[Shop-talk] Wireless router - signal boost

[David Hillman]

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008, PJ McGarvey wrote:
> Do you want to be the low-hanging fruit running an open network, while your
> neighbors are all running some level of security?

    That's kind-of what I was getting at.  The original claim was "nobody" 
should run WEP.  It's good enough for some people due to geography, and if 
nothing else, it gets you above the low-hanging "totally unsecure" fruit. 
There's at least one unsecured network on my block, so if I was running 
WEP, why would a criminal bother with mine?  ( I don't, but with some 
older machines it is a _lot_ easier to WEP. )

> I feel it's as basic to mention it as putting on your seatbelt, but 
> then again it's a big part of what I do for a living and I don't live 
> on property the size of a farm.  I hope I didn't sound like I was 
> preaching.

    Relative security is a big thing with me.  I will never understand why 
people are pathological about locking their house doors while their 
windows are open and/or unlocked.  Spending time/money to upgrade beyond 
WEP in a rural area is probably a waste.  So is spending a lot on digital 
security and then tossing your credit card bills in the recycling.

--
  David Hillman