10 ms·

You can donate bandwidth to your community. Open wifi hotspot etc.etc. Depend where you live (neighborhood), but still believe people appreciate. Like library f

You can donate bandwidth to your community. Open wifi hotspot etc.etc. Depend where you live (neighborhood), but still believe people appreciate. Like library free internet access. You can make people happy. Sharing is caring.

300bps 6y ago
Have to be careful with this or may end up with a no-knock warrant served on your home at 3:00 am for whatever illegal things someone you shared your IP address with.
- xur17 6y ago
  I really wish there was a way around this, I'd love to offer free wifi, but don't want to deal with illegal content that might flow through it. I've considered using something like PIA that claims they don't log, but not sure if that would help.
  - throwaway888abc 6y ago
    Valid points. Technically: Pairing this with unmetered VPS (Scaleway) for VPN could be good solution Hotspot Client -> Hotspot -> Wireguard VPN -> Scaleway VPS That way the client always has hidden your ip and traffic encrypted. $3/month for 200/Mb https://www.scaleway.com/en/virtual-instances/development/ https://www.scaleway.com/en/virtual-instances/development/
    - iptrans 6y ago
      Ignoring everything else, this will add a lot of latency, unless OP is located close to Scaleway’s DC.
      - throwaway888abc 6y ago
        Fully aware. Still, high latency internet for free is better than no internet access at all. Another solution can be registration form and tracking end user private IPs assigned (Ipam) for such any legal issues.
      - linsomniac 6y ago
        Maaaaybe... My old company, everyone worked remote and we set up a VPN to our data center as the default route. One of my employees did some benchmarking comparing the VPN to our data center vs. without VPN. He found that it was faster to use Comcast to our data center, and then using their InterNAP optimized transit. I want to say it was something like 30% faster on average, but I don't have specific numbers and they'd be ~8 years old now anyway.
        iptrans 6y ago
        Scaleway’s data centers are in Europe :) Even Comcast will be able to beat that.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tomp 6y ago
    Couldn't you just block all unencrypted connections? Probably also useful from a user privacy standpoint.
    - zelly 6y ago
      That solves eavesdropping, but you still could have someone that submits threats to .gov entities with your IP and have men in black raid your house at 5 AM.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - IvyMike 6y ago
    Route the wifi traffic all through Tor. You can even get this prepackaged for you by using something like https://learn.adafruit.com/onion-pi/overview https://learn.adafruit.com/onion-pi/overview
    - zelly 6y ago
      This is the only workable solution for giving away WiFi to others. But then no one would use it because every site will captcha you to death if it can even load. It's terrible but the U.S. legal system forces everyone to subscribe to ISPs individually.
    - linsomniac 6y ago
      That is a really good idea!
  - blaser-waffle 6y ago
    There are tons of solutions for semi-open wifi for custmers, e.g. Sonicwall or Meraki firewalls and filter rules, etc. Many of them are Out of the Box solutions too, and are plainly advertised as SMB / coffee shop solutions. Set em up, turn on filtering, log stuff, turn over any records if/when law enforcement asks. You could probably hack something together that costs less, but that's adds overhead and wastes time; you need just enough to prove you're doing diligence and keep out of the low hanging fruit. Log everything, and if the fuzz asks for records be able to hand them over.
- koala_man 6y ago
  It's sad that we live in a society where this is a concern, because I really love and appreciate having open wifi when I'm traveling or moving. I've run an open network to try to normalize it for the past decade, and I hope others are willing to do the same.
- copperx 6y ago
  How do Starbucks and restaurants deal with this? I'm pretty sure keeping good logs (for a long time) is all they do. Am I wrong?
  - blaser-waffle 6y ago
    They have corporate firewalls and/or traffic routed through filtering orgs. Head over to your local starbucks and try to go to questionable sites, is probable you'll be blocked. Chances are good they're logging too, and they have cameras and in a lot of cases credit/debit card info too, so they can correlate things. Mom and Pop shops are a different story, but most of the places around me are using Meraki boxes -- I recognize the log in prompt. And broadly speaking, the cops realize that coffeeshops are going to have wifi and aren't explicitly putting up Tor nodes or trying to be an ISP, so they'll cut them slack if they can provide what deets they can. Usually they have insurance and lawyers to CYA on top of this.
iptrans 6y ago
This is most likely against the terms of service of the Internet provider.
- brippalcharrid 6y ago
  On the other hand, it might not be against the terms of service if you were to buy a sufficiently expensive symmetric fiber connection. At which point, you would then have become the ISP (with all of the hassle that would likely entail).
  - iptrans 6y ago
    Sure. A wholesale Internet connection that allows resale usually goes for a few thousand dollars per month.
linsomniac 6y ago
Interesting idea, could pair well with our "Little Free Library" in the front yard. Two concerns: Liability for use (as mentioned) and I also don't want to take away from subscribers to the city service by using our open WiFi. Perhaps a time-based limit? Now, if I was taking away from the incumbents... :-) I'd have to check into the terms of the service though. Related: Anyone used those Ubituiti Mesh things? Not the Amplifi, the other mesh. I've toyed with the idea of putting some of those around the neighborhood to provide some sort of wide area wireless, but never pursued it.
- ssivark 6y ago
  TIL "Little free library" thanks to your comment; sounds fantastic!
Hamuko 6y ago
>Open wifi hotspot etc.etc. Only do this if you're prepared to talk with law enforcement about child pornography being shared from your IP address.
- nikisweeting 6y ago
  I believe in Canada activity "from your IP address" is not enough to legally imply you are the one who did it, which is why even the Canadian equivalent of DMCA notices have no teeth here when sent to residential homes. But IANAL, YMMV, etc.
  - supertrope 6y ago
    If the police smash down your door, the news labels you a pedophile, and you have to spend $$$$$ on legal costs an eventual acquittal is still a huge loss.
    - nikisweeting 6y ago
      Right, I'm saying afaik in Canada the police don't have a right to smash down your door only based on an IP address. This is different from the US where an IP address is enough probable cause to get a search warrant. See USA: - https://www.mjpetro.com/search-and-seizure/search-warrant-attorney-chicago/ https://www.mjpetro.com/search-and-seizure/search-warrant-at... vs Canada: > Receiving a notice does not necessarily mean that you have in fact infringed copyright or that you will be sued for copyright infringement. > The Notice and Notice regime does not impose any obligations on a subscriber who receives a notice and it does not require the subscriber to contact the copyright owner or the intermediary. - https://ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02920.html https://ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02920.html - https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/snipits/you-can-stay-anonymous-scc-recognizes-privacy-interest-protecting-anonymity-internet https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/snipits/you-can-st... - https://apanewslaw.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-supreme-court-of-canada-has-ruled-that-we-need-a-warrant-to-obtain-subscriber-information-matching-to-an-ip-address-from-an-internet-service-provider/ https://apanewslaw.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-supreme-cour... But IANAL, please correct me if I'm wrong here.

300bps 6y ago

Have to be careful with this or may end up with a no-knock warrant served on your home at 3:00 am for whatever illegal things someone you shared your IP address with.

xur17 6y ago
I really wish there was a way around this, I'd love to offer free wifi, but don't want to deal with illegal content that might flow through it. I've considered using something like PIA that claims they don't log, but not sure if that would help.
- throwaway888abc 6y ago
  Valid points. Technically: Pairing this with unmetered VPS (Scaleway) for VPN could be good solution Hotspot Client -> Hotspot -> Wireguard VPN -> Scaleway VPS That way the client always has hidden your ip and traffic encrypted. $3/month for 200/Mb https://www.scaleway.com/en/virtual-instances/development/ https://www.scaleway.com/en/virtual-instances/development/
  - iptrans 6y ago
    Ignoring everything else, this will add a lot of latency, unless OP is located close to Scaleway’s DC.
    - throwaway888abc 6y ago
      Fully aware. Still, high latency internet for free is better than no internet access at all. Another solution can be registration form and tracking end user private IPs assigned (Ipam) for such any legal issues.
    - linsomniac 6y ago
      Maaaaybe... My old company, everyone worked remote and we set up a VPN to our data center as the default route. One of my employees did some benchmarking comparing the VPN to our data center vs. without VPN. He found that it was faster to use Comcast to our data center, and then using their InterNAP optimized transit. I want to say it was something like 30% faster on average, but I don't have specific numbers and they'd be ~8 years old now anyway.
      - iptrans 6y ago
        Scaleway’s data centers are in Europe :) Even Comcast will be able to beat that.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- tomp 6y ago
  Couldn't you just block all unencrypted connections? Probably also useful from a user privacy standpoint.
  - zelly 6y ago
    That solves eavesdropping, but you still could have someone that submits threats to .gov entities with your IP and have men in black raid your house at 5 AM.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- IvyMike 6y ago
  Route the wifi traffic all through Tor. You can even get this prepackaged for you by using something like https://learn.adafruit.com/onion-pi/overview https://learn.adafruit.com/onion-pi/overview
  - zelly 6y ago
    This is the only workable solution for giving away WiFi to others. But then no one would use it because every site will captcha you to death if it can even load. It's terrible but the U.S. legal system forces everyone to subscribe to ISPs individually.
  - linsomniac 6y ago
    That is a really good idea!
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  There are tons of solutions for semi-open wifi for custmers, e.g. Sonicwall or Meraki firewalls and filter rules, etc. Many of them are Out of the Box solutions too, and are plainly advertised as SMB / coffee shop solutions. Set em up, turn on filtering, log stuff, turn over any records if/when law enforcement asks. You could probably hack something together that costs less, but that's adds overhead and wastes time; you need just enough to prove you're doing diligence and keep out of the low hanging fruit. Log everything, and if the fuzz asks for records be able to hand them over.
koala_man 6y ago
It's sad that we live in a society where this is a concern, because I really love and appreciate having open wifi when I'm traveling or moving. I've run an open network to try to normalize it for the past decade, and I hope others are willing to do the same.
copperx 6y ago
How do Starbucks and restaurants deal with this? I'm pretty sure keeping good logs (for a long time) is all they do. Am I wrong?
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  They have corporate firewalls and/or traffic routed through filtering orgs. Head over to your local starbucks and try to go to questionable sites, is probable you'll be blocked. Chances are good they're logging too, and they have cameras and in a lot of cases credit/debit card info too, so they can correlate things. Mom and Pop shops are a different story, but most of the places around me are using Meraki boxes -- I recognize the log in prompt. And broadly speaking, the cops realize that coffeeshops are going to have wifi and aren't explicitly putting up Tor nodes or trying to be an ISP, so they'll cut them slack if they can provide what deets they can. Usually they have insurance and lawyers to CYA on top of this.

iptrans 6y ago

This is most likely against the terms of service of the Internet provider.

brippalcharrid 6y ago
On the other hand, it might not be against the terms of service if you were to buy a sufficiently expensive symmetric fiber connection. At which point, you would then have become the ISP (with all of the hassle that would likely entail).
- iptrans 6y ago
  Sure. A wholesale Internet connection that allows resale usually goes for a few thousand dollars per month.

linsomniac 6y ago

Interesting idea, could pair well with our "Little Free Library" in the front yard. Two concerns: Liability for use (as mentioned) and I also don't want to take away from subscribers to the city service by using our open WiFi. Perhaps a time-based limit? Now, if I was taking away from the incumbents... :-) I'd have to check into the terms of the service though. Related: Anyone used those Ubituiti Mesh things? Not the Amplifi, the other mesh. I've toyed with the idea of putting some of those around the neighborhood to provide some sort of wide area wireless, but never pursued it.

ssivark 6y ago
TIL "Little free library" thanks to your comment; sounds fantastic!

Hamuko 6y ago

>Open wifi hotspot etc.etc. Only do this if you're prepared to talk with law enforcement about child pornography being shared from your IP address.

nikisweeting 6y ago
I believe in Canada activity "from your IP address" is not enough to legally imply you are the one who did it, which is why even the Canadian equivalent of DMCA notices have no teeth here when sent to residential homes. But IANAL, YMMV, etc.
- supertrope 6y ago
  If the police smash down your door, the news labels you a pedophile, and you have to spend $$$$$ on legal costs an eventual acquittal is still a huge loss.
  - nikisweeting 6y ago
    Right, I'm saying afaik in Canada the police don't have a right to smash down your door only based on an IP address. This is different from the US where an IP address is enough probable cause to get a search warrant. See USA: - https://www.mjpetro.com/search-and-seizure/search-warrant-attorney-chicago/ https://www.mjpetro.com/search-and-seizure/search-warrant-at... vs Canada: > Receiving a notice does not necessarily mean that you have in fact infringed copyright or that you will be sued for copyright infringement. > The Notice and Notice regime does not impose any obligations on a subscriber who receives a notice and it does not require the subscriber to contact the copyright owner or the intermediary. - https://ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02920.html https://ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02920.html - https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/snipits/you-can-stay-anonymous-scc-recognizes-privacy-interest-protecting-anonymity-internet https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blogs/snipits/you-can-st... - https://apanewslaw.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-supreme-court-of-canada-has-ruled-that-we-need-a-warrant-to-obtain-subscriber-information-matching-to-an-ip-address-from-an-internet-service-provider/ https://apanewslaw.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-supreme-cour... But IANAL, please correct me if I'm wrong here.