Jacking Wifi....anyone upgrade your antenna?

Just wondreing if any of you are in the same boat as me. You can't afford broadband internet but you have discovered an open network in your neighborhood. I'm trying to extend my range to find other open networks (its a desktop) and i'm looking for antenna possibilities. Anyone want to weigh in on a good antenna.

The cantenna looks interesting. www.cantenna.com

 

Em is that not illegal?

 

if they wifi isnt encrypted arnt they publicly broadcasting it? I mean....

 

jacking into wifi is not illegal hotels coffee shops the whole city of new york, the bay area all have free wifi, now there is a program that lets you monitor your wifi signal, and shows you who all is connected and allows the user to block out any and all except there own line but as of now the laws governing wifi are nonexistant atleast for now anyway.

 

Ah ok i thought it was illegal my mistake

 

still it is not nice to do, like bad manners. personally I would try to run a tighter budget so you can include broadband, most companies 'not all' offer a nice deal to newcomers like 6 months for 24.95, or something to that nature.

 

I am sorry, but if you are hijacking your neighbor's network, it is friggin illegal as hell. techguy, you are talking a whole different animal. Those hotels are not getting THEIR service for free.

 

If the person has an open network (ie, no password) then it is completely legal to go onto it. If they don't know how to set up wep encryption then they probably shouldn't have gotten a wifi network to begin with...

So, nobody would like to answer my antenna question. You'd rather have a moral debate. Thats fine I guess.

 

I understand you man, I was looking for something like that too. I found this: http://www.provantage.com/buy-7hauw...nna-hawking-technology-wireless-shopping.htm.
but yours looks a little better.And on the subject of moral debate, I think if someone can't setup their wifi right... we have the right to surf the web!

 

ah, a post relavent to my question!!! finally... thanks.

I checked your link and I agree, the cantenna does look better. So i went ahead and ordered one. to get 12dbi with an omni directional you'd have to spend upwards $200. Thats a year of broadband right there...

 

It is imoral, and actually theft.

Someone else is paying for the ability and you are stealing bandwidth.
What if the shoe was on the other foot......would you be happy if someone was stealing your bandwidth? (I doubt it)

Yes, I agree if encryption etc has not been set up then of course it would be easy to 'join', however you may find that they have a tracer on there and can easily discover where you are, they can log everything you type so if you goto a site to order stuff and give out your name/address/credit card details etc, then bingo........knock on the door..........

Just a warning, not a dig.........

Antennae are better at amplifying (boosting) the signals around the house, rather than receiving them (in my experience anyway).
It would be trial and error really...............try and, if it's crap then send it back.....

 

That is such a wrong way to think, that just like saying if s1 left there window open you would have the right to rob them, i don't think so. Yes it maybe there fault for not using protection methods but are they not going to find out at some point. I really can't figure out why it would not break the "Computer Misuse Act" rule.

 

Have to agree with p4tt on this one. If you left your front door unlocked & you got robbed whose fault is it?
Dead easy to blame the householder. But the burglar made a conscious decision to enter & remove your property. Now tell me it was the householders fault!
That arguement is why the world is full of greed & corruption.

Pulsar

 

My grandparents always said to me that when they were younger, it was quite common to leave the doors open/unlocked as none of the pilfering went on back then............................

When wifi was brought out, all the little freeloaders just scour for unprotected networks and broadband links....................
I know if anyone hacked into mine, I would hunt them down, whether it is legal or not, I am paying for it, and if someone wants to share it, then a: they ask, b: then they'll pay for it........

 

I agree 100% with you baabaa

 

I agree with baabaa, too.

@dlocke: I hope it doesn't work out for you, with the stealing.

 

if dlocke isn't trying to hack something or download movies on this person's wifi....what's the problem??? Do you really think they would know dlocke is using their connection? If I knew someone was using mine connection i wouldn't care as long as they weren't doing something illegal-like downloading movies or something.

 

i'm with baabaa,I pay $50 a month(6 months is over)and I work for my money why should the leechers get it free if I'm paying for it.To me its like someone stealing something from your frontyard,just because its there doesn't mean thats its on to take,it all goes back to morals

 

Well, I don't think its stealing and I'll tell you why. They're paying for the service, right? What if they have two machines sharing the internet connection? Do they pay double? No. So, by having me on their connection its not costing them any more. And I just surf and don't put in confidential info. Its not like i'm trying to connect to their machine and access their pc.

And I'm not dragging their speed down that much. Shoot, they're not even on the internet that often and its more of a pain than having your own internet anyway.

Sure, maybe I should ask them if I could use their internet but I don't even know who it belongs to. I don't know all my neighbors and I'm not going door to door to find out whose wifi it is so get off my back. I don't remember starting a thread "Is it wrong to share someone's bandwith without their knowledge?"

I could have made up a thread just claiming I need a better antenna to reach my guest house from my house or some bs like that. Maybe i should have...

But guess what? I'm dirt poor. I make under $30k, have $35k of student loans, have plenty of credit card debt, and support a wife and kid. I can NOT afford internet. I don't have cable or other luxuries and I can barely afford to maintain my car. I am in the process of a career change and its not easy breaking into it. So, all ye judgers, please keep it to yourself.