confusedThis kind of ties in with yesterdays post a bit, where Leo Laporte talked to a woman who had been leeching off her neighbors. For a couple of months, in the "Network Map" here, a mysterious "Samantha-PC" was showing up. I didn't think much about it, because it was shortly after Andrew got his XBox, and a Google search turned up someone that started seeing the same thing in his "Network Map" after getting an XBox, so I figured it was normal. However, I decided after that Tech Guy call from Saturdays show, I would try turning the security on in the Linksys, just to see what would occur. Well, no more "Samantha-PC" in the "Network Map", and Andrew's XBox still works fine (if it wasn't, I'm positive I would have heard about it by now). Sooo... I'm starting to think that we had someone leeching internet.
Reason I never thought anyone could leech in this area, being ALL the houses are well over 100 ft. apart, I thought it was a requirement by the FCC that any wireless consumer electronics sold in the US were limited to a 100 ft. range. I definitely remember reading that a while back. Andrew tried bringing his laptop next door to my mothers house shortly after he got it, and could get no signal from the router, and mom lives a LOT closer than any other neighbor, because she is on the same acre of land! And yet, I noticed the other day, Andrew's laptop is faintly picking up a "Caleb and Lisa" signal(one bar) in his connections from somewhere. If I unhook the ethernet from THIS computer, and turn on the built-in wireless adapter, only signal I get is the one within the house.
Wonder if the FCC has laxed their rules in the past couple of years, or manufacturers are starting to skirt around the policy? Doesn't seem like Andrew should be picking up another signal (which can not be connected to by the way) with the built-in wireless in his laptop if those rules are still in place...