Piggybacking WiFi

About six months ago I broke down and finally got a wireless router. I still prefer to use a hard line whenever possible but the ease of moving a laptop around the house was too much to resist. One thing the wireless enables, is to essentially mooch off of other folk's broadband. Some businesses have intentionally enabled this with open hot spots but I would wager that some folks around where I live have not. Just around my house there have at times been up to six wide open wireless networks. It is tempting to grab the ole laptop and just drive around town and see just how 'hot' it is. Why pay for DSL when one can just sponge it off a neighbor. Heck if they don't know how to set up a wireless router (which seems obvious), surely they would not notice anyone piggybacking? This of course raises some interesting questions. CNET has an article that deals with mooching wireless connections. It would seem the law is a bit unclear and not fully tested when it comes to wireless.

For anyone running a wireless set up.... educate yourself and 'lock' your network and your PC down. There are surely some black hats around Peoria who would find an open PC useful.