Securing my MacBook on a Open Wifi Network

Ive been using some open wifi networks that I have been finding all over the place, does this mean they can access my macbook?
How do i make sure that i can use these open wifi networks but thay can access my files?
Thanks in advance.
Macbook   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   Black

Please don't kid yourselves guys. It may not seem right to you that it can be illegal to connect to an open network without permission, but there has been cases in the UK and the US where people have been arrested and convicted for this particular thing.
Just because it doesn't seem wrong, doesn't mean it isn't illegal. Whether it is illegal in Australia remains to be seen, that is a court decisison will probably decide and I wouldn't want to be the first person on trial if I was him.
The idea is that you are using someone else's bandwidth without permission, thus committing theft. If you walk into an unlocked house and take a Television, it is still theft, regardless of whether the door was unlocked. If you take a car which has the keys in the ignition and the doors wide open, it is still theft.
In many, many countries the legal system will consider the same to be the case with using other people's bandwidth. If you are cracking someone's password, you are clearly committing a crime, but you may not be in the clear simply because you don't have to.
There is also no reason to get defensive about this, I am simply giving someone a friendly warning. I have myself used open networks in the past, but will certainly be careful about it in the future.

Similar Messages

  • IPod touch won't connect to an open WiFi Network

    I am trying to help my cousin with a issue on his brand new iPod touch 32 GB. He was having issues with 3.0 and is now having the same issues with 4.0. The issue is that when you go to the network settings to connect to a open network it will show the correct network and let you seem like it is connecting, but the WiFi symbol will not show up in the top right of the iPod. If you go back to the WiFi setting the name of the network will change at random to strange names, for example the name of the network is Netgear and it will change to Nutgear and a bunch of other strange names. It has also done this with open WiFi networks at Starbucks, B&N etc. My iPhone works perfectly on the same networks. I have tried everything listed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1398 Any ideas?

    Welcome to Apple Discussions. In the future, you might want to post questions like you have as a new post as we like discussions to stay on topic where possible. However, having said all of that, I'm happy to try and help you fix your problem.
    WiFi problems are not the easiest to fix as there is usually a lot of information missing in user questions - like router make/model, encryption used, whether or not you have chosen to hide your network name, etc. So, instead of a specific answer, I'm going to give you the general instructions that fix most WiFi problems.
    1. Reboot your router (just unplug the power cord)
    2. Reset the touch network settings - tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
    3. When the touch restarts, tap Settings > WiFi > Other and re-enter your network name, security, and network password.
    If you continue to have problems, you can find more tips here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398
    If you need to repost, please start a new discussion and I would go further an suggest you do it in the iPod touch > Using iPod touch group where it will get more visibility.

  • Is there a way to permanently block a specific open wifi network?

    Is there a way to permanently block a specific open wifi network?

    Well, the only workaround is if you get along with your neighbors and they're understanding of what you want to accomplish, not to mention they should password protect their wifi access as well.  This of course depends on the density of your surrounding neighborhood. 
    Start with checking the WiFi strength from your phone in their room.  If you're getting 4 solid bars it's likely your next door neighbor, and of course weaker would be farther (Help narrow your search a little).  Neighbors should password their router anyways since most providers I know put a cap on the amount of data on the plan (I think Comcast is something like 200 Gigs....I know that's a bit and I hardly come close to the mark, but if everyone around me was using my wireless that would all add up quickly).  Hope this helps.

  • MBP not finding open wifi networks, but iPhone is?

    Hello, I'm a newbie to the forums and I am quite frustrated at a recent set of events. I currently live in Seoul Korea and decided to walk around the other day to find open usable wifi hotspots at coffee shops so I could study. Unfortunately it seems that while my iPhone can "find" and successfully connect get online with dozens of open wifi networks, my MBP only seems to find 1 out of 5 on average. As I sit here, I have full signal strength on my iPhone wifi (cellular does not work in S. Korea) and cannot find, nor connect manually to any one of a dozen networks that all work with my iPhone. I was wondering if anyone can assist me with this? Is it a software setting issue? or simply a matter of weak hardware on part of the MBP?
    I also tried searching with XP using bootcamp and parallels with no avail. I'm restarted, erased the preferred networks, erased network keychains, and tried manually entering the router info found on my iPhone. No luck.
    Thank you.

    It may be simply that the iPhone you have is able to see the networks more easily owing to the nature of the antenna. That in the MBP is shielded a bit by the aluminium casing. I have an iPod touch and that does also see more networks than my MBP, although 1 in 5 seems a little sparse.
    On the other hand, there have been situations where the antenna has been found not to be connected internally. If you can check with an Apple agent, that might help here.

  • My macbook pro shows some wifi networks, but not mine. i dont know whats wrong, the wifi networks works on my phone as well as other laptops.

    my macbook pro shows some wifi networks but not mine. it comes up on other computers as well as my phone but will not show up on my wifi network options.

      Direct you to the proper forum for MacBook :
    MacBook Series Forums
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks?view=discussions
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions 
    http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

  • How do I remove a wifi network account from iMac? Or how do I encrpyt an open wifi network account to make it secure?

    Somehow a wifi network connection  has been created either on my airport router or iMac or iPad which is non secured, I.e. Open. I cannot workout how to delete it or make it a secure connection. My concern is that other users may able to access my computers via this open wifi connection.
    What can I do to correct this?

    click on the wifi icon and go all the way down to network preference click and open it once you on network window on the bottom right there is a advance icon click that then you should be able to delete all the network that your mac is remember.
    hope this is help.

  • Why does my macbook pro forget the wifi network when i only set the iPhone to forget it?

    i just dont get. what is the logic behind the mac synchronises network access between devices? i set my iPhone to forget a certain wifi network and now my macbook pro also forgot it, so i had to reset my router for this. pretty annoying. any workaround if i want iCloud to keep my passwords synchronised but not sure up the network access instantly on all devices?

    I had to call Apple and the tech made me enter a bunch of terminal commands to fix this. Unfortunately I can't tell you excactly what it was. I think the best way would be to call Apple.

  • Connecting third PC to my MacBook/TC base station wifi network

    Macbook is working fine, my wife's PC which is about 1 year old is working fine, but an older PC is not able to connect. It recognizes the wifi network (I set it up with WPA/WPA2 password), but when I type in network key the error message "The network password needs to be 40bits or 104bits depending on your network configuration. This can be entered as 5 or 13 ascii characters or 10 or 26 hexadecimel characters."
    Can anyone help me with this? Thanks

    Sounds like your older PC does not support WPA. The 40-104 bit is a WEP protocol. You may want to look at your PC's manufacturer site and see if there is an update to allow WPA.

  • HT4628 WHY CANT I CONNECT MY NEW MACBOOK AIR TO MY WIFI NETWORK

    Chose all different wifi network settings to connect to my wifi.
    I was able to connect my PCs even my other apple computer.
    But the new macbook air keeps saying "unable to connect".
    What do I do?

    The warranty entitles you to complimentary phone support for the first 90 days of ownership.
    If you bought the product in the U.S. directly from Apple (not from a reseller), you also have 14 days from the date of delivery in which to exchange or return it for a refund. In other countries, the return policy may be different. If you bought from a reseller, its return policy applies.

  • MacBook wont join existing WiFi network??

    My MacBook wont join an existing, working WiFi network - I keep getting "timeout" errors even though I am entering the correct WPA - can anybody please help me figure out why??
    thank you

    First contact your ISP.  You need to confirm that the issue is not on their end.
    Change your router channel.  Sometimes this is all you will have to do.
    Power cycling the router.  Read the router's user manual or contact their tech support for instructions.
    System Preferences/Internet & Network/Network
    Unlock the padlock
    Locations:  Automatic
    Highlight Airport
    Click the Assist Me button
    In the popup window click the Diagnostic button.
    System Preferences/Network- Unlock padlock.  Highlight Airport.  Network Name-select your name.  Click on the Advanced button.  Airport/Preferred Networks-delete all that is not your network.
    Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined."  Click the OK button and lock the padlock.  Restart your computer.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1920 Mac OS: How to release and renew a DHCP lease
    No internet connection (wireless)
    Check to see if an extra entry is present in the DNS Tab for your wireless connection (System Preferences/Network/Airport/Advanced/DNS).
    Delete all extra entries that you find.
    Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined."
    Other resources to check into:
    Troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues in OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6
    Non-responsive DNS server or invalid DNS configuration can cause long delay before webpages load
    Netspot
    How to diagnose and resolve Wi-Fi slow-downs
    Pv6 troubleshooting
    Mac OS X 10.6 Help:  Solving problems with connecting to the Internet
    What Affects Wireless Internet?
    Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting
    If using one of Apple's Airport routers, read its user manual or post in its forum area. If using a 3rd party router, read its user manual, contact their tech support department/website or post in its forum area.  Another possible solution - read mammothsuziq response https://discussions.apple.com/message/22082360#22082360

  • MacBook can't see wifi network

    Hi there,
    Please help! I'm setting up a wireless network and my macbook can't see the wireless network.
    The bizarre thing is that my friend's macbook sees it and connects with no problem. My macbook sees other wireless networks, but not mine! What's going on?!
    I have done the following
    - checked that it's turned on. (turned airport off, and back on, and restarted the computer)
    - checked that the router is broadcasting the SSID
    - checked the network name and password are correctly entered.
    - tried entering the name/pwd directly into the "preferred networks" setting of the Network Preferences pane
    what else could I do? I'm at a loss.
    Please help.
    thanks!

    Solved my own problem.
    Although the wifi router was set to broadcast the SSID (and only one of my macs could see it), I changed the settings so it was NOT broadcasting the SSID, then plugged the appropriate settings into the System Preferences pane, and it worked.
    crazy. but it works.

  • Can i receive facetime calls after locked the screen for 5 minutes?(i still connected to an open wifi network)

    I pressed the power button to lock my ipod touch,then I go to watch TV. Can I  receive facetime calls though locking the screen for 5 minutes or longer?
    I hope apple can let the ipod touch's wifi still connected though the screen is locked for a long time

    Yes,
    http://www.tipb.com/2010/06/14/ios-4-feature-ipod-touch-wifi-stays-connected-asl eep-iphone/
    B-rock

  • After software update, will not connect to wide open wifi network at home

    Fixed. Unplugged wireless router, then plugged it back in, waited for it to power up, now it works...

    What model number of AirPort Extreme do you have?
    What operating system are you using on your Mac?
    The setup "wizard" will practically configure the AirPort Extreme for you if you use it.  Were you using this utility?
    Did you reset the AirPort Extreme back to factory default settings before you tried to reconfigure it to become a part of of your network?

  • Connect MacBook to wifi network via Ethernet

    I am looking for a way to connect my MacBook to my wifi network via my Ethernet port. I'm not having any trouble with the wifi but am looking at getting an apple tv and wish to be able to use wolan. As far as I know, wowlan is only available using the apple airport routers. Is there something I can get that plugs into my Ethernet port on my MacBook, connects to the wifi network and lets my MacBook treat it as a wired connection so I can use wolan? I assume something like this would. E cheaper than buying an apple router that supports wowlan...?
    Also, how do I make sure that my current router actually supports wolan?
    Thanks.

    We assume that you are trying to configure the AirPort Express to "join" your wireless network. In order to do so, you must enter in the wireless network name, exact type of security and password that your network is using.
    Mistakes are often made with the security settings because different manufacturers use different nomenclature to mean the same thing. For example
    WPA2 Personal on Apple = WPA2-PSK-AES on other wireless routers
    or
    WPA/WPA2 Personal on Apple = WPA-PSK-TKIP on other wireless routers
    Can you dig a bit deeper into your settings on your router to find out whether you are using AES or TKIP? Once you find that info, you should be able to match up the correct setting on the AirPort Express during the configuration.
    Don't be fooled by the the message that you see when you click Update during the configuration process. The message states something to the effect that the settings have been stored successfully on the AirPort Express. What it doe not tell you is whether the settings that were stored are the correct settings.
    You will know that you have the correct settings when you see a green light on the AirPort Express 40-45 seconds after you click the Update button.

  • IPhone 4S iOS 6.1.3 will not connect to or even find any wifi networks, any ideas?

    I updated my iPhone 4S to iOS 6.1.3 and therein started my wifi problems. At first the signal was just dropping out and I kept getting the "Unable to join..." message, which was annoying but it had periods of time where it worked fine and gave me some hope. Since yesterday my phone has not actually identified any of the available wifi signals (not just my router, but also any other networks when I've been out and about) and so I am unable to join any as I cannot even see them to select them.
    I have tried:
    - changing the channel on my router
    - turning my router off and on again
    - turning my phone off and on again
    - plugging my phone into the computer and making sure it was updated (I did this yesterday which may have made it worse as that's when the problem intensified?)
    - resetting my phone by holding down the home and power button
    - resetting the settings on my phone (numerous times)
    - changing the WPA2 settings on the router
    - checking that I have got the wifi turned on
    - setting my iPhone to "ask to join" wireless networks
    I would suspect something fishy with the router, except that my husbands iPhone is still working fine (he has not yet updated his iOS), my MacBook and his laptop are still connecting fine, as is the PS3 and the wireless printer. I went out today to a place with an open wifi network and my friend with an iPhone 4S (*not* updated to iOS 6.1.3) could see it and connect to it, but my phone didn't even pick it up and we were sitting right next to each other. There are 10 wifi networks in the vacinity of my house which my MacBook and husbands iPhone can see but my phone is now not seeing any of them. This HAS to be something on my phone, but I can't ruddy well work out what it is and meanwhile I am going to get charged loads for using up my data allowance. The only good thing so far about having all this faff is that when I updated to 6.1.3 my phone wouldn't send any photos to anyone unless it was via iMessage and since I've been changing all the settings I found one that works, so I have been able to send my mother in law some pictures of her granddaughter. My own parents will be getting upset by the lack of wifi though as I don't want to FaceTime them using my 3G.
    Any help would be most appreciated.

    Hi JimHdk,
    I have also upgraded to ios6.1.3, and facing same wifi connecting problem, after upgrade my iphone3gs is not connecting to my laptop shared wifi, which was working perfect with ios6.1.2,
    and its not an hardware error, its software error, crippy apple does not test their releases which causes problem to users.
    Updates:
    Earlier wifi connection which i was using on my Iphone 3gs, was WPA2, which was shared from my laptop via "Microsoft virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter", was working perfectly till ios6.1.2, but when i have upgraded my iphone 3gs to ios6.1.3, my iphone 3gs became unable to join wifi,
    Today I have created "adhoc network"  on my laptop using "Broadcom 4313 802.11b/g/n"(default wifi adapter of my laptop), and kept security type "WEP", and found my wifi working fine with my iphone 3gs,
    So if someone using LAN internet on their laptop, they can share their LAN internet to use on their ios devices, via creating an 'adhoc network',
    How to create an 'Adhoc Network',
    choose Security Type : WEP (compatible with ios6.1.3)
    http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/create-an-ad-hoc-network-in-window s
    Vinay Rajput

Maybe you are looking for