[NTLUG:Discuss] OT: Wireless and weak signaly

[Fred James]

Tom Owens wrote:

>On Monday 30 July 2007 10:59:11 am Carl Haddick wrote:
>  
>
>>If the ISP's service is not worth paying for, why is it worth stealing?
>>
>>Flame me if you must, this just strikes me wrong.
>>
>>Carl
>>    
>>
>
>A man with INTEGRITY -- woefully seldom seen.
>
>I applaud you!
>
>Tom
>  
>
Tom and Carl
Good question.  What is being sold?  A connection with a set rate of 
transfer, or a connection regardless of rate?  Wireless connectivity 
does add another dimension to the mess, as in the number of unprotected 
points of entry (wide open wireless routers) in operation.  But that 
doesn't change the question.

My contract with my ISP (and of course, they wrote it, not me), says 
that I am paying for a set level of service, and that I may share that 
service with as many computers as I may care to, behind the router 
(i.e., on my LAN).  I don't use wireless, but if I did that would open 
up my LAN to a wider potential area of operation, with the possibility 
of other folks hopping on my connection with or without my permission.

Perhaps we can agree that those people without my permission would be 
"stealing", but would those who had my permission also be stealing?  And 
in either case, who might they be stealing from, me or the ISP?

I don't profess to know the answer to how that might come down in a 
court of law - I suppose actually in favor of the most expensive law 
team - but that may actually be irrelevant to the discussion.  If you 
think of it as theft, then at least for you it is theft - end of discussion.
Regards
Fred James