Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 19, 2009, 03:46:00 PM
No problem.Arriving at our destination, I discovered the children's home had secured their WiFi. No problem, I thought. We were on 'official' business, they knew us from several earlier visits, my wife is on their board of directors. First, no one in their office knew what I was talking about when I asked if they could give the password, they had know idea that their network had even been "secured."
I finally found out that one of the 'children' (they range up to 18 years old) had discovered his ability to access their old server and 'investigate' various computers. 
The solution was WEP, apparently enough for very, very rural SC. Bottom line, they wouldn't let me have a ps.Only real use was to update our church web site, but I didn't press the issue. Really! However, I took the laptop the next time we drove the 20+ miles back to 'civilization!v,' just in case we came across a free access point.
As luck would have it, we drove by one of the motels in the chain we'd just used. Aha! Sure enough, same access method, uploaded the edited page in less than two minutes, including agreeing to those terms of service. Problem solved! Right now I'm sitting in the recently vacated room of our best friend, making sure no 'squawters' try to move in. I need to stay longer in hospitals, I guess, I didn't realize most of them now provide WiFi to their 'guests!' So, next time you're 'out n about' and you need a quick web fix, just check into a nearby facility!!
BTW, I'm betting the ToS I agreed to said something about not using the motel's access point unless you were a registers customer...so if I don't show up for a couple of months, it's probably because they tracked me down! :eel:
Post by: jwboyd on March 19, 2009, 04:15:35 PM
Post by: kimmer on March 19, 2009, 05:07:18 PM
On our vacation we found net access all over the place, but without one of those plans, I wouldn't do much with it. Not that I'm paranoid.
Post by: kbeartx on March 19, 2009, 05:49:25 PM
QUOTE(kimmer @ Mar 19 2009, 05:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
...On our vacation we found net access all over the place, but without one of those plans, I wouldn't do much with it. Not that I'm paranoid.
one of what plans?
KB
Post by: kimmer on March 19, 2009, 06:19:33 PM
QUOTE(kbeartx @ Mar 19 2009, 02:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE(kimmer @ Mar 19 2009, 05:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
...On our vacation we found net access all over the place, but without one of those plans, I wouldn't do much with it. Not that I'm paranoid.
one of what plans?
Ummm ... you would ask me. It's the one that Mayo (and others) suggests. You pay for it. I'd have to go through all my notes to find the info. Hold on and I'll see if I can find the info here.
Okay, it's a personalVPN.
I was comfortable using our online email while we traveled; but we didn't have a personalVPN, so we didn't do any banking, etc. Next time we travel, I'll get a personalVPN so we can take care of more things.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 20, 2009, 10:03:45 AM
Not even to check balances. But I'm not sure that email reading is completely safe from prying eyes, even though there should never, ever be any personal or financial info sent or recieved that way. All I needed was FTP access and that's not yet available on the iPhone, nor is BBEdit. Casual surfing on these networks, especially on the a Mac, should pose no real danger, for now.