Tag: WI-FI

We've all done it: found an unencrypted Wi-Fi connection and decided to piggyback on an unsuspecting neighbor's Web hookup -- even if it was only a temporary fix while we waited for a repairman, or until we could get cable installed in a new apartment. According to a recent poll conducted by Wakefield Research and the Wi-Fi Alliance, 32-percent of respondents admitted to trying to steal a ...

It's no great secret that public and open Wi-Fi networks are not particularly secure. But developer Eric Butler's alarming new proof of concept, called Firesheep, shows just how simple it is to steal log-in credentials, and how many popular websites leave their users exposed. Many sites offer a secure log-in feature, but then rely on an unencrypted cookie to identify your session and keep you ...

Some of the Switched team take to two wheels for the daily commute, and, although the streets of New York are hardly the safest place to be biking, we're usually more concerned about bike theft than we are swerving taxi drivers. Most of us use the low-tech approach of riding a cheap-o road bike, and lugging around a heavy chain to lock it up, but we're now considering the Halo bike lock concept. ...

Although a number a major airlines have gone to great pains in offering Wi-Fi connectivity on their flights, few passengers are buying. USA Today says that "some analysts" estimate that on-board Wi-Fi adoption tops out at around 10-percent of a given plane's passengers. We at Switched rely on the Internet to make our coffee, pump our blood and give our poor lives some meaning, so we have no idea ...

Chevy Chase may not have been a big enough man to admit to his own wrongdoing in 'Fletch Lives,' but Google, apparently, is. On Friday, Google engineering chief Alan Eustace admitted that, for the past three years, his company has been unknowingly collecting personal data sent over open Wi-Fi networks. The admission, as the New York Times reports, came as a response to a recent inquiry from a ...

The latest and greatest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, promises to reach download speeds of up to 600 Megabits per second as the technology matures. It was only finalized in 2009, and before the seal on its certification has even had a chance to dry, the industry is talking up its successor -- developed in part by WiGig. The Wi-Fi Alliance, the body in charge of wireless networking standards, has ...

Share Symantec, maker of the Norton line of security products, conducted a study in which it analyzed the number of cyber-attacks, malware infections, Wi-Fi hotspots, and other factors in order to determine the 50 riskiest online cities. Not surprisingly, Forbes magazine's 2009 most wired city is Symantec's 2010 riskiest city. Seattle, Washington was the most vulnerable city by a large margin, ...

Right now, we rely on radio wave to pass data wirelessly from one device to another, but that approach has inherent limitations. For one, there is only so much radio bandwidth to go around. That already limited space is crowded with TV signals, cell phone radios, Bluetooth headsets, and, most obviously, radio stations. Then, there is the fact that radio waves can pass through walls, which is ...

Extras At this point, USB ports and Gigabit Ethernet are standard features in desktops and laptops alike, so we won't waste your time talking about them. There are still a few hardware options worth mentioning, though. Wireless If you're getting a laptop, Wi-Fi is a given. You'll want to make sure you get one with an 802.11n card in it. Wi-Fi is less important in a desktop machine that ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Google's holiday gift of free airport Wi-Fi may have expired, but the kind and giving gesture has definitely produced some impressive returns. The program, which covered 47 airports and all Virgin Atlantic flights, raised over $250,000 for various charities, a total that Google then matched. [From: Business Insider] San ...

A reader writes: "Well, it has finally happened: My (un)trusty warhorse Linksys WRT54G finally gave up the ghost and I'm in the market for a new wireless router. The thing is, I use a ton of differing Wi-Fi devices – an old Win XP laptop with a B card, a desktop PC with G, a new Mac laptop with N, an Xbox 360, an iPhone, whatever it is the neighbors are using to leach off of me – ...

You may have heard about Arthur Firstenberg, the man suing his Santa Fe neighbor, Raphaela Monribot, for refusing to turn off her iPhone, wireless network, and other gadgets that emit electromagnetic radiation, which Firstenberg claims to have a hyper-sensitivity to. Ignoring the fact that, according to most studies, electromagnetic sensitivity (EMS) is at best a purely psychological disorder, ...

Obesity rates in the US start to plateau. McDonald's dangles a trans-fatty carrot of free Wi-Fi in front of its suddenly slimmer former patrons. Coincidence? We think not. On January 15th, the fast food chain that claims to have served "billions and billions" of people, will be adding a new item to their menu: free Wi-Fi. As Engadget reports, McDonald's used to charge customers $2.95 for two ...

We're constantly looking to reach out and communicate with people. Here in 2009, we have countless ways to do so (e-mail, Twitter, texting, Facebook, LinkedIn...), but for some that just isn't enough. They've got to take something as mundane as a Wi-Fi network name and turn it into a message for anyone close enough to stumble upon it. Most people will just stick with the default, "Linksys," or go ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/11/02/just-how-risky-are-public-wi-fi-hotspots/'; Ever wonder how safe all your personal information is when it's beamed through the air over Wi-Fi ? If you haven't, then chances are, you haven't taken the right precautions to keep that information safe, either. In clear, easy-to-understand language, the 'Today Show' recently examined the ...