Chapter 6 - Some further tips and hints.

There are an estimated 190,000+ Access Points in the USA right now. Many are going to allow connection to the internet. At some point the offering will be tailored more specifically for RVers. But for now, I'd like to post some tips for those on the road. Most of these will be more useful to you once you have experienced the workings of your setup. I also hope that you will send me suggestions for this area, and I will actively cull good suggestions from the Forums.

First, I'd like to say a few more things about selecting Nodes to connect to. Every node you see on Netstumbler has the option of turning on security. There are 3 basic forms of security that affect us. First and foremost is WEP. If you see the small "lock" icon on a node in Netstumbler, this means the owner has turned on WEP. This is exactly what it seems. A locked door. This means leave it alone. Netstumbler does not connect, so just SEEING it on Netstumbler is fine. Anything more is a no-no. The second type of security is MAC Address Filtering. The easy explaination: All network cards, including your Wireless Interface (card or USB), have a unique serial number called a MAC Address. This allows people to decide which Interfaces they want to access, andwhat resources they will be allowed to access. So, if a node SEEMS open, yet doesn't allow you to connect or get an address, this is most likely why. This is why we use WINIPCFG, since this tells us whether a node is offering us an address. The third form of security is the "Broadcast Setting". What this does is to decide whether an Access Point Broadcasts invitations to passing wireless clients. So, if you're using Netstumbler, and the Access Point has this turned off, we'll never see it. In theory these three forms of security will allow us to never access a node that doesn't want us there. Where this whole idea becomes more complicated, is that manufacturers ship APs with all these forms of security turned OFF. So, if a user does not read the manual, and ignores these options on the Set-Up screens, their AP will allow connection.

To connect, or not to connect...

  So, we have thousands of users who set up their nodes purposefully to allow us on freely, and we have thousands of nodes where the security is left off because the owner doesn't mind or even care one way or the other. But then we have some nodes where people MIGHT not want us there, but did nothing to stop us. How can we tell the difference? Basically at this point, you can't. So if you want to NEVER even have a chance to connect to someone who would rather you aren't there, you can only use nodes that actually advertise themselves as OPEN. But if you think that it is generally the responsibility of the owner of the node to secure their node, and you'd rather not have the entire 190,000+ field of nodes spoiled for you by a few "bad apples" who won't even take the *1 minute* it would take to turn broadcast off, then you might want to follow a few guidelines.

1> If a user has obviously altered other default details on their AP (notably SSID) to something unique, you can probably assume they use the set-up screens, and any options they set are what they MEANT to set.
2> If it seems from the SSID that a node is a Financial Institution, Government Building (other than libraries and colleges), or other node that would house sensitive information, it is probably wise to pass on by.
3> Before connecting, if you are unsure of the exact nature of the node, do a short check...What I like to call the "Do unto others" check. If this was your AP, what would you consider rude or offensive behavior? Don't do anything that fails that. Almost no-one would mind you downloading your e-mail, checking a web-page or two, or reading newsgroups or Forums. LARGE Downloads, major browsing, or other data transfers should be saved for nodes one KNOWS they are openly invited to use.
4> If there is a way, ASK. Most people don't mind and are quite courteous, but it's sometimes easiest to just ask.