Re: Secure? Installing a wireless router at next door neighbor's so I can surf -- PCTECH

Is this in any way related to work? Could you explain the situation toyour employer and ask him to split the cost?

The setup you describe is in fact against the agreements she's signedwith the cable company. The last thing you need is to get her introuble with the cable company.

You'll want to get a cordless phone to use the vonage feature. Maybe ifshe has the phone for long distance, that'd be enough pay for her?


Dan wrote:

I am in a situation where I am away from home several nights per week,
staying with my father-in-law who, surprise surprise, has no broadband
access.  Part of my job duties require me participate in a weekly rotation
to log in and monitor some jobs at 9:30 in the evening.  Last night, for the
second night in a row, I had to drive a few miles into town to find a
wireless hotspot to do this.  I'm really not going to want to be doing this
in January, though.

Anyway, given that the cheapest I could get broadband at my father-in-law's
was in the $45/month range, I proposed to my father-in-law's neighbor, who
has cable internet, that I would split the cost of her internet-related fees
if she would allow me to install a wireless router in her home.  She thought
that was a dandy idea.  The distance between the router and my laptop would
be approximately 30 feet max.

Today, I bought a Linksys/Vonage router for free after rebate (no obligation
to get Vonage service - that was yet another rebate) at CompUSA.  (FYI, it's
a Vonage Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router With VoIP, 802.11g,b, SKU
316790.  Don't trust the out-of-stock messages on their website, speak to a
human at the store you shop at.)

But this is a situation where I don't have total control over the wireless
router, since I don't have possession of it.  Since I connect to work via a
VPN connection (using the Contivity VPN client), and surf the internet
through that VPN, that should be secure against *any* snooping, right?  On
my laptop, I can set up the connection so that I know I'm utilizing WPA, and
I would consider that a first line of defense from "outsiders", but has no
effect on my neighbor's ability, if she were so inclined, to snoop on my
traffic.  Correct so far?   It is almost silly to consider her a threat from
what I know of her, but I'm a paranoid kind of guy, ya know?

Advice, comments, and money (especially money!) always appreciated!

- Dan