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[Mr Skrunts]

Me - wireless newbie =Clueless

friend - not much better.

Been looking into possible hacking issues on thier laptop.

When not connected how come the lappy has the ability to view local conections, if the lappy can see them, they they see it?

2 of the connections they they are BT FON unsecure, after doing the serch I found this.  http://www.bt.com/static/wa/wifi/pages/findhotspots.html?s_cid=con_FURL_btfon/hotspots  which gets you down to people's home level.  Now does this mean they are availble and willing to share thier connection, does BT give them a discount if anyone goes through thier PAYG website at £3 per hour.

Can wireless lappys X2 use a wireless system to send files without a hub/router/modem.

Downloaded the inSIDDer peog from the other thread last week, locally there are the 2 BT FON, 2 BT OPEN ZONE  2 BTHOME, 1 TALK TALK and 1 SKY WiFi connection.

First off I thought the BT FON might have been a McD hotspot but thought we were far too far away to recieve, The FON and OPENZONE are all unsecure, the BTHOME and 2 others are secure as expected.


Assuming the lappy is 100% secure can it go online with out showing it's identity in any way, shape or for, or is it only the modem routers that show thir MAC addy's etc


Are there any other ptograms out there worth installing to serch/view for other connections, also software to help and protect plus monitor access on lappy.



I have no intention of usung anyones access but am just intrigued to what level you can see other access points.


Why are they called hotspots, is it coz there is a connextion there, or the fact it may be an open connection available to use.

If the lappy were to be used to log onto a hotspot, then what info/ID do the see on the lappy.



Sorry for all the dumb questions

TIA.   

[Mr Skrunts]

Lol, As I thought, all dumb questions as there are no replies.

[Kevin Wood]

Lol, As I thought, all dumb questions as there are no replies.

Not exactly. Just difficult to know where to start.

A Laptop can scan all WLan frequencies and pick up the SSID (Name, in human terms) of the network, assuming the network elects to broadcast that information.

The Laptop won't transmit to the network unless you attempt to connect to it. There is then a few levels of negotiation including, potentially, setting up encryption, before the laptop will actually use the connection.

So, the answer is that those networks will not even know your PC is scanning them until you actually attempt to make a connection - unless Windows is configured to automatically connect to anything it finds (Dangerous, IMHO).

Kevin

[Mr Skrunts]

Cheers Kevein.   

assuming the network elects to broadcast that information.

  So can a user set both a laptop/PC or a modem routher in "stealrth mode" so that they can be active but bot seen if someone is scanning for them.

[Kevin Wood]

Cheers Kevein.   

assuming the network elects to broadcast that information.

  So can a user set both a laptop/PC or a modem routher in "stealrth mode" so that they can be active but bot seen if someone is scanning for them.

Well, you can setup the network not to broadcast the SSID so a cursory scan of networks doesn't show anything and you would normally need to know the name to connect to the network.

PC and router are both transmitting radio signals, though, and there will always be tools to crack whatever encryption they employ, so, if security is paramount, you can't beat a bit of cat 5 cable.

Kevin

[Mr Skrunts]

Cheers Kevein.   

assuming the network elects to broadcast that information.

  So can a user set both a laptop/PC or a modem routher in "stealrth mode" so that they can be active but bot seen if someone is scanning for them.

Well, you can setup the network not to broadcast the SSID so a cursory scan of networks doesn't show anything and you would normally need to know the name to connect to the network.

PC and router are both transmitting radio signals, though, and there will always be tools to crack whatever encryption they employ, so, if security is paramount, you can't beat a bit of cat 5 cable.

Kevin

Totally agree, I hate the wireless stuff, hence I know nothing about it.

[Chris_H]

I've agree with what Kevin's saying but for your laptop to be visible to nasty people you would need to set it up to share folders, printers etc. which most folks don't need to do.  You would have to do that though, to share files etc. as you mentioned in the OP.

[KW]

So can a user set both a laptop/PC or a modem routher in "stealrth mode" so that they can be active but bot seen if someone is scanning for them.

As kevin said, you can tell the router not to broadcast the SSID but the wireless connection will still be seen by anybody scanning the local area.

[TheBoy]

BT FON is a feature of home hubs, originally, afaik, intented to be for use with the bundled voip phone, but I think replanned to give wide wifi coverage to compliment openzone

[cem_devecioglu]

you can use Mac numbers filter for wireless..

have a play with the router\hub setup

try      ipconfig -all        at the commandline and note the physical adress and write into router


http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessproducts/qt/macaddress.htm


sorry for the late answer  ,  it was a disastrous busy day playing with my nerves

[iggy21uk]

Fon network is you can choose to share part of your broadband internet bandwidth users [non fon members]can pay to log-in you get a bit of dosh.
Fon members can log-in for free. Used it when I went to Spain as only hotspot. BT joined Fon or you can buy a Fon wireless router with two ports,people who log-in cannot acces your pc.
More info  http://www.fon.com/en/

[KW]

you can't beat a bit of cat 5 cable.

Fibre gigabit 

[Kevin Wood]

you can't beat a bit of cat 5 cable.

Fibre gigabit 

OK. I lied.

Kevin

[omegadti]

I bought a FON router on special offer.   You plug it into your router and it provides a secure connection and a BTFON connection - if someone connects through your Fon connection you "earn" from it.   The plus side is I can connect to any Fon connection for free and I get so many hours free on Openzone - I was fed up trying to log on the internet at hotspots only to find that you had to buy access time - this was another alternative to carrying a mobile broadband dongle all the time.