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Re: [OM] WiFi Viruses and 19th Century Link

Subject: Re: [OM] WiFi Viruses and 19th Century Link
From: Chris Trask <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 11:47:48 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
>
>>     Returning home, I got out the Win7/IE9/Firefox hard drive that came with 
>> this laptop, installed it, 
>>then installed the software for the USB wireless adapter.  Went back to the 
>>coffee shop, and here I am 
>>enjoying full internet access once again.
>> 
>>     Here's what they did:  When 19CL remotely reconfigured the WiFi hub two 
>> days ago, they set it up to 
>>deny access to any laptop that was using an operating system prior to Win7 or 
>>that was using a browser 
>>prior to IE9, then telling the user that the 19CL equipment was working fine 
>>and that the user was 
>>entirely at fault.  Uh-huh!
>> 
>>     They almost had me fooled once before, but they didn't fool me this time.
>
>
>Annoying and presumptuous though they might have been, Chris, could it be that 
>the company was being 
>security-conscious when setting that minimum standard?  Might the IT bods have 
>thought that anything 
>before that was unsafe on the Internet or on an open WiFi net?
>

     The plot thickens.

     Yesterday evening I was at the same coffee shop, using the 
Win7/IE9/Firefox hard drive when suddenly 19CL shut down the WiFi hub.  Great.  
Then I remembered that they had set up a separate channel for the iMac users.  
So, I got the password for that and set up an additional connection.  It worked 
just fine with no interruptions.

     This morning I tried a little experiment as a result of I asking myself: 
"Self," (that's how I talk to my self) "if that channel will work for the 
earlier iMacs, will it also work with WinXP/IE8?"  I plugged in that hard drive 
and everything worked just fine.  For about 12-15 minutes, at which point 19CL 
discovered a WinXP/IE8 user and shut off that access.

     I was not a happy camper, as it was now obvious that my theory of this 
being active denial of access was correct.  I shut off the laptop, refreshed my 
coffee, handed the owner the key for the outisde furniture lockup, and left.  I 
went over to the other coffee shop, bought a cup of coffee, and used their WiFi 
with my WinXP/IE8 until I had taken care of all my email and other chores.  One 
of the things I did was look into boosted wireless adapters and other options.  
I found one that has a large whip antenna which will greatly extend the range 
and may give me access to WiFi hubs that are near home.  We'll soon see.

     For now, I've removed the USB wireless adapter that I bought last year 
when this nonsense began (19CL was denying access to users of certain 
chipsets), and I've foind at least a couple of web sites where people are 
complaining about what seems to be the exact same problem.  Won't know until I 
have WiFi access as there's just so much you can do with dialup due to the 
speed.


Chris

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro 
     - Hunter S. Thompson
-- 
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