Re: [tlug] A place to connect my laptop

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2007, dave@example.com wrote:

> ...I got a wireless card, and I was advised off-list that it might be
> worth checking to see if there might be a wireless network near enough
> my apartment that I could, you know... just kind of go with for the
> time being. I feel a little guilty about that though... Should I feel
> guilty? Are people with non-secure connections letting them be used,
> or is Curt talking about something else with "open connections"?

It's really hard to say. Personally, when I set up an open connection,
it's done consciously, and it's there for anybody to use so long as
they're reasonable about it. (I.e., don't try to spam through it, don't
use it for malicious purposes, don't use huge amounts of bandwidth to
the point that it annoys other users of the connection, and so on.)

When peeople have left it open without really considering whether they
want it to be public or not, would they mind others using it? You can't
really know, because they don't even know until they consider the
question.

Sometimes you can tel lby the name of the network. I noticed one open
network the other day called "any"; that they'd deliberately changed the
name to that seemed to me a bit of a clue.

> Step two is to maybe sign on for one of the WiFi services like M-Zone or 
> Yahoo's BB Mobile Point. I talked to the services today, and it's only 1500 
> yen for a month. But it's unclear whether or not the software that lets you 
> log in can only work with Windows, or if it can be done within Linux wireless 
> network settings.

NTT's service will definitely work with Linux; I'd be surprised if any
of the other services did not. In most cases, it's either an open WiFi
network or one with a well known (to the customers) WEP key, and you're
blocked from full Internet access by a firewall until you log in via a
web page.

cjs
--
Curt Sampson       <cjs@example.com>        +81 90 7737 2974
Mobile sites and software consulting: http://www.starling-software.com