In reply to a post by coffindodger:

Yes, that's the way it is/was.
I found it by accident. I'm an I.T. tech and work from home on occasion. I was repairing a laptop with a wireless built in and it showed up. I then tried it with my GF's laptop and it worked as well. I then put a wireless card in my base PC and it worked also.
It came in handy when there was an interruption, which happens to us all, on my normal service provider.

Sounds like it was on the laptop you were repairing, so it was on your network as I said.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by coffindodger:

Yes, that's the way it is/was.
I found it by accident. I'm an I.T. tech and work from home on occasion. I was repairing a laptop with a wireless built in and it showed up. I then tried it with my GF's laptop and it worked as well. I then put a wireless card in my base PC and it worked also.
It came in handy when there was an interruption, which happens to us all, on my normal service provider.

Sounds like it was on the laptop you were repairing, so it was on your network as I said.

No, it wasn't or isn't on the laptop I was working on. I said. "I discovered that there was an open WiFi connection WHILE working on the laptop."
The connection remained long after the laptop went back to the owner. I found that I could access the WiFi through my GF's laptop and my home PC.
This WiFi isn't on my network, as I don't have a network in my home or even a LAN/WAN configured anywhere. Other than my existing BB service provider. Which isn't the WiFi connection in question's provider, TalkTalk.
This is a WiFi signal coming from somewhere outwith my residence, that I am able to, or USED to be able to receive and use.

Given the SID of the router it could have been a honey pot to draw unsuspecting users in in order to spread malware. Or it could be as others have said and just happened to be shutdown - maybe they decided others were using too much of their bandwidth and weren't willing to give it away free anymore.

I would be very loathe to connect to any unprotected wireless network as you never know what nasties are on it - virus checkers and firewalls don't stop everything.

And it's against the law to connect to a network you don't have permission for.

In reply to a post by coffindodger:

It came in handy when there was an interruption, which happens to us all, on my normal service provider.

That's all right, then.

I don't think it was a 'honeypot' trap. It never tried to upload any malicious items to my computers. Even if it did, good luck. No chance as my home PC's are, as I call it, bullet proof. My main area of expertise is anti-virus/hacking. I can hack (but don't) and know when I am being tried to, and know how to and have preventive measures implemented.


As far as this 'Freeinternetforyou' WiFi terminal, I'll post more when I find out more.

Thanks to all for the replies.

I'm surprised that you claim to be IT literate yet seemingly unaware of the risks presented by connecting to an unknown network.

I wonder if your employers know what risks you are running on their behalf.

You are aware this unknown network can easily see all your network usage and even launch man-in-the-middle attacks?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

I'm surprised that you claim to be IT literate yet seemingly unaware of the risks presented by connecting to an unknown network.

I wonder if your employers know what risks you are running on their behalf.

You are aware this unknown network can easily see all your network usage and even launch man-in-the-middle attacks?

Like I stated prior, in a light-hearted manner, I would use it on the chance occasion that my regular ISP was to drop. Which in case, I have a wireless BB dongle for that. So, I have had no reason TO use it. Even if I did, I would use an encryption method for the transmission of sensitive data. Which I do anyway, regardless. As I am aware of what is out there and what can happen. But not to me. Hasn't and won't.
As far as my start of this thread, I was inquiring to follow up what I had started. In this case, stopped. Trying to find the location of the WiFi hotspot. Just another anomaly (<maybe not quite the right word for it) that some tech heads investigate as a timekiller or just something to do.
As far as my employers, they provide my internet access for me at home. All I have to do is log on to their service provider, enter user name and password and I'm online, and still remain free of being part of a LAN/WAN unless I choose to do so through them. They also provide the backup service mentioned above.

Edited by deleted (Fri 07-Jan-11 18:05:27)