Extending my network to my neighbors?

Question

Is it legal to extend my secure network enough to let my neighbors use it with my permission?

Answer 1

Actually some ISPs have sued people for doing this. The ISP has only agreed to provide service for your household, so you extending the network is like allowing your neighbor to hook into your cable for free. Theoretically (or at least according to your ISP), you don't have the authority to allow non-authorized users onto your network.
In reality though, how would they ever find out unless you made someone mad enough to report you?

Answer 2

It is legal. You may be liable for illegal behavior that happens over your connection (e.g. file sharing, child pornography), or perhaps not but you probably don't want to go to court to prove it. If you trust your neighbors, read on.

Some ISPs encourage it (speakeasy.net comes to mind, they even have an easy reselling plan if you want to roll out to the neighborhood =) or don't specifically disallow it (many local ISPs and resellers).

Most big ISPs have it in their Terms of Service (ToS) that you cannot share your connection, run servers, and so forth. You can hunt around broadbandreports.com if you want to do it anyway, but keep in mind you might get your broadband cancelled if you violate the ToS.

Answer 3

I believe it is not permitted through your network carrier. If you shared with neighbors then neighbors could share with other neighbors within range etc. which would be like pirating.

Answer 4

its legal like tofu said, but you should consider enabling security such as MAC filtering on your router so you and your neighbor can only access it but no one else could.

Answer 5

Perfectly legal, but remember as the registered user you will be liable for any illegal use.

Answer 6

It is legal. its your property after all