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Uploaded
10th January 2007
As
a Computer Doctor,
I am regularly asked to set up wireless routers in private homes.
(I know broadband routers/modems/gateways should work 'out-of-box' but
we all know that that is not always the case.)
Quite often in the process of doing this, I discover the wireless
network for the house next door, and some times for the houses
both sides.
In apartments, this is even more common, it can easily be possible to
see three or more networks.
In businesses this happens too, when a firm has an office on an industrial
estate or in a business centre, the air is often full of signals from
the various wireless routers and gateways.
In America the courts have declared that connecting to your neighbour's
wireless broadband, uninvited, is unlawful, and you can, if caught, be
prosecuted for it.
So why don't we invite next door to share our
connection, and half the cost to ourselves, or even invite both sets of
neighbours.
Some internet service providers give you a limit on how much data you
can download. (a bandwidth cap).
Almost no one reaches any where near this
level.
The only exceptions would be people who 'stream' video into there homes
non-stop.
Having said that, most service providers also offer a package with 'No download
limit'.
The biggest reason given for not sharing is the perceived security risk.
This is Hogwash.
By default, Windows file and resource sharing is switched off. If you
leave it that way it is not at all easy for anyone to view the contents
of your computer, even though they are sharing your broadband
connection.
Windows XP has a perfectly good firewall built in, to provide first line
protection from baddies, and your broadband connection
router or gateway will also have a built in firewall to keep baddies
from accessing your network.
Would your connection be fast enough ? well if you have a 1Mb broadband
connection, if several users decided to watch the BBC
news at the same time, using either Microsoft
Media Player or Real
Player, you would not get a brilliant picture. However most web
usage consists of sending and receiving emails and browsing one web
site to another. This uses a tiny amount (less than 1%) of the available
bandwidth.
The only people who would not like to see more broadband connection
sharing are:
Can't you guess? BT, AOL Orange and all the other isps who are could
lose large chunks of revenue.
There is no reason why three or four or more people cannot share one
connection.
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