How many people piggybacking wireless?
Out of context: Reply #7
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- nb0
I'm happy to share my wifi signal with my neighbours. The way I see it:
• Even if I could find a signal to use, I can't afford to lose a few hours of work if the network went down. I need internet for work, so I'm happy to pay for the service.
• As long as my neighbours are using the internet for basic stuff (email, youtube, facebook, etc) it's not going to affect my speed.
• The odds of some devious hacker living within the range of my wifi signal are extremely low.
For years, I lived in a house and was happy to keep my wifi open for the neighbours. My house was on a corner lot, and beside a few small apartment buildings that were inhabited mostly by families, young couples, but certainly people who didn't have much money.
I'm sure most of them were using my wifi signal (it was open for years) and I'd bet a few of them felt guilty about doing it. They'd never know I was more than happy to share. I considered changing the wifi signal name to "Use this, but be polite" or something.
After a few years, suddenly my speeds dropped to very slow, I assume because someone on my wifi started downloading torrents or some other high-needs use. So, I put a password on it. They ruined it for everyone.
What I'm trying to say is: Go right ahead and borrow someone's signal. Just be polite about it.