Question about Wireless Security

I have no idea, as I'm not interested in such things but rather in helping folks avoid it. I can say that I've worked with some people who are scary bright and if focused on such a goal with the right resources and equipment I'd imagine they could get in rather quickly. I'm sure there are people in this very group who could pull it off - I'm just not one of them.

Contrast your scenario with that of two of my neighbors. I placed a wireless DLink PCI card in a Dim5150 last week and booted it. What did I see immediately upon reaching the Windows desktop? I didn't see my network less than 10 feet away, but I did see two networks broadcasting with the factory default "Linksys" and "Netgear" SSIDs just sitting there, fully open, with no encryption.

So I alternated connecting to the internet through both, brought down Windows updates and all that before reverting to my own signal. The speed was actually pretty good though the signals were weak.

I plan to tell the neighbors about it, but I'm not sure which homes the signals are coming from in the subdivision. They apparently just PnP'd the devices and left them wide open.

Stew