Safe Luxury

Is it safe to use an unsecured wireless connection?

I have a laptop at home and another computer at home that uses internet and I want to use a wireless connection it is a used laptop and I dont know which connection to use. How can I tell which one is mine and find out the "key" (password?) if there is one. If this is too complicating just answer this question: Is it safe to use an unsecured wireless connection?

Public Comments

1. It's really not safe. You get the key from your router.
2. I'm assumimg that you did not do the networking yourself, so your wireless connection would probbaly be the one that has the most range without a password... and using an unsecured wireless is not recommended since you are connected to someone elses connection, and they can view your activity as well as your IP! it is quite ez to setup your own secured wireless network and you get the key from your modem I think
3. It can be safe if you have a very good advanced firewall but since you are asking for advice on this board I will say no I is not safe. My biggest worry would be that you bought a used laptop which I strongly discourage.
4. It depends what you call safe. If your connection is good and fast and you leave it unsecured, you'll probably get loads of people leeching off it and slowing it down. Worst case scenario is your ISP or the Feds are monitoring your downloads and one of the leeches is downloading child porn or bomb diagrams or something. They're gonna assume it's you, and it would be very hard to prove otherwise. If your PC is broadcasting a wireless signal, it would be using the name you gave to your home network. If you have a router doing the broadcasting you need to get the router's manual to find out how to set a code on the signal. Alternatively, just leech off someone else's!
5. One way to find out which one is yours is to open up a browser and typing in the access address for your router which should be in the manual for the router. Once you access the router you should be able to figure out the password. Most routers will be given the same name as the manufacturer by default, so given what you've mentioned I think its probably pretty safe to say that your connection is named something like "Linksis" or "Netgear", etc... Lastly it is NOT safe to use an unsecured wireless connection, you should always use a secure wireless or wired connection, if that for some reason isn't possible, look into getting VPN service.