Sharing Wireless BB - any catches?

P

Pee

Registered User
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My neighbours kid is about to enter Uni and they only have dial-up, I'm thinking of offering them use of my Wireless BB.
We both use seperate laptops.
I will continue to pay for the BB.

Aside from the download usage/capacity is there a catch that I should consider before I open my big mouth?

Security (mine and theirs) - not sure of what issues might be involved, would we both be using the same IP address, would this be a problem?
 
Such sharing may technically be in breach of your service agreement with the ISP. On the other hand maybe this is only if you charge for access? Check the terms & conditions to be sure. If you are happy to do this, can trust the people involved and it is not in breach of your service agreement then I can't really see any problem. You should make sure that your wireless router is secured for access only by you and any other third parties who you authorise. You both might want to make sure that neither of you can see content the other's PCs/laptops on the one wireless LAN in case that matters. You will each get different LAN IP addresses but will share the one WAN/internet side address via NAT.
 
A few of my friends do this...all you do is give them the WEP code.
There must be issues with sharing an IP-committing crimes for example-but aside from that it's pretty simple.
 

Thanks for your replies, how do you prevent one laptop seeing the content of the other? I'm not too sure it matters too much but if it's easily solved then I'd make the effort.
 
Pee said:
Thanks for your replies, how do you prevent one laptop seeing the content of the other? I'm not too sure it matters too much but if it's easily solved then I'd make the effort.
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Most likely down to the configuration of firewalls, TCP/IP and Windows sharing etc. Hard to give comprehensive advice without more info.
 
Think about the issue of download caps too. The student may have a propensity for downloading music/movies etc which can quickly chew up your allowance (if you have one).

Downloading illegal stuff could potentially be an issue too.
 
Pique318 said:
Think about the issue of download caps too. The student may have a propensity for downloading music/movies etc which can quickly chew up your allowance (if you have one).

Downloading illegal stuff could potentially be an issue too.
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Should be able to throttle this via router configuration settings.
 
Pee said:
Thanks for your replies, how do you prevent one laptop seeing the content of the other? I'm not too sure it matters too much but if it's easily solved then I'd make the effort.
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Install Zonealarm, a free firewall program. That will prevent the other laptop from accessing your PC.

would we both be using the same IP address
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No, IP address's are given out dynamically and the 2 laptops would have seperate temporary IPs
 
BlueSpud said:
No, IP address's are given out dynamically and the 2 laptops would have seperate temporary IPs
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Or you can configure it so that a particular ip address is allocated to his pc - then monitor bandwidth useage, etc. - and throttle same if necessary.
 
BlueSpud said:
No, IP address's are given out dynamically and the 2 laptops would have seperate temporary IPs
Click to expand...

The PCs will have unique addresses from the local side (i.e. on the wireless LAN) OK, but from the ISP there's (usually) only one address.
 
Yeah - I already explained that above (unique IP addresses on the LAN and shared IP address on the WAN/internet)!
 
ClubMan said:
Yeah - I already explained that above (unique IP addresses on the LAN and shared IP address on the WAN/internet)!
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So sharing your broadband with a neighbour/friend won't land you in trouble...fraud, downloading child porn etc perpetrated by the person you allow use your WEP key for example?
 
ClubMan said:
What on earth are you on about posting that in response to my comment?
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Eh, what do you mean?
I was asking whether if you allow someone use your broadband, is whatever they do divorced from you? i.e. if they did something illegal (fraud, downloading child porn) would there be any impications for the "owner" of the broadband?
 
What has that got to do with my specifica point about LAN and WAN/NAT IP addresses?

I presume that you would have some responsibility for what others do if you willingly share your network/broadband connection with them. Equally if they accessed "inappropriate" content I presume that they could potentially hold you responsible for any repercussions (real or imagined) if they were particularly litigious?
 
ClubMan said:
What has that got to do with my specifica point about LAN and WAN/NAT IP addresses?

I presume that you would have some responsibility for what others do if you willingly share your network/broadband connection with them.
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Sorry, my query was whether the IP address logged by the authorities where a crime has been committed would be the same no matter which PC or laptop was used. I thought this related to your point about the LAN and NAT IP addresses?
This should be a concern for anyone sharing their broadband...as you said yourself the "owner" would probably have some responsibility. Given the times we live in, I'd think twice about giving the WEP key out to aquantances, neighbours etc.
 
KalEl said:
Sorry, my query was whether the IP address logged by the authorities where a crime has been committed would be the same no matter which PC or laptop was used. I thought this related to your point about the LAN and NAT IP addresses?
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I'm pretty sure that forensic analysis (e.g. of the computers involved and at the ISP end etc.) could easily uncover other data that could tie specific internet accesses via the shared NAT IP address to specific computers on the LAN side.
This should be a concern for anyone sharing their broadband...as you said yourself the "owner" would probably have some responsibility. Given the times we live in, I'd think twice about giving the WEP key out to aquantances, neighbours etc.
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Yes - it comes down to trust and responsibility.
 
Sorry but ye have lost me after 3rd or 4th post.

I'll wait and see how she gets on with dial-up before I offer her the wireless.
 
In my opinion it all boils down to:
  1. Is it acceptable within the terms & conditions of your ISP agreement to share the connection in this way?
  2. If it is can you trust them enough to be satisfied that there is no risk of them abusing the connection?
  3. If necessary do you know enough to share the connection to them only (and, if necessary, limit use) securely (i.e. without sharing it to the world)?
 
ClubMan said:
I'm pretty sure that forensic analysis (e.g. of the computers involved and at the ISP end etc.) could easily uncover other data that could tie specific internet accesses via the shared NAT IP address to specific computers on the LAN side..
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Not necessarily (which is why I made the point above about the ISP only knowing about one address), and as the subscriber you'd probably be faced with the burden of proof.

I'd agree, though, that it largely comes down to trust.

To the less technically literate: the ISP who provide your broadband connection will typically have no way of knowing how many (or who) is sharing the connection to your house. Therefore, anything your neighbour does will be seen by the ISP as being done by you. That's not a problem unless they're doing something illegal (obvious one here is child porn, but there have also been cases of copyright owners pursuing individuals who downloaded misic/videos illegally).
 
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