http://www.thumbsupuk.com/products/WiFi-Detecting-Watch.htm?id=3&subid=0&prodid=360&cc

Here’s a great watch with a handy added feature – it can detect whether there is a WiFi network in the area.

These days, some people are reliant on WiFi – having to be hooked up to the net is essential for both business and pleasure, and when out and about, WiFi ‘clouds’ help to get the best out of web-enabled gadgets. Let’s face it, mobile phone data connections can be expensive and slow, and WiFi is definitely the best way to get online.

If you’re the kind of person who’s always looking out for an open WiFi connection and wants to find the best place to get connected, one of our WiFi detecting T-Shirts might be the answer, but let’s face it, you wouldn’t necessarily want to wear one of those every day, and it might not quite be the appropriate thing for a business trip!

Isnt that cool

If it didn't have the "WIFI" printed on it I might consider getting one. And anyway the t-shirts look better :-)

Ok just a quick question.. my internet /cable crapped out on me.. so I just flipped to auto discovery of local wifi connections and connected up to the unsecured network...

is this unethical thing to do ??

a) I am sure that these unsecured wifi connections are home based (As I live in an apt) , so its easy to jump onto free wifi. However that user(s) is paying uptime (unknowingly)
b) I have no problem of payin for wifi when needed, but if found free, would you jump on it ?

> is this unethical thing to do ??

I believe in some places it's illegal as it's classed as stealing (since just because it's unsecured, it doesn't mean it's for public use).

"Unethical" depends on regional customs, colloquial and legal precedents and local business/ common practices. Obviously, for such a new tech as WiFi, there cannot be any general consensus yet (if ever) as to what constitutes appropriate behavior when enountering an open, private unsecured network.

In the type of setting /pd indicated, "jacking-in" and/or "siphoning-off" airborne IPackets in an apt building, I wouldn't rely on it (test it now and then: fine).

For one, if you use it repeatedly, and as were it your own connection, the neighbor's ISP could detect it and object to its sudden (or differing from earlier) change/ spikes/ overload in traffic pattern. Or the neighbor may discover that someone is parasiting his none-too-speedy downlink, and /mis/take that for the cause of now-visible delays. In our times of massmedia-induced paranoia over SPAM; P2P music downloads; Internet- as-tool-for- paedophiles; and worse, this can easily be suspected as such (since mere posting to the Blogoscoped forum is such an --let's face it-- unsexy activity).

In practice, in the "West," unless one already is of interest to authorities for some other reason, I doubt there'd be much will, legal grounds, precedents and resources to prosecute such potentially illegal use of wifi. So quit worrying, and jack yourself in at will?

[ Incidentially... isn't/shouldn't there by now be a whole new terminology akin to BT "bluejacking", "bluesmurfing" "blue-surfing," etc?]

Oh boy – now I feel real guilty.. :(-

need to get the Rogers/ guys in ASAP.. dont want to be thrown in jail!

Look, why don't you make a plea bargain with the authorities that, in exchange for voluntary surrender, full disclosure and pointing fingers, you get to spend the night(s) until arraignment in an open WiFi-equipped jail cell? (a *public* network, not private 'un.) That's what I'd call a win-win situation! ;-))

Personally, I do feel that it would be unethical, as many people still pay for the bandwidth used.

However, I also feel that it is the owner's responsiblity to secure the network, and it's not your fault if you automatically connect.

Tricky one to answer really.

Ianf – yeah I'll use y Blackberry and twitter one one "Arrested" :)-