Because they may have their data in a more timely and reliable fashion than
they get it by using casual access.
When I first got into WiFi, I saw that 80% of detected (broadcasting) access
points were fully open. Within a year, it dropped to 60%. Now, several
years later it is well below 50%, and out in the more technically savvy
areas (just spent 4 months in Sillycon Valley) it is like 10% or less.
Consumers are finally getting more in tune with security. Or more
accurately, manufacturers are pushing security more heavily now. A customer
had just better not ever push that button on the front of a Linksys if they
don't know what they are doing (grin).
Remember- I am talking about consumers here- not what we as WISPS set up or
provide to them.
Ralph
_____
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Travis Johnson
Sent: Sunday, December 31, 2006 12:46 AM
To: WISPA General List
Subject: Re: [WISPA] TRUCKPC
Hi,
Why would this company pay for WiFi access when they are now getting all the
access they need for free? It's actually a great idea... have the trucks
scan all the time and once they find an open AP, connect and upload all
their info.
Travis
Microserv
Ralph wrote:
I was on the way to one of our remote towers today and was on the interstate
next to two US Express trucks. I turned on a sniffer to see if they also
had access points on them, but there was nothing. I guess they just scan,
looking for free wireless to use.
Being bored with the drive, I was thinking about the TRUCKPC thing a lot and
had an idea to make some code changes to the mobile access point I have in
my vehicle. Its hooked up to a verizon card and I have a roving EVDO to WIFi
hot spot gateway. ( see http://ralphfowler.com/stompbox/index.htm ) I
could make a couple of code changes to allow the box to also sniff a bit and
see exactly what these things are doing when they find a free internet
connection.
I was also thinking that we, as an industry, could possibly cut a deal with
Drivertech to allow their customers to have access to our networks. Of
course there would be a lot more to work out and I'm not the guy for that
job ;-)
Just some Saturday musings...
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Matt Larsen - Lists
Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 1:16 AM
To: WISPA General List
Subject: Re: [WISPA] TRUCKPC
AHA!!!!
I've been wondering where the hell that TruckPC request has been coming
from!!!!!!
Occasionally, I have techs who have left the radius authentication disabled
on an access point and the dhcp logs will start to fill up with requests
from "TruckPC". They were coming from access points all over
the place and I was a little perplexed. It is interesting to watch our
radius logs too. I have one AP overlooking a little town of 200 people, but
it is right next to an interstate and the radius log from that AP is always
showing logins. Must be all the trucker laptops whizzing by looking for an
open AP.
I've been toying with the idea of turning on hotspot functionality so that
we can provide transient access, and this is probably a good reason to do
it.
Matt Larsen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ralph wrote:
Well, JohnnyO- you might want to also educate these people, then:
http://www.drivertech.com/
Their product, a "Truckpc" is being installed in many fleet vehicles.
One fleet that comes to mind is US Express, a long haul package hauling
service
http://www.usxpress.com/ The device communicates back to the office via
Satellite, Cellular, or WiFi- whichever is available and cheaper.
According to the manufacturer, it can hunt down open and unsecured
access points and do your "HIGHLY illegal" act of connecting and
sending its data whenever it can.
I'm not endorsing this behavior, of course, but I wanted to bring it
to the attention of the list.
How do I know? My WISP operates hotspot portals that allow casual users
to
make use of our mountain and tower-top sectors of WiFi. These cover
major portions of several towns. These towns have a major Interstate
route passing through them. I began noticing numerous TRUCKPC leases
being granted by the DHCP servers in these towns. I became concerned
about what they were, so I did a little internet research and ended up
on the phone with technical support at Drivertech. This is who
confirmed how these devices operate and who the probable fleet culprit
was.
If anyone has portals near major truck routes, check your DHCP logs
and see if you see the TRUCKPC SSID grabbing leases. You may want to
either block it or contact these folks and work out a "roaming agreement".
Serious part over, joke follows:
This message brought to you by the World's largest free wireless
internet provider. Look for our SSID wherever you go: Linksys.
Ralph
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of JohnnyO
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 5:35 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'WISPA General List'
Subject: RE: [WISPA] recommendation for Client POE integrated radio
for802.11b/g
Brian - Ham Operator or not - do you realize that what you're planning
on doing is HIGHLY illegal and has several people over the past 2 yrs
in Federal Prison as we speak ?
--
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