Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Quite often if I am downloading a lot of my stuff and maxing out my bandwidth on my PC, then I'll jump on my laptop and connect to my neighbours unprotected wireless router for a bit of web browsing.


Am I simply despicable and should hang my head in shame(with possible self-flogging) or am I just being a little bit sneaky and should actually pat myself on the back for showing great initiative?


I've been wrestling with this moral dilemma for quite some time. After all, the neighbour is a nice lady and probably deserves better, although her son clearly knows nothing about router security.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

go for it action!! if theyre dumb enough not to password protect their router they dont deserve the cherished bandwith,dip your bread and more power to your elbow sir :D

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Go for it. If the neighbour is so "nice" why are you helping yourself to her bandwidth? Surely helping her secure her network would be a better idea? Especially since you may find she doesn't mind you browsing the internet on her bandwidth as long as you help her keep her network secure.
Also controlling what you download and when would be a better option :erm:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You're probably right, but don't blame me, blame Thatcher. She destroyed community spirit. :mad:


Actually, she's not bad looking for a woman in her late 40's(the neighbour I mean, not Thatcher, who is 145), so I'll have a think about your idea.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

It's a bit like saying 'I'll help myself to my neighbour's stereo as they're stupid enough to not lock their back door' isn't it? Then again, she's unlikely to miss the 'stolen' bandwidth.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Surely the kid should know though, how old is he?

Also bear in mind unauthorised access to wifi is illegal... Some people in Redditch were prosecuted the other week for it - Paul's link.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Would YOU like someone hijacking your TV connection and getting all your cable channels without your knowledge or paying you for it? You're gonna be ****ed off right?
Whoever owns the wifi network pays for it and unless you have an agreement with them, its defo wrong.

You're not borrowing bandwidth, you're stealing it cos once its gone its gone, tho there IS always more!

At the shop I work for we've been told that legally if someone admits they are buying a wireless adapter or laptop to knowingly access a wifi connection without permission, we should deny them a sale.
As we could be implicated "I told the guy in the PC shop what I was gonna do and he didnt tell me it was against the law" etc.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Go for it, I was using one here that was not pretected and when I went across to have a word and put them right I was told to "**SS OFF your a hacker".
We have not spoke since and yes its still open, you can only help some of the folk some of the time.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

so if your neighbour broadcasts radio signals into your property ,why shouldn't you use them'he/she didn't seek your permision to fill your airspace with there radio waves..... pluss if its not encrypted shurly there not that bothered:)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Did ANYONE seek the publics permission to fill the airspace with radio waves?
No one owns the airspace above my head do they?
So why can't I hear the music I wanna hear?

Its them voices again.....

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

lol.
And has that ever happened to you? Seriously?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Once sorta almost.

A girl asked me for a USB extension cable, at least 5 meters, preferably with a repeater on.
I asked just out of nosey-ness what she needed it for and she told me it was to dangle the USB wifi adapter out of her bedroom window to pickup next doors signal, I said she should watch what she's doing cos I was sure it was against the law but I sold her it anyways, then my employer asked some legal advice from a local law firm that we deal with, maintaining their network.

Sine then...nowt!
ha.

in retail ya gotta watch ya words cos ya never know who's a mystery shopper or from trading standards etc.
There was a pair of 14 year olds that were commissioned by our local Boys in Blue to go round asking if shops would sell them knives.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Knives and Wi-Fi hardware.
Bit different!

I can imagine someone getting a rollocking for selling a knife to someone if they went on to use it in a crime, but not a laptop or a wireless network adaptor!
lmao.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yeah, but one of those HP blade servers... :Yikes:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

indeed but thats what the 'official' legal advice to us was.

Most people arent daft enough to admit what they're doing

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

OK. Let's get to the nub of this. Putting aside morals or what you believe to be right or wrong.

Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router. Perhaps the word "hijack" gives us a clue here?

However, the official word is:-

Yes. Not only is it wrong, it is illegal. Following several arrests, the police say if you tap into someone elses equipment without thier knowledge you are commiting an offence by dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

just out of interesst how exactly do you police it

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

i think its ok i got a router and i not puted a password on

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Which means you're wide open to hacking :erm:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

how do u put a password on

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Which means that you are responsible when your connection has been determined to have downloaded something illegal like child porn, stolen credit card numbers, etc...

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Exactly. It's all very noble leaving your router open so others can use it, but it means they are on YOUR network - hope your computer(s) are well protected.

Someone managed to hack into my router this morning, even though it was WEP protected, and disable the admin password AND all security! Luckily I was online when they did it and able to take immediate action.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I'm no expert (a friend usually does stuff like this for me) but i'm sure your wireless router should have instructions to follow, and search this site for helpful advice. Otherwise, i'm pretty sure anyone can hack any personal info (including credit cards numbers and bank details) and use them.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I'm gonna assume by the smiley at the end of your post that this was in jest.

---------- Post added at 14:12 ---------- Previous post was at 14:10 ----------

Yep, just read the manual - especially the section on using encryption. If you've not got the manual any more, you'll be able to download it from t'internet.

FWIW, use WPA rather than WEP, if your Wireless NIC supports it.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Hear, hear. I didn't think it was that important - till this morning. Probably a good idea to hide - 'not broadcast' - your SSID too.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You were lucky there hun, good job you were online :tu:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

when i put a password on will i still be able 2 use my ps3 and psp wirles

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yeah, there are pros and cons about this... hiding it only really hides it on the Access Point beaconing, and it's still broadcast with other traffic. However, it does stop the casual neighbourly hacking that takes place. On the other hand, if you can't see your neighbours SSID, you're not gonna be aware that he's even got a WLAN configured (unless you know what tools to use) and could be wondering why you're having problems with your connection being unstable if you're sharing the same channel.

Provided you enter the same passphrase on your other devices as you configure on the router, then it'll work. Just check that all devices are compatible with the same type of encryption.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yep.

The PS3 & PSP both support WEP & WPA encryption.


Use WPA - it's much stronger than WEP.

Also change the router's admin password if you haven't already (don't want anyone logging onto the router & messing with things).

And if your router supports it, turn on MAC filtering (may be something like "Wireless station access control") & add the MAC addresses of the PC & PS3 & PSP to its whitelist.

As said, have a look for the manual.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Its illegal to use someone ones else's network without their permission.

That said providing you don't sit outside their house with your laptop they probably won't notice :p:


I may have borrowed some ones wi-fi before while i was waiting to get my broadband :angel:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Read this
Sorry, I could not make a link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4721723.stm

---------- Post added at 17:35 ---------- Previous post was at 17:28 ----------

Read this
Sorry, I could not make a link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4721723.stm

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You don't live next door to me I hope?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You're stealing bandwidth that someone else is paying for, which is wrong and is still stealing.
Just because someone doesn't have enough security on their connection, doesn't mean you can help your self to their bandwidth.
If someone forgets to lock their front door it doesn't mean you can go in their house and take what you like.
You should be ashamed of yourself and inform your neighbour of their security problem.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

That would involve trespass. In this case, the wireless signal is being broadcast outside the boundaries of the property.

If my neighbours apple tree has branches that overhang my garden, are the apples that fall to my side "forbidden fruit"?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

It has already been pointed out in this thread that to use someone else's wireless connection without permission IS a criminal offence.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

But only if you get caught ;)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yes, but where is the logic behind this law?

If my neighbour's incessant talking provides carbon dioxide for my tomatoes, am I guilty of theft?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

No, I disagree. Hiding your SSID has few benefits to outweigh the disadvantages of not being able to "see" the network when you need to.

A good network with WPA and MAC filtering, and a changed SSID and username/password on the router, should be fine without needing to hide SSID.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Then admitting to it in a public forum is perhaps NOT a good idea. ;)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

LOL that did make me chuckle.

But what really REALLY gets me about most peoples unsecured networks is people on ADSL will LOGIN to the router to provide their ISP info which means they just used the DEAFULT password to get in there they never bother to venture as far to look at the security settings?

Even people who don't need to provide a login and their router just works surely should think it a bit strange that their computer just connects wirelessly without asking for any kind of authentication.


How anyone can leave a router unsecured without noticing is beyond me its pretty obvious perticually as windows xp sp2 even gives you a warning that the network you connecting to is unsecured when you hit connect are people really that stupid :dunce: ?

---------- Post added at 00:43 ---------- Previous post was at 00:40 ----------

I doubt that they are going to bother tracking my IP down to my location then get a court order from my ISP to get my address details just so they can caution me for using an unencypted wi-fi connection

Its a signal on a public frequency receivable with equipment i'm legally entitled to have its transmitted in the plain so as far as i'm concerned its fair game.

Besides all they could go on is that i said i did it they've got no proof beyond that.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Won't that IP address be allocated from the wieless router that you connected to in the first instance? :dozey:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

No i'm using my own connection :)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Criminal damage to other peoples cars and nothing more then petty theft of other peoples bandwidth...

and now your worried about "moral dilemmas"... sounds like you have no morals to have a dilemma over... so just carry on as normal (as im sure you will) :rolleyes:

well said.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Fair enough. In light of your morality attack I've decided that I will not use my neighbours router so often.

I will only use it when wanting to look at or download stuff that I could get in trouble with the law for.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

you really are a funny man you are :)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I've told you before, please stop stalking me.


No wonder the Jehovah's banished you.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I believe they are still the property of your neighbour and if you touch them for any reason other than to return them, you are committing an offence, that said I love the analogy

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I believe(although I may be wrong) that hijacking your neighbours bandwidth is perfectly legal in America and other countries.

Not that it helps my argument, but just thought i'd throw it in anyway.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You are a real wind up merchant..:rolleyes:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Maybe someone should report this guy for stealing someone elses broadband that they are paying for!

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Is it not true about America?

I did state that I may be wrong.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Let me put it this way. Whether it's lawful or not I'd rather not try it in view of that countries attitude to gun ownership. ;)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

That's a very good point. I wasn't actually using it to justify myself, but was genuinely curious if anyone knew.


I think that some people on this thread(not meaning you incognitas) need to lighten up and stop taking themselves and everything so seriously.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

The point is whether its legal or not in the States.

Its not legal to steal someone elses bandwidth in this country.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Is it not also illegal to record something off the telly and keep it for longer than a certain amount of time?

You're not exactly going to get SO19 round at your door to charge you with over the limit copies of Coronation Street, are you?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

No. the proposal to limit home recordings to 28 days never made it into law. Private home recording remains a grey area because of this.

In any case, copyright infringement is a civil matter, not criminal. Copyright theft (actually distributing what you have copied) is a criminal matter, and something people can and do get done for.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I'm going to phone my local police station and say that someone is stealing my bandwidth and will they come round and arrest the person responsible.

Then I'll wait for a couple of weeks with the police not showing up before accepting that nothing is going to be done about it.

No one is being raped or murdered and nothing is being physically stolen from anyone.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

That might say something about the efficiency or effectiveness of your local cop shop but it doesn't prove anything with regards to the law. Others have already posted a specific example of someone being convicted of theft for stealing bandwidth. That's not the first case I've read about either.

It is against the law whether you like it or not.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

They would possibly look into it as some people have recently been done for the same thing.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yes, but these examples are slightly misleading. One was suspiciously parked outside a house using a laptop and was deliberately out looking for routers to hijack, probably to download illegal material as a lot of these 'war drivers' do. Who knows what the others were up to.

Me sitting in my house and jumping onto my neighbours router to have a look at the footie scores is not exactly in the same league, is it?


Isn't it technically illegal for someone to hang a mattress out of a window? Don't hear of many arrests for that crime. :D

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

What would happen if your neighbour, or whoever you're 'stealing' bandwith off, doesn't want to press charges? Here Im assuming that the 'hijacker' has been found to be nicking bandwith, but its not his neighbour (the victim) that shopped him.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

The police don't need 'permission' to arrest anyone and I believe the law was changed so the CPS don't need the co operation of the victim to prosecute either

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Were the people found guilty of hijacking bandwidth caught in the process? Just wondering how you'd prove it after you've downloaded a file and closed the internet connection

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

The router should keep a log of MAC addresses that have connected to it. If the MAC address of the wifi card in the suspect's laptop matches something in the router log, I'd imagine it's goodnight, Vienna.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Wouldn't stand up in court, I'm afraid, Chris... as MAC addresses can be changed, so there's no proof that it wasn't somebody else.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Well thats my line of defence sorted... Cheers mate :) greeny on its way for you.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You logging in to your neighbours connection to 'check the footie scores' is no different to someone parked in the street looking for a connection to make use of for free.

Stick to your own net connection.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Are you the bandwidth police?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

No but if you use someone's connection without there knowledge or permission then you are a thief

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

cept they're probably less likely to notice.

that and even if they did i doubt many people walk around with the equipment to locate the source of the signal.

Its all very well the people saying stuff like help by telling your neighbour how to secure their network.etc etc but thats only good if you know who actually owns the network.

I can see 6+ networks from my living room most are encypted some aren't!

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Would you like it if they were using your internet?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Yes I would actually.


Why do you ask?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Well, don't you think you should at least find out whose wifi it is and ask them if you can use it before helping yourself?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Don't some people purposely leave their connections open for strangers to use?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

At the risk of feeding the troll:

A person who-

(a) dishonestly obtains an electronic communications service, and

(b) does so with intent to avoid payment of a charge applicable to the provision of that service,

is guilty of an offence.

The bill drafters appear to have missed off the footie score exemption; how remiss of them :rolleyes:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Jeez-oh, what's this site all about? :confused:

I make a point, I'm a troll. I argue my point, I'm a troll. I ask a question, I'm a troll. I make a joke, I'm a troll. I retaliate to someone's insult, I'm a troll.

Is there some kind of troll cut-off limit when I am no longer a troll? I even had some post count snob the other day telling me that because I had under 300 posts then my opinion didn't count. :confused:

What's the deal here?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I doubt you would be saying that if everytime you wanted to use the Internet someone was hogging your Internet and maxing out the connection.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

See BBC story from last week - here

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I don't do it continually. In fact I haven't used it for weeks.

I didn't realise we had so many angels on here who have never done anything slightly dishonest in their lives.

I take it you have never downloaded a bit of software that you really should have paid for, or some music, or a film? Must be nice to be so pure.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Well this thread is called Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?

It doesn't matter whether we've done something dishonest or not... the answer to the thread title is YES.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

was tempted to get a fon router actually :p:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

tbh I've cracked more wep keys than you could imagine and messed up a fair few routers along the way.

Personally I've always felt very guilty about it and nowadays don't do it (unless its a quick splash check my email and dash). You should really respect the fact that some people are just not technical and would be really stressed out when all of a sudden their internet connection starts to play up.

I've always thought about what the poor souls where going through in a few instances where I noted heavily hijacked APs the owner would be rebooting their router every 5 or 10 minutes in such instances I've banned mac addresses of the abusers.

SO moral of the story is

" NO DONT STEAL YOUR NEIGHBOURS BROADBAND " and in all fairness I think it is theft if you're intentionally using someone elses broadband.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

OOOOOoooooooohhhh COME ON !

This is the worst one I have come across :

It tells your the admin username and password in the authentication box for the router.... and this happens to be a library where I am currently at.

I'll let them know. :rolleyes:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Sorry to harp on about this, but I still don't understand the reasoning. How can you steal something that is being given away?

If my neighbour waters his lawn with a sprinkler, and some of that water falls onto my property, am I stealing?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I think there are a lot of people around that don't really understand about routers and that someone could be using their bandwidth.

I spent 3yrs using a router that was unsecured as I had no idea that it could be secured or that someone could easily use my bandwidth. Admittedly it was an old router and there was nothing in the settings of the router to easily secure it with a password.

When I bought a new router a few months ago the first thing I did was secure it as the new router had the option to secure it.

I have to confess that there have been a few times in the past when my internet has suddenly gone down and I've been in the middle of reading emails or ordering something and I have gone onto my neighbours internet for a few minutes, but I would never think of staying on it for any length of time as I don't think it's right.

Lyn

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

If your neighbour had a cordless phone, and you set up a handset on the same frequency, and made calls through his base-station, would that be stealing?

You appear to be confusing physical entities with non-physical; if your neighbour was having a barbie, you are perfectly entitled to enjoy the aroma of the incinerating flesh, but it would be a bit OTT to reach over and take a steak/sausage/tofu burger, which is what anyone who uses their neighbour's broadband is doing, as it is being routed through their neighbour's modem on their neighbour's property, using the bandwidth the neighbour paid for.

Theft is theft - be it burgers, jewellery, bandwidth, or intellectual property. If you are going to do it, just do it - don't try to justify it with specious reasoning.

Aren't metaphors wonderful (and often so misleading ;)).

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Finally a post I can rep.:tu:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Your post has the hallmarks of a Sunday sermon - uplifting and rousing, until you subject the words to some scrutiny.

Theft of burgers and jewellery deprives the rightful owner of their property. Theft of intellectual property deprives the rightful owner of earning money from the product of their intellect. In these examples the person is (or might be) out-of-pocket. But theft of bandwidth? What, precisely, is being stolen? "He took 2.47 gigabits, your honour." At what cost? And again, how is it theft if I am not entering my neighbours property to gain access to the signal? Or are you suggesting that uploading a few bits of data to his router is trespass?

If, on the train, I look over someone's shoulder and read their paper, is this theft?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You neighbour cannot max out because you are using some of his bandwidth...
You are stealing his microwaves :)

Nevertheless, I do use unsecured connection at rail stations to check/send my e-mail on route to work

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

http://www.out-law.com/page-7969

I think the key word is the one I've highlighted in red. If I "hack" my neighbour's WEP, or download illegal material, that is dishonest. Checking my emails on an unsecured network is not.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I left a 1Mb down 100k up connection open to see who connected. It was one person, god knows who, kept tabs on bandwidth etc (ran a few tests while they were usiong it) seems they were doing no downloading, and if they were, they must have been doing it slowly :p:

Probably checking email or something, with Windows autoconnecting.

Shut it off a good few months ago after leaving it up for a week.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Nice editing of the link - you missed out part, which negates your point.
"Two people have been arrested in the UK for using another person's wireless internet access without permission. Neither was charged but both were cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment"

Oxford Dictionary definition of dishonest
• adjective not honest, trustworthy, or sincere

Could you explain what is "honest, trustworthy, or sincere" about using your neighbours broadband connection without their permission?

btw, Oxford definition of honest:-
adjective 1 free of deceit; truthful and sincere. 2 fairly earned

I would put it to you that your usage of your neighbour's connection is, according to the dictionary, dishonest (whether or not you are using it for illegal downloads or by cracking their WEP). They had best not leave their car in their driveway with the keys in - you might borrow it to go to the shops (it can't be illegal, because you haven't stolen their keys or you are not going to use it to rob a bank).

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Well, if you insist on citing the OED, lets have a closer look:

Deceit: The action or practice of deceiving; concealment of the truth in order to mislead; deception, fraud, cheating, false dealing.

How is "checking emails on an unsecured wireless network" deceitful? Is the truth being concealed? Is anyone being misled? Who is being cheated? Will VM charge them anything on top of the monthly fee?

The example of the car is flawed because to gain access I would have to enter my neighbours property (their car). A more apt analogy would be me reading the newspaper at night by the light of my neighbour's external halogen lamp, the energy of which happens to be overspilling onto my property.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Except that your data is entering your neighbour's house, using their router to access the internet.

Anyhoo, as you stated, if you do it you are breaking the law - and I quote -
"Two people have been arrested in the UK for using another person's wireless internet access without permission. Neither was charged but both were cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment"

Nothing in there about cracking WEP or downloading illegal software - just "arrested in the UK for using another person's wireless internet access without permission."

And at the bottom of the article you quoted, was the statement -
"many users are not aware that using other networks is against the law."

Not much ambiguity about that statement, methinks..... ;)

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You can wriggle about and split hairs as much as you like - fact is, there is legal precedent. It is 'wrong'. It is dishonestly obtaining services without intent to pay.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I think these statements illustrate quite well the reason behind my queries, as you are basically saying "the law says it is wrong, therefore it is wrong", and I wanted to explore this in a bit of depth. Many people simply accept the laws made by government without question. This is a good thing from a policeman's (and politician's) point of view, but bad for debate on a discussion forum. :rolleyes:

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Not really ... the OP asked a question with the apparent aim of having his actions justified or condemned. From a legal point of view it's 'wrong'.

I'm not sure how you hope to get beyond the rights and wrongs of the law when the definitions you use for words like 'deceit' are essentially legalistic?

In any case, I happen to think it's a good law. Many broadband packages are capped in one way or another (mine included) so those who take a free ride on them are committing a very real act of theft. Why should someone take something I've paid for without my permission?

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

You wouldn't split a neighbours phone line and use there telephone would you, but because it's wireless people assume it's ok.

Granted the laws aren't to clear and many people are unaware of them. On the other hand some are honest and don't use neighbours connections. For example my brother has picked up a couple of wireless networks in his street, but has never connected to them, even though he doesn't have his own connection. (He just comes and uses mine instead - cheeky sod!)

If you can't afford broadband, it doesn't give you the right to use some one elses.

So in answer to the OP yes it is wrong to hijack your neighbours router.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

Can't argue with that, but I didn't ask if it was legal or not, because I knew the answer to that already. I wanted personal opinions i.e. Do you think it is wrong?


There are many things that are 'technically' illegal that many do not deem as 'wrong'. Like letting your kids pee at the side of the road on a long car journey.

Re: Is it wrong to hijack your neighbours router?
 

I would say that if someone broadcasts an unsecured wireless network, then it is reasonable to assume implied consent - that is, my neighbour is basically saying that he doesn't mind if people use his network. If he did mind, he would do something about it.

You're talking about trespass and criminal damage. I'm not.