I'm going to purchase a laptop to take to work with me. It will have wireless capability and I was so excited that I will be able to access internet when things slow down at work. But, guess what, when I talked to the IT people about this they told me their wireless is encrypted and I have to have a key number to get into the network. I think this sucks!!!! LOL Very disappointing.

Is there anyway to get around this? I'm not trying to do anything illegal, just surf the net!!!

Would appreciate any suggestions or warnings (LOL)

andrescasta

what they are talking about is WEP key. There is not an easy way 'round this. It has been reported that a good schema of WEP implementation could take more than a lifetime of years to break with the current technology. Not saying that there is no work around....but you get the drift.

I have all of my wireless access points here using WEP as well as MAC address authentication. So if the WEP key was compromised...then the MAC addy authentication will not allow any machine other than the ones in the MAC table to access the network anyway.

The simple solution would be for you to "buddy" up to an IT person and have them give you the WEP key.....then you would be in like flynn!

kservice

Well the encryption is the protection, they set up so no one unauthorised can use your companies bandwidth and become part of your network. They might give you the access code, if you ask them nicely, but if it is not for business reasons, I would not bet on it.

as the previous poster said, breaking in is near impossible.

As to their control over your browsing. Even though, you would use your private computer, it would still become a part of your companies network, be behind their firewall and therefore, they can limit what you can do (If they were friendly they would also be able to let everythign through to you, but if I were Sys Admin, I would not. To dangerous. viruses, etc pp Any security conscious SysAdmin would want to be able to control all computers on its network. Your computer could be a potential security risk)

So sorry, I don;t think they will let you.

try http://www.jiwire.com/
http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/
http://www.myhotspots.co.uk/

If you live in Philadelphia you will be lucky. I heard they are going to introduce city wide wifi networks for free!

but then it really depends, on the last job my wife had, she simply unplugged the network cable from her work computer and plugged into her computer and we video chatted. but they had no security there at all. I wold not bet on that being possible.

I would strongly advise against you trying to guess the WEP key or 'breaking in'. Technically its against the law, even if you are just surfing the net, and you could get fired, or worse, a criminal record.

If you can prove to IT that you are using your laptop for mainly business purposes and agree to be behind their firewall and security settings then most IT teams will let you use the company network. I can't see why you need to use your laptop rather than the PCs provided by your company?

Kservice is also right. If your laptop is not listed in the MAC table then you won't be able to get in, no matter what. I would just suggest explaining to them what you are trying to do and ask them nicely to let you use the network. If anyone else in the company has a laptop ask them how they got it to work and use them to persuade the IT team. If they can use the net, why can't you, etc, etc.

Good luck in your quest for the net!

I also advise you not to try to access a network without the owner's permission! It's against the law and you can get into some serious trouble (very serious) if you don't stick to the rules!

However, there are many WEP cracking tools available (and some of them are used by the FBI as an example on how little effort it takes to break a WEP encrypted wireless network!)

Here they are (there are plenty more, but these are the most popular ones):
WEP crack: http://wepcrack.sourceforge.net/
AIR snort: http://airsnort.shmoo.com/

Remember, ONLY USE THEM FOR TESTING PURPOSES (these tools are perfectly legal, and using them on your network or on a network with the permission of it's owner is also legal, but don't do it unless you don't have permission!).

More info here:
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article118.php

If anybody would like to see how their WEP encrypted wireless network is really insecure, use these tools to prove it! (Or just switch to WPA instead and save yourself from all the trouble)

@rvalkass
There is a workaround. An attacker can use a packet sniffer tool and find out somebody's MAC address that is white listed on the wireless network. (If the network is unencrypted, or if the attacker breached the WEP encryption, of course). When the attacker obtains the MAC address, he can replace his MAC with the white listed one and easily connect to the "protected" wireless network!

Once again: Use WPA!

Well your best bet would be to see if they will give you one of those keys If you can justify your laptop for work, then most companies should let you. Only thing is some of the support contracts might specify that you have to have a certain install on the laptop.

Although it is technically possible to hack 802.11b quite easily, it would also be illegal and probably get you into a lot of trouble.

The entire network will most likely be encrypted so there is no piggybacking straight to the net.

Have you considered using GPRS or WAP access with a mobile phone and then connecting that to the laptop via bluetooth or infrared? Only downside is that will cost you money.

The last option I can think of would be to get a bluetooth dongle (about 20 pounds in the UK) and then get a kind person to plug that into their desktop computer. You can then share that desktop's internet connection if you laptop has bluetooth too.