i was wondering why
 

are soo many isp promoting wirless when the seems to be an awfull lot of sites out there promoting hacks for the various wireless modes, wep,wpa,wpa-psk, etc ??

Re: i was wondering why
 

AFAIK WEP is crackable with a short key, but the others aren't unless you use a really simple guessable passphrase.

Re: i was wondering why
 

It's all a bit odd really. The ISPs have no interest in wireless whatsoever, unless they're providing you with a wireless access point as part of the contract.

Largely what they're selling is a 'lifestyle', a stype of life that their Internet connection will enable you to have (including the ability to surf the Internet downloading dubious content whilst sat in your garden drinking beer and lobbing stale crusts at birds.....which is what I understand some people do.....but not me.....honest :erm:) ).

Re: i was wondering why
 

LMAO

Its great when you neighbour has an unsecured network and you access the router setting and add a password... Which is I underdstand it what some people do.. but not me.. or my brother.. honest

Re: i was wondering why
 

Not content with trying to hack into my wireless network and leaving strange chalk marks on the wall, I often catch the man across the road foraging through the leaves at the end of my garden searching for stale crusts.

Re: i was wondering why
 

Why do you have stale crusts in your bush? Actually Ill pass on that thanks

Re: i was wondering why
 

It's a shrubbery I'll have you know.

Re: i was wondering why
 

There may well be known methods of hacking/decrypting the various security features of many wirelsss routers but :

(a) You would have to purposely want to/have a need to hack it
(b) you'd need a certain level of skill and knowledge. Many solutions are linux/console based
(c) you;d need time on your hands

Its not hard to find unsecure networks and its not hard to secure them . A lot of people just dont realsie the issue and/or don't know what to do.

Most talk of hacking/stealing personal info/hacking into your computer blah blah blah is driven by media mis-information and hype as we know.

ISPs just chuck in a wireless router because its an added value thing. also a lot of people prefer to use lappys than tethered desktops. You have to keep pace with your competitors.

Re: i was wondering why
 

Because wireless routers are dead cheap (costs them next to nothing) and they can then advertise that mulitple users can be online, sit on the sofa with your laptop.etc etc to make it appeal to familys.etc or people who like to do that kind of thing...

I've been known to sit/lay on the sofa half watching tv and half posting here several times :p:

That and for some people its FAR easier to nip out and grab a USB wi-fi adaptor for £20 or so than recable half their house becuase their BB modem isn't near their pc.

Re: i was wondering why
 

i put som serious effort into cracking the 7+ wireless connections around me as well as 2 "test" wifi setups i had - it takes time and is not easy and i put some serious effort into reading up on it :)

Re: i was wondering why
 

Just to clarify though.....

I'm sure that you had permission from the owners of all of those wireless connections to carry out that activity didn't you?

Re: i was wondering why
 

of course not - wouldnt be much of a hack would it.

of course i didnt get anywhere and was pretty bored/tired by the end of my experiments so i assumed i was useless and gave in. This is using easy to find tools on the web and following any guides/read me's
i cant say it was fun or a time well spent.