Ask HN: open wifi? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: open wifi?

I am considering opening up my wifi as a minor public service to my neighbors. They say you should assume that things sent over the Internet are snooped, so theoretically making that possible for those with close proximity to me should not make my life much more dangerous, right? I would have to put rate limits, which I think my router supports. But just imagine what it would be like in the city if everyone opened their wifi! I'd like to be part of that dream, but the only question is whether I am putting myself at significantly higher risk of harm by doing so.

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Many people do this accidentally, and it's how many connect while away from home. If you want to do it, and don't mind the ramifications, it's not a terribly big deal. Note however that if they are connected to your network, you can have a higher risk of infection, so lock down your Windows boxes. And note that it won't just be your neighbors connecting (it could be their friends, etc.).

Do not do it. It means that anyone can logon to wifi and engage in lots of illegal activity and it will be traced back to you - eg kiddie porn.

Just imagine that happened - regardless of whether you could prove your innoncence, just imagine the amount of hassle you would have to go through.

Or you could post a sign for neighbours saying "free wifi, post your MAC address, name and phone number and I'll add your to our free wifi list". Then simply ring them, check that they're the neighbour you think they are, tell them to connect, check their MAC and then enable that.

Remember to tell them that any illegal activity will be traced to their MAC/IP address.

For added complexity you could have per user passwords into the mix but to be honest if they're at the level they're going to spoof MAC addresses and things then they'll crack your WPA and do what they want anyway.

You might be interested in the FON open wifi community.

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