Using the neighbor's wireless internet

[ryan256]

I helped a friend yesterday get her new laptop set up. She does not have internet right now. While teaching her a bit about her laptop she saw the unsecured network Linksys appear in her wireless internet. She was able to connect to it, get an IP address, and go online. Obviously she's using the connection from one of her neighbors. Then she asked, "Is this ok? Is it considered stealing?"
Me, "As long as you do not have to break or hack into the network it in any way. No. Alot of people leave networks open for their neighbors."

So whats the ATOT consensus? Unsecured residential network with a broadcasted SSID. Ok to use?

 

[krunchykrome]

I don't think it's right to mooch off of your neighbor's connection that they pay for.

 

[Slick5150]

Eh, I figure if its just for light web surfing and email and whatnot, it really isn't a big deal. If you're hogging their bandwidth with torrents or something, that's another issue.

If they cared about her doing it, they should have secured the network.