I just got a new laptop for my gf and Im testing it out at her house. I dont know jack about networking and Im learning as I go. I was playing around with it and found many unsecured wireless network in her area. There are some that are secured and there are some that are not.
She does have a wireless network setup at her house but that I really log onto that one, I see it but I cant get in.
But I am able to get in the unsecured one. I am on it right now.
Please help me understand what these are. Are these wireless network setup from people's home and they never brother to secure or are these just "free" network like place from starbucks.
Is it smart that I am doing this? When I connect with them it says that I am going on to a unsecured network and they can see what I am doing....bla bla bla.
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I actually dealt with this today. A customer of mine purchased a Belkin MIMO router and they had set it up themselves about 2 weeks ago. THey were complaining that their internet was going extremely slow. Come to find out that 24 people from the apartment complex next door to them were connected to their wireless and using it for free.
These networks are basically people who have purchased a wireless router because they want the freedom to roam around their houses without wires. However the problem is that they simply plug the router in and think that the signal isn't strong enough to reach outside of their houses. This MIMO router I secured today was dealing access out approximately 500 feet away from it's own location. I wouldn't worry about connecting to those networks unless someone you connect to monitors their "Connected PC's" section in their router constantly.
For your own wireless connection at home I would disable SSID broadcasting, enable WPA-PSK or WEP128 and do MAC addy filtering. This way the person has to guess your SSID, then they have to break your encryption and finally they have to cloan one of your MAC addresses which you have allowed access to get to the internet. That should take approximately 40 - 50 hours if they are at all clued in as to what they are doing. However I honestly wouldn't worry about it if you enable the above mentioned level of protection. Network security at the lowest level is much like running from a bear. You don't have to be faster than the bear, you only have to be faster than your friend. So if someone else in your area has an unsecured network then you're pretty safe. The hack will usually see your network is secured and the others is not and spend their time screwing around in the unsecured networks, leaving you alone because it'll take more time than they're willing to spend cracking it.
just be aware that everything you send over an usecured network can be monitored by anyone w/in range to get the signal.
you're best bet is to use WPA2 on your own network. WEP can be cracked pretty fast w/ the right wifi card & deauth/ARP injection. WPA can be cracked too though it takes considerably longer.
just be aware that everything you send over an usecured network can be monitored by anyone w/in range to get the signal.
you're best bet is to use WPA2 on your own network. WEP can be cracked pretty fast w/ the right wifi card & deauth/ARP injection. WPA can be cracked too though it takes considerably longer.
it's not native wpa2 by default, but it's about the cheapest PEAP solution i know of right now.
i wouldnt expect WPA2 to be cracked easily anytime soon. it can theoretically be done in some cases (barring a smartcard); but it would take an extremely long time and is obvious to the person who's getting cracked so they can just reset or change their codes and it negates the whole crack.
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I just got a new laptop for my gf and Im testing it out at her house. I dont know jack about networking and Im learning as I go. I was playing around with it and found many unsecured wireless network in her area. There are some that are secured and there are some that are not.
She does have a wireless network setup at her house but that I really log onto that one, I see it but I cant get in.
But I am able to get in the unsecured one. I am on it right now.
Please help me understand what these are. Are these wireless network setup from people's home and they never brother to secure or are these just "free" network like place from starbucks.
Is it smart that I am doing this? When I connect with them it says that I am going on to a unsecured network and they can see what I am doing....bla bla bla.
Is your own connection (the one you cannot get into) unsecured or secured?
I had that problem at one time when I first got the router (Linksys WRT54G), and I did the router reset. It puts everything back to default, and I got connected one step at a time. First I connected unsecured, the I secured it, then I started turning on all of the firewalls, etc. I also plugged it into an always powered on plug on my UPS instead of unpowered and never had the problem since.
No I didn't hear about that... somehow I don't think that my neighbor would press charges...
I have seen some unsecure networks that were kind scary, and I wouldnt go near... unsecure network at a Doctor's office? Um... no thanks... haha
~Peace
most likely a person not smart enought to use security, certianly isnt smart enough to track your MAC address, and of course. he has to PROVE you own that MAC address, wich is pretty hard to do, and MAC addresses can be spoofed as well...
So if someone else in your area has an unsecured network then you're pretty safe. The hack will usually see your network is secured and the others is not and spend their time screwing around in the unsecured networks, leaving you alone because it'll take more time than they're willing to spend cracking it.
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