP.

Problem I think is that the average user doesn't realize they can go in and do that. They just hook the wifi router up and go.