[thelist] Wireless Mac questions

Dennis Lapcewich dlapcewich at fs.fed.us
Mon Sep 19 11:57:56 CDT 2005


The sharing of WiFi bandwidth is governed by the contract you have with
your ISP.  While you personally may have no problem allowing your neighbor
to share your Internet access via your WiFi setup (and vice versa), the
contract you have with your ISP is the key.  It is important you check the
fine print your agreed to with your ISP in this regard.  Otherwise, you
risk getting your Internet account terminated at the least.  At worst, you
could be sued by your ISP for theft of services (or similar).  In addition,
your contract with your ISP may be governed by the local/state jurisdiction
you reside.  But since this area is really, really new, it is a gray area.
However, do you want to risk getting your Internet access terminated and
your name blacklisted by ISPs?  The choice is yours.




No warranty on the validity of any of my thoughts (ever, on any subject
for that matter ;-), but I understand sharing WiFi bandwidth is fine and
legal to use a neighbor's bandwidth as long as it is with consent and
does not involve an exchange of money for the services.  Examples of
this include free WiFi hot-spots such as airports and public librarys.

To extend the signal range, you could purchase a WiFi "bridge" if it can
be positioned between the base station and the MAC to benefit the signal
level.

Definitely ask the neighbor for permission.  Then let us know how things
worked out.





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