Hello all,

Not sure if many of you know but I do not have an ISP and I primarily tether my phone's network (Sprint) to my laptop in order to play MW3 and Diablo III. Recently, its been acting really horribly to the point that even Teamspeak is laggy -_- . As an alternative, my laptop picks up neighboring wifi networks and I was wondering if it is illegal to use those networks. They are not secure connections and have no authentication such as a WEP key or anything like that. Any comments would be appreciated.

-Myquistador

I don't believe it's illegal, however, I'm certain it's frowned upon. To me it would seem like it's the owner's responsibility to make sure there is a password protecting their internet. Granted, it seems many people don't exactly know how to do that.

From a technical standpoint I believe yes it is Illegal. Federal Law states it is illegal so use another ISP without their permission however the law is more directed towards hackers then wireless users but none the less how it is written it's still illegal.

Think about it this way I myself pay $40 a month just for internet and obviously the more devices running off your equipment the lower the performance. Also if my neighbor was able to use my internet technically they could do some "illegal" activities and my IP address would be the source of this activity so who gets into trouble in the end? myself.

Now I'm not going to sit here and say I've never used a neighbors internet because two years ago when my house burnt down we did not want to go thru the process of paying for internet in a house we would only be in a few months while we repaired our home.

Frankly I'm surprised you have been able to play MW3 while tethered to your phone that’s pretty shocking.

Most of the time your neighbors won't know unless they are hard core gamers and they suddenly experience lag they may be weary.

Couldn't tell you if it's illegal, but if a wifi owner doesn't have a password on their network, then it shouldn't be.

@ [BBF]Chaser
Yeah with my tethering I'm able to play MW3 with a Strict to Moderate NAT type depending on if I do wireless or wired tethering. I was actually host once and everyone had like 1-2bars while I had 4 LOL! Thank you for the technical standpoint opinion.

@ [BBF]James IsA Ninja
I hope you're right haha.

It's actually illegal, I'm doing classes in Ethical Hacking and this subject came up in one of my classes. Also, the severity of punishment varies from state to state and country to country. I would look up your countrys and states laws on "Internet Piracy" (that's what it's called btw) and see how it affects you. Also, it's a major flight risk. If your neighbor is skilled with a computer, he can track your traffic with something called Wireshark IF his network is compatible. So, anything from your favorite MMO game password to, let's say your favorite XXX website, he can track and/or use it against you...

MY PERSONAL OPINION: Talk to your neighbor first and get permission, if you don't, tread VERY lightly while using his network, you never can tell the skill of a personal network administrator...

Reaver has a valid point. If the person knows how to inspect his network traffic, he can be stealing all your un-encrypted data.

IF the wireless is not passworded, then no it is not if using it for personal use, but this is different from State to State as mentioned above.. If you used their unprotected/passworded wireless for profit then you would be looking at heavy fines and jail time.

Just think of how many people across the World would be jailed or find just because their computer or smart phone "AUTO" Connected to a non passworded wireless connection, whether traveling through or living close by...

Search for laws in your area regarding this question.

xkcd.com/416/
xkcd.com/341/
xkcd.com/466/
current.com/1ov1m4c

Funny related stuff.

Myqui ask your neighbor if it's OK with them.