Wireless internet on trains
Author
Discussion

rfisher

Original Poster:

5,066 posts

314 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
So if I sit on the 7:05 using the free wireless internet service downloading lots of porn will they know who I am?

Just interested.

shocker-z

554 posts

249 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
Not exacly but they might guess when your laptop is hovering around your chest! With a big on your face!

lol

They could in theory just put a program like wifi hopper on a laptop and see what SSID is where and so on and just walk till they get a strong signal.

Regards
Liam

rfisher

Original Poster:

5,066 posts

314 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
Presumably their system is logged and they know which sites have been visited and when?

I bet the log makes interesting reading.

shocker-z

554 posts

249 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
Not sure exacly how they route you through to the actual internet as the train must connect wirelessly also?? but they will have a server somewhere probs 2003 server or somthing and yes you can see what traffic comes through.


Liam

fidgits

17,202 posts

260 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
shocker-z said:
Not sure exacly how they route you through to the actual internet as the train must connect wirelessly also?? but they will have a server somewhere probs 2003 server or somthing and yes you can see what traffic comes through.


Liam


Ahh... let me explain.

Its part of the WiMax trial.

While inside the train you connect via traditional WiFi, this is then bridged to a WiMax transmitter from the train...

What is WiMax I hear you ask? Its the next generation in wireless connectivity.

Broadband speeds (actually up to 100Mb/s bandwwidth, but that will be shared) with cell ranges of up to several miles (compared with 100 feet from WiFi) - quite likely to offer broadband for the home in metropolitan areas, as well as roaming packages.

Intel have already developed their next gen WiFi chip that also supports it.

Based on 802.16e - should start to roll out next year!

ThePassenger

6,962 posts

266 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
Sooner or later you will hit a gateway / proxy. That will probably be logging as much as possible, especially in a trial so they can fault find if need be.

So short answer: yes, they can see you browsing porn.

fidgits

17,202 posts

260 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
ThePassenger said:
Sooner or later you will hit a gateway / proxy. That will probably be logging as much as possible, especially in a trial so they can fault find if need be.

So short answer: yes, they can see you browsing porn.

But they wont care - after all, with the advent of TV on demand on the web - they probably appreciate the streaming video tests you are putting their system through

ThePassenger

6,962 posts

266 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
fidgits said:
ThePassenger said:
Sooner or later you will hit a gateway / proxy. That will probably be logging as much as possible, especially in a trial so they can fault find if need be.

So short answer: yes, they can see you browsing porn.

But they wont care - after all, with the advent of TV on demand on the web - they probably appreciate the streaming video tests you are putting their system through


Very true, that and inevitably the geeks running it will be male (or at least a high percentage at any rate) so you might well be pointing them at new and interesting places. That's assuming they don't block access to such things.

arfur

4,016 posts

245 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
Virgin block access to most dodgy stuff and dont allow p2p sharing either ... much like a normal business setup ... Fair enough really. And yes they can see your attempts and trace it back to a mac address. As to tracking it to your seat, well not really unless you are the only person on the train using a laptop and surfing the web

rfisher

Original Poster:

5,066 posts

314 months

Thursday 7th December 2006
quotequote all
So what you really want is to use a Linux machine with MACChanger.

Like I said, just curious biglaugh.

anniesdad

14,589 posts

269 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
NUMPTY ALERT!!

So, I take my WiFi enabled laptop on the train with me - how do I access the internet without one of those 3G cards?

In fact how do I connect in a WiFi hotspot? I've never tried it....I'm too scared!


Edited by anniesdad on Friday 8th December 15:08

_deano

7,414 posts

284 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
anniesdad said:
NUMPTY ALERT!!

So, I take my WiFi enabled laptop on the train with me - how do I access the internet without one of those 3G cards?

In fact how do I connect in a WiFi hotspot? I've never tried it....I'm too scared!


Edited by anniesdad on Friday 8th December 15:08


it's all witch craft and you need not worry yourself about it

anniesdad

14,589 posts

269 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
_deano said:
anniesdad said:
NUMPTY ALERT!!

So, I take my WiFi enabled laptop on the train with me - how do I access the internet without one of those 3G cards?

In fact how do I connect in a WiFi hotspot? I've never tried it....I'm too scared!


Edited by anniesdad on Friday 8th December 15:08


it's all witch craft and you need not worry yourself about it


A bit like "how turbochargers work" then.....laugh

Seriously though, how do I do it?.....paperbag

fidgits

17,202 posts

260 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
anniesdad said:
_deano said:
anniesdad said:
NUMPTY ALERT!!

So, I take my WiFi enabled laptop on the train with me - how do I access the internet without one of those 3G cards?

In fact how do I connect in a WiFi hotspot? I've never tried it....I'm too scared!


Edited by anniesdad on Friday 8th December 15:08


it's all witch craft and you need not worry yourself about it


A bit like "how turbochargers work" then.....laugh

Seriously though, how do I do it?.....paperbag


the train has WiFi on it...

Mr E

23,089 posts

290 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
fidgits said:

Based on 802.16e - should start to roll out next year!


Have they fixed the horrific interference issues yet?

fidgits

17,202 posts

260 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
Mr E said:
fidgits said:

Based on 802.16e - should start to roll out next year!


Have they fixed the horrific interference issues yet?


no comment

ThePassenger

6,962 posts

266 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
anniesdad said:
_deano said:
anniesdad said:
NUMPTY ALERT!!

So, I take my WiFi enabled laptop on the train with me - how do I access the internet without one of those 3G cards?

In fact how do I connect in a WiFi hotspot? I've never tried it....I'm too scared!


Edited by anniesdad on Friday 8th December 15:08


it's all witch craft and you need not worry yourself about it


A bit like "how turbochargers work" then.....laugh

Seriously though, how do I do it?.....paperbag


Basically take your laptop on to an enabled train, find the network using either your WiFi adapters utility or the one built in to WinXP-SP2. One of three things will happen.
1. It will connect but attempts to surf the net will result in a web page appearing asking for a usierid/password.
2. It will ask you for a network key.
3. It will check that the MAC address of your card matches a pre-registered one and off you go.

The first two options will require you to register before attempting to use the system. The third might be dooable on the train itself.

V8 EOL

2,782 posts

253 months

Friday 8th December 2006
quotequote all
ThePassenger said:
1. It will connect but attempts to surf the net will result in a web page appearing asking for a usierid/password.


GNER offer this on the Mallard trains and it is free to first class users. Book early and first class is less than half the standard fare! GNER Explanation.

I use it all the time and it is brill...