We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
This
week we're going to look at free wireless Internet.
With wireless Internet technology (802.11a/b/g, a.k.a. WiFi)
becoming more and more popular, you'll find more and more places
offering to sell you wireless Internet access. I'm not against the
idea of buying or selling wireless Internet, but why pay for
something that you can easily get for free?
Before we start, I must remind you that open wireless networks,
both paid and free, are not protected, so your data is subject to
security risks that can be prevented using WPA encryption, as
discussed in an earlier article (How to Secure
Your Wireless Network Using WEP and WPA) and also by using
Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which we will look at in a future
article.
Plan Ahead
Before you go anywhere, you want research the location
where you plan to use a wireless Internet connection. At the
beginning of the WiFi revolution, people put symbols on walls
indicating that there was WiFi nearby. This was called warchalking,
but it quickly faded away. Today hotels, hospitals, schools,
universities, coffee shops, and restaurants may have free WiFi
access.
Another important fact is that a lot of cities are becoming free
WiFi providers, including Austin and Seattle. (For more info on
cities with WiFi access, go to Free Networks.)
Now that you've researched where you're going, it's time to do
what some call wardriving. This is the act of driving around with a
network detector (your iBook or PowerBook, for instance) and
finding open wireless networks. Please note that some open networks
are not commercial; they belong to someone's household - someone
who either didn't know how to set it up securely or likes the idea
of sharing the Internet connection.
The general rule of thumb, if it they keep their wireless
network open, it's seen as sharing. Don't do any harm or go to
sites you would not like everyone to know about, since your signal
can be intercepted. Check your local laws just in case; in some
areas people have been arrested for accessing someone else's WiFi
network.
You are not breaking into any networks or hacking; what you are
doing is simple accessing the Internet through open wireless
networks on the public airwaves from a public location.
The Tools
The tools you are going to use for WiFi scanning are:
Any iBook or PowerBook with either a built-in 802.11a/b/g card
(also known as AirPort and AirPort Extreme cards) or a USB or
PCMCIA card with drivers installed.
One of the these two free programs:
Mac Stumbler is more
geared towards Apple's AirPort cards and has great GPS integration
for mapping out your WiFi Networks.
iStumbler is a great scan
everything utility. It will scan for WiFi networks, Bluetooth
devices, Bonjour devices and will works with a lot of common
interfaces. Mostly any WiFi card will work with this great
application.
Once you find the network you want to access, use AirPort's
network manager or your WiFi card's network selector to select the
network you wish to join. Test the connection by making sure you
get an IP assigned to your WiFi card by opening Apple's Network
Utility app (in the Utilities folder inside the Applications
folder). While you have that app open and know you have an IP, go
ahead and use the Ping feature to test your Internet connection by
pinging www.lowendmac.com.
Once again, please don't cause any harm to the people providing
you with free Internet access and remember to support them and the
authors of the great software products discussed in this article.
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Welcome Image and Text
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
Before you go anywhere, you want research the location
where you plan to use a wireless Internet connection. At the
beginning of the WiFi revolution, people put symbols on walls
indicating that there was WiFi nearby. This was called warchalking,
but it quickly faded away. Today hotels, hospitals, schools,
universities, coffee shops, and restaurants may have free WiFi
access.