[Mastrap]

We're moving into our first own apartment in Toronto, after the move from the UK. (In Roncesvalles, for my fellow Torontonians.)

Earlier on today I order my cable services, internet, the lot. Just five minutes ago I want to look something up on the PB and just out of curiosity I launch iStumbler. Three open networks pop up. One at full strength, the others less so but still ok.

Should I cancel my own cable? Seems a waste of money now...

[Avenir]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
We're moving into our first own apartment in Toronto, after the move from the UK. (In Roncesvalles, for my fellow Torontonians.)

Earlier on today I order my cable services, internet, the lot. Just five minutes ago I want to look something up on the PB and just out of curiosity I launch iStumbler. Three open networks pop up. One at full strength, the others less so but still ok.

Should I cancel my own cable? Seems a waste of money now...

that day when you have a hot date, and you absolutely have to check you email to see what time you're meeting them, that's when the other people will have accidentally unplugged their routers. Internet is too precious, get your own

[ManOfSteal]

Smart Wireless Users <-------------------------------X---> Novice Wireless Users

[Mastrap]

I don't pay for my internet access, my company does. So, yes, of course I will get my own.

Has anybody got the Rogers 5.0 Mbps download and 800 Kbps upload service? It seems a bit too good to be true for the price but they assured me that it's the genuine deal.

[Kenneth]

My next door neighbor doesn't set any kind of password on his network. I can jump on it without any problem even the Linsys leaves in default setting. AFAIK, he uses Comcast cable as his ISP.

I do WPA my wireless network here in my tiny dorm room. Since I work for the phone company as P/T, it offers me free DSL. Those next door dormmates are just jealous since the university doesn't do a good job for providing high-speed Internet at the dorms. First, it blocks all known P2P ports, but the speed is still slow as hell.

[chris v]

"AVA" doesn't keep a password on her router, either. Stupid me, it never occurred to me to even launch the Airport on my Power Book until I'd plunked down $89.00 for an Airport card in my Tower, and turned on sharing.

Unfortunately, "Babygirlcube" next door has a good password, becuase they're up more than AVA. (My house is pretty thick brick and my WiFi doesn't work too well in the yard.)

[chris v]

Originally posted by Kenneth:
My next door neighbor doesn't set any kind of password on his network. I can jump on it without any problem even the Linsys leaves in default setting.

admin/admin? So you could log in and change all his port settings? Jeebous, some people.

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by chris v:
admin/admin? So you could log in and change all his port settings? Jeebous, some people.

Yes.. admin/admin. A dead giveaway.
However, he flashed it with the latest firmware and that's about it. Interestingly, he's the one who in charge with the community website.. not up yet. I probably show knock on his door and tell him to secure his network.

[nredman]

don't you have to know the name of the network to see it though???

[grahamb]

Originally posted by nredman:
don't you have to know the name of the network to see it though???

Not if they haven't disabled the SSID broadcast.

[nredman]

Originally posted by grahamb:
Not if they haven't disabled the SSID broadcast.

oh, how do you do that? i could never get my wireless wep/wpa working with my wifes dell ...????

[MacNStein]

I have to admit, I leave my wireless network available (browsable) on purpose, though it is PW protected. I gave my communist neighbor limited access and he uses it to check his email and do some light web surfing. He's the only person within range.

[nredman]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
I have to admit, I leave my wireless network available (browsable) on purpose, though it is PW protected. I gave my communist neighbor limited access and he uses it to check his email and do some light web surfing. He's the only person within range.

i live an apartment and i see alot of networks on my list here...i could never get the password thing to work (it wouldn't work with my wifes dell) so i just use a closed network and change the name from time to time...that was a suggestion from someone here...guess its not too safe to do...not that i think anyone is trying to hack me or anything

[DeathToWindows]

lucky.

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by nredman:
i live an apartment and i see alot of networks on my list here...i could never get the password thing to work (it wouldn't work with my wifes dell) so i just use a closed network and change the name from time to time...that was a suggestion from someone here...guess its not too safe to do...not that i think anyone is trying to hack me or anything

How about enabling the MAC filter?

[typoon]

Originally posted by Kenneth:
How about enabling the MAC filter?

I was going to mention the same thing. I do that myself at home and it works well. i also do that with a couple of customers I have. MAC filtering works VERY well.

[typoon]

Originally posted by Kenneth:
Yes.. admin/admin. A dead giveaway.
However, he flashed it with the latest firmware and that's about it. Interestingly, he's the one who in charge with the community website.. not up yet. I probably show knock on his door and tell him to secure his network.

You could do that or if you really wanted to be a jerk you could log in, change the password, and enable MAC filtering and lock him out of his own wireless router. That would teach him that's for sure.

[Aiglos]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
I don't pay for my internet access, my company does. So, yes, of course I will get my own.

Has anybody got the Rogers 5.0 Mbps download and 800 Kbps upload service? It seems a bit too good to be true for the price but they assured me that it's the genuine deal.

Are you talking about the internet "extreme" package? I have that. Speeds are pretty good, around 600-800 (peak, it then levels off at 500) kbs from fast servers. the only catch is that you have to buy a 100$ modem. The only sucky part about rogers is that they switched usenet providers (I think Giganews) so you only get max 2 simultaneous connections at 30 k/s each. The old days you get 4 connections and 300-400 k/s. And download connections on usenet are very unreliable. Sucks big time.

Oher than that, very fast.

[chris v]

Originally posted by typoon:
You could do that or if you really wanted to be a jerk you could log in, change the password, and enable MAC filtering and lock him out of his own wireless router. That would teach him that's for sure.

Or log in to his machine, and open a text file on his machine saying something like "Hey, dummy! I walked on to your unsecured network, and your unsecured router, and here I am on your machine. Maybe you should fix this!"

[brapper]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
We're moving into our first own apartment in Toronto, after the move from the UK. (In Roncesvalles, for my fellow Torontonians.)

I used to live in the area. Great community. I hear it's becoming more 'upscale' now too.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
I don't pay for my internet access, my company does. So, yes, of course I will get my own.

Has anybody got the Rogers 5.0 Mbps download and 800 Kbps upload service? It seems a bit too good to be true for the price but they assured me that it's the genuine deal.

I don't know anyone with excellent service with Rogers, get bell if you can at least it is a persistent 3 megs.

Your area is also very old and unless you are living in a new condo the TV cables will be Ghetto.

[Aiglos]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
I don't know anyone with excellent service with Rogers, get bell if you can at least it is a persistent 3 megs.

Your area is also very old and unless you are living in a new condo the TV cables will be Ghetto.

I've had excellent service with rogers. Downtime isn't nearly as bad 3 years ago and speed is consistently fast. Cept for usenet...

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Aiglos:
I've had excellent service with rogers. Downtime isn't nearly as bad 3 years ago and speed is consistently fast. Cept for usenet...

In 5 years with bell I have never had a downtime longer than 3 hours at 4 in the morning when they announced it would go down. And perhaps 2 times a year if that.

The fact that you even have to use that term is the point.

Rogers speed is also highly inconsistent especially in the middle of Toronto where the cables are all old and above ground. In the suburbs the new underground cables are much better.

[Aiglos]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
In 5 years with bell I have never had a downtime longer than 3 hours at 4 in the morning when they announced it would go down. And perhaps 2 times a year if that.

The fact that you even have to use that term is the point.

Rogers speed is also highly inconsistent especially in the middle of Toronto where the cables are all old and above ground. In the suburbs the new underground cables are much better.

Well I live in Ottawa. Obviously Toronto sucks, so I'd imagine crappy service.

I've never had inconsistent speeds. Nor any slowdowns people talk about when a neighbourhood goes on cable. plus I don't like the idea of dialing in everytime just to go on the internet. So cable is the way to go for me.

[Amorya]

Originally posted by chris v:
Or log in to his machine, and open a text file on his machine saying something like "Hey, dummy! I walked on to your unsecured network, and your unsecured router, and here I am on your machine. Maybe you should fix this!"

Print it to his printer...

[typoon]

Originally posted by Amorya:
Print it to his printer...

True but if it's not netoworked or shared it's a little hard to do. Logging into his router changing the password and enabling MAC address filtering would be interesting. Or you could just change the admin password so that you could be the only one to get in it and just play around with his firewall.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Aiglos:
Well I live in Ottawa. Obviously Toronto sucks, so I'd imagine crappy service.

Hey lets turn this into a "Ottawa is where it is at and Toronto Sucks" thread!

[philm]

Originally posted by typoon:
I was going to mention the same thing. I do that myself at home and it works well. i also do that with a couple of customers I have. MAC filtering works VERY well.

MAC filtering....this is allowing only specific hardware addresses to use the wireless base station? Can I do this through the AIrport Set Up software?

[Mastrap]

Well it's up and running. Which isn't bad considering I only ordered everything yesterday. That alone qualifies as 'excellent service' for me.

I did run a quick speed test and while it wasn't exactly 5Mbps it certainly wasn't far off. Snappy™ comes to mind.

And they allow me to use my own mail servers without forcing me to order a commercial connection.

[macaddict0001]

Originally posted by typoon:
True but if it's not netoworked or shared it's a little hard to do. Logging into his router changing the password and enabling MAC address filtering would be interesting. Or you could just change the admin password so that you could be the only one to get in it and just play around with his firewall.

block port 80

[typoon]

Originally posted by philm:
MAC filtering....this is allowing only specific hardware addresses to use the wireless base station? Can I do this through the AIrport Set Up software?

If you have an Airport Base Station you can do it through the Airport Software. You will need to log into your basstation to set this up. If you don't have an Airport Basestation you will need to still log into your wireless router via your web browser and enable it that way. Make sure to add your MAC address in before you enable this feature or you won't be able to get into it.

[ort888]

Where can I find a crash course on securing a wireless network? I have one and I'm sad to say that I have done absolutely nothing to protect it and don't even really know where to begin.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by ort888:
Where can I find a crash course on securing a wireless network? I have one and I'm sad to say that I have done absolutely nothing to protect it and don't even really know where to begin.

Open your Airport Admin program (in Applications/Utilities) and go to the "Help" menu. Search help for "security".

I see "protecting your network with a password" and "protect your network from DDoS attacks" there, among other things.

-s*

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Amorya:
Print it to his printer...

... repeatedly until he runs out of paper ...

:evil grin:

[macaddict0001]

how many networks are there in total...

and to the poster above me what if he has a pc...

[chris v]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
... repeatedly until he runs out of paper ...

:evil grin:

Or pull a Shining...

print 500 pages of

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy


muahahah...


There is actually a terminal program (forget how it runs-- was a tip in MacAcddict some months back) that will display a pop-up box with your message in it, and an okay button on Windows machines. That'd be the funnest of all.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by chris v:
Or pull a Shining...

print 500 pages of

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Oh God... that's so evil. I'll bet he'd never set up an insecure network again after that...

There is actually a terminal program (forget how it runs-- was a tip in MacAcddict some months back) that will display a pop-up box with your message in it, and an okay button on Windows machines. That'd be the funnest of all.

If you can ssh in...

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to display dialog "Due to your inability to secure your wireless network properly, you have caught a virus which has caused the radiation shield on your Macintosh to fail. At this point, I would recommend that you do not ever attempt to have kids..."'

Or...

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to display dialog "The application \"Killer Virus That Breaks In Through Your Insecure Wireless Network And Erases Your Hard Drive\" has unexpectedly quit, because an error of type -1 occurred."'

Of course, these will only work on Macs.

[MilkmanDan]

I've been enjoying a stolen high speed wireless connection at my host family's little apartment here in Japan for 4 months now. I can usually pick up about 4 different signals here. Thank you Japan. Making my home life easier.

[Turias]

Originally posted by typoon:
I was going to mention the same thing. I do that myself at home and it works well. i also do that with a couple of customers I have. MAC filtering works VERY well.

MAC filtering does not work well. It is incredibly easy to spoof a MAC address and completely bypass the MAC filter. Then, once someone does this, it becomes a pain for you since your router will flip out if two computers with the same MAC address try to access the internet at the same time.