woo-hoo! free internet =)

Q. i can usually pick up a number of wi-fi signals on my pc at home, especially since i live right in the heart of georgetown (washington, dc). i usually use my neighbor's wi-fi signal since it's the strongest. i mentioned it to my neighbor, who doesn't really care, but he suggested that we could share the costs of the monthly internet subscription. this would save us both some money, but is it really ethical?

A. first, kudos to you for being honest about it and asking your neighbor if you could ride his connection. there are a lot of people out there that don't ask.

now, in terms of sharing the subscription charges... your neighbor is technically renting the bandwidth from his internet service provider, and technically you wouldn't be - which would result in zero revenue for the isp if you just "shared" the costs. this is essentially the same as tapping into a cable-tv line or illegally copying music cd's or dvd's.

it would probably be in your best interest to subscribe to your own internet connection and invest in a wireless router. and this is why - data encryption, increased security while you're connected to the internet, and better throughput. be advised that hackers are out there and they do have the capability to intercept wi-fi signals to steal credit-card numbers, passwords, and other confidential information.