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Old 03-24-2008, 12:23 PM   #3 (permalink)
Cellus
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 2,633
OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3

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Re: Unlimited internet with router? Curious.

The easiest and surefire way to test this is to unplug the power from your router and see if you still have wireless Internet. If you do, then you are probably hooked up onto someone else's wireless Internet.

This is not unusual behaviour - Windows Zero Configuration (the default wireless connection handling program with Windows) and many other wireless clients are configured to automatically connect to another wireless signal if they lose their current one, even if your current one is labeled as preferred.

Using someone else's wireless Internet without authorization is technically illegal and can be unsafe to use. This is because an unsecured wireless connection can be listened into and sensitive information which is transmitted to and from your PC can be intercepted and/or manipulated. This is even true of a wireless connection which you would normally trust, as being unsecured it is all transmitted "in the open" and can be easily picked up on.
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