> I understand that many folks live in an environment where cyber
> vandalism is the norm but I take a different stance on WIFI sharing. The
> only networks that I administer are church & family. My policy has been
> to allow (and encourage) use by all. Visitors to our homes who bring
> their laptops can always get to the internet without asking. I have
> found that other churches have open systems that work well in the
> parking lots for those who are traveling and might appreciate the
> wireless access.

Our church WiFi access point is located in a lower hall in a hollow of
ground. It has never had security applied (my choice). Range is
limited unless you know it is there and are "closish" or have a high
gain antenna. So far (many years) no problems. That could of course
change at any moment, but it is extremely useful for such things to
"just work".

On a few occasions in HK when the internet access that was meant to
work didn't I have been pleased that there are a few systems , of the
many almost invariably present but usually secured, that have allowed
me the email access that I invariably need in such cases. AFAIK HK
costs for typical users tends to be access rather than bandwidth
biased - but hotels charge a ludicrous amount in inflexible
arrangements - and the (recommended) 'low cost dive'* where I usually
stay provides access at no extra charge. Despite this, when I freeload
I'm conscious that such activity is potentially and/or actually
theft** and that I am opening my system up to additional risks.
(Comodo seems to work well).

Free airport accesssing randomly discovered access points can be
risky. HK provides free official service. Some other "harmonious
societies" (including other than C')  (thanks Vitaliy) have notionally
free access but require passsport number, hat size and rights to soul
of eldest child before providing access. I have read of people
providing "free" access in such places from roaming gateways which
then provide the baddies with acces to your data stream. On one
occasion after logging into the HK airport system I found at next
login that my access to my Google account was blocked - password
invalid. I reset it using webmail access via their alternative email
address password change facility and there seemed no damage done. It
MAY be that that was a random unrelated event but as it is the only
time it has ever occurred I suspect that I had a close brush with
someone running a sniffer program or similar.

I've also occasionally logged into a public system and dropped into a
prior open session because somebodt else failed to log out before
closing the browser. Always worth careful checking your logout if one
is obliged to use Internet Cafes etc. I use "In private" access where
available in such cases BUT this is usually not available as cafe
systems usually tightly limit available features.

If you want access to our system it works best from the conference
table in the lower hall or the manse dining room.

Back to work :-). To bed early / up VERY early to see if it works better ... .


    Russell
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