Is it wong to not pay for Wi-Fi?

Question

I have used dial-up for years. As most people know it's not worth the time or money. I recently purchased a laptop and was setting up my dial-up connection. Upon doing so I found that my house connected into a Wireless signal in my neighborhood. Now I'm wondering if connecting into it is okay or if it is the same as stealing cable. What should I do?

Answer 1

Its totally up to you if you want to do this or not, but if you are found out you can be charged with theft of services.

Answer 2

It is in the same category as walking across someone's lawn. Walking across your neighbor's lawn is trespassing, probably impolite, hurts their grass, possibly hurts other plants that you don't know of, but pretty much no one usually cares. However, if someone does care, they can stop you either legally or physically (by erecting a fence). In the wireless world, their are similar analogies.

Likewise you can be a bad neighbor, and step on the flowers and eat the apples as you cross the lawn. In the wireless world the analogy is spying on your neighbor's computer or net activities.

As someone else mentioned, you are at the mercy of this neighbor for your privacy. If you leave yourself open to their watching, they could know every place you go on the internet. In reality anyone on a shared cable service though is open to the same level of spying. It is possible, but unlikely.

What is possible is that your neighbor will find out via some unusual applications. I've read a story about iTunes finding a neighbor's song lists. The story was actually quite interesting, because the person writing the story didn't know which neighbor it was and found they both liked many of the same songs.

Most of the complaints that mooching is unlawful are brought up by the ISPs. It makes a financial difference to them. I'm willing to bet if you are a dial-up user, you won't be noticed on your neighbor's wireless.

The bottom line is you can't depend upon this service being available. That is the issue for me.

My bottom line is I don't care if someone gets on my wireless and thus it is wide open. I have the computers locked down so they don't share files, and I use secure connections to limit what might be seen. I've offered my neighbors use of the wireless, but they were more interested in reliable service, and my wireless is a little too far away from them to be reliable.

Answer 3

When I moved to an apartment complex I used the wireless from the neighboor to connect. If he/she did not wanted me to use it they should have put security on it.

Now, if they found out you are using it they can complain and press charges if they want to.

Some people share the bill and the wireless and it is done before hand. This is not a valid arrangement with the supplier of the service (DSL or Cable modem provider), but there is not much they can do about it these days.

If you have good relationship with your neighboor tell them and see what they say.

The right thing to do would be to get your own if they are not ok.

Answer 4

It's highly unethical to leech off of another user's wi-fi signal, especially if it is their internet connection they are paying for.

I have a friend in a similar situation as yours and what he actually did was find the person with the wireless signal and actually offered to pay a flat rate per month so that he could use their wireless signal for his own purposes as well. It came out to the friend paying much less than he would have for his own net connection, and the wi-fi signal owners getting a sort of rebate on their net rate since they were kind of "subleasing" the signal to him :)

Answer 5

Ethically yes as you could be stealing their bandwidth so slowing their connection speed down if you are downloading even if you had no more intention than using their wifi just for the connection.
Also it be a hassle as you would be stuck if they turned off their connection when they liked then you would have to go without internet.
They might be doing this on purpose to track or steal from you when you use the net.
And internet is pretty cheap anyway I think it is tight fisted to leech off another.
Lastly, they should have their connection encrypted.

Answer 6

I wouldn't. Just think of this scenario. However you feel about it.

Your neighbor is D/L all kinds of illegal and socially degrading stuff. Getting all kinds of viruses and Feds involved. Now here you are logged onto the same unprotected network. Viruses see you Feds see you bad news for you!

Think of it like cheating on an exam. How do you know the person you are cheating off of is not going to fail.

Listen, If my neighbor is careless enough to have an open network, than he/she is careless enough on other fronts.

Whatever you decide... Be careful!

Answer 7

Heh, heh, heh.

Here's the deal.

First, you're stealing bandwidth form another person's Internet connection.

Second, you're at the mercy of their connection. If they decide to encrypt the connection or turn off the router, you're SOL.

Third, they can monitor your traffic, including the logging of unencrypted traffic like your e-mail. Do you REALLY want your neighbors to know every web site you visit and read your e-mail?

Fourth, many hackers will set up "honey pots" to lure people in to prime them for data or identity theft.

Fifth, if, for example, your neighbor is arrested for trafficking kiddie porn, and your computer shows up in their router logs, you could find yourself arrested as part of the investigation.

I could go on, but the bottom line is you're putting yourself in the hands of strangers with whom you don't even have a contract. Hell, they could have you arrested for trespassing in some states!

Answer 8

I view it as the same as stealing cable. Someone else is paying for your service, right? Especially in a neighborhood. This might be your next-door-neighbor that you are stealing from -- plus, it indicates that his wifi is vulnerable to hacking if you can steal it like that. We found this out about our neighbor -- and let them know, so they could tighten their security on it.

Answer 9

It is a form of stealing. While it is very rare, people have been caught and legal action taken against them for it. But your neighbor should also secure their wireless connection. Not too is very dumb.

Answer 10

It is totally illegal without the owner's authority. You can go to prison for up to five years for this. Your machine will leave a record of it's MAC address even after you disconnect.