Wireless LAN

[bigballaga]

does anyone know if using wireless lan is anonymous ??

like if im sitting at a park and picking up wireless lan from an office down the road. am i anonymous ??? lets say if im chatting and using internet explorer

what do you guys think?

[sjohnson]

Any connection can be traced, pretty easily. My wireless router, for instance, would show your MAC address and the assigned IP address as soon as you connected, I'd also have a date-time stamp log entry showing when you tried to connect and when you connected.

[bigballaga]

whats a mac address??? and how is it different from an ip address?

i would think that because the laptop does not have an assigned ip address from an isp, even if you could see the mac address or ip address, it would be pretty useless. i am just using logic here.

unlike tracing an ip address lets say to a desktop, where you could track the ip to an owner, you couldnt do the same with a laptop using someone elses wireless connection, because as soon as they dissconnect, thats it. and even if you find out while they are connected you couldnt find them, most you could do i guess is restrict them from your particular wireless lan

also, you said that you could log when i connected, etc etc... but you are not loggin my activity, what im doing etc etc ??? anotherwords, nothing substantive is being logged

thanks

[sjohnson]

With a sniffer, I could see anything and everything you do.

A MAC address is (supposed to be) a unique code assigned to every network device. It tells manufacturer, model and serial # of your adapter. Of course, a MAC can be spoofed. It has nothing to do with an IP address.

If I have a laptop equipped with wireless sniffing hard and software (cheap/free), I could use that laptop to zero in on your physical location, as well.

Given enough time and motivation, you can hack into almost any wireless network (wired too, for that matter), regardless of whether or not you are "banned" from that network.

[bigballaga]

any particular software that you know of that can encrypt, firewall, block or hide not only my location but that im using their wireless lan ???

i've googled and found a bunch of software that captures data but nothing that im looking for

[sllywhtboy]

you can spoof your mac address, but that's about it. otherwise you're stuck.

check out this tcp/ip tutorial, written by the folks who maintain it. it's a good overview. once you understand what's going on, you'll understand how limited what you want to do really is. http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1180.html

--slly

[bigballaga]

i skimmed over that article and it doesnt directly answer my questions..

is there a prog that will spoof my mac address on windows boot up lets say, so every time i boot up it spoofs a different mac address for that session

[sjohnson]

What you want to do is borderline legal, at best. Against forum rules to discuss, AFAIK.

[bigballaga]

i dont think anonymity is against any rules ?!?!?!

[DaGoof]

If it's legal, why do you care what they see you doing?

[bigballaga]

^^^^^ heard of PRIVACY ^^^^^

[Pomme]

if you're concerned about privacy, encrypt your mails and IM stuff ?

[sjohnson]

any particular software that you know of that can encrypt, firewall, block or hide not only my location but that im using their wireless lan ???This stated goal has nothing to do with privacy and everything to do with stealth.

So, you're "sharing" wireless access, want to hide the fact that you're "sharing" that access, and cry "privacy." lol, if that ain't on the shady side of the law, then put me in a dress and call me Shirley.

[bigballaga]

below are two sites i found that help you to change your MAC address, incase your old one doesnt work or you are having trouble connecting ! :D


prog that will do it for you
http://www.gorlani.com/publicprj/macmakeup/macmakeup.asp

or you can do it yourself
http://www.nthelp.com/NT6/change_mac_w2k.htm