My OperaWiFi Gone South Redux
Monday, April 9, 2012 4:52:29 PM
Last Friday at 5:pm the editor tried his laptop again. It worked just like the good old days.
After checking several neighbors, some of whom did not give him the "are you crazy?" look, he finally caught another neighbor who is in the business. His response was immediate: "mobile jammer". Those sorts of thingies that are supposed to keep cell phones from working in concerts and important meetings and whatever, sometimes legally. They are discussed here. The editor asked if they weren't regulated, and he said yes. But if you know what you are doing you can get one.
At any rate, the editor now has inssider (yes, that's how it's spelled) on his laptap and can see 11 "access points" in the neighborhood, what security they are running (and they all are), and so on. So the next time the mobile jammer visits, the editor will have some handle.
The neighbor mentioned netstumbler, which is also beggarware ("free"), but it didn't work on Windows 7 with a 64-bit intel chip. Inssider does.
So the next time your WiFi heads south, check to see if it's your fault or some external demon. Of course, reboot your router and recheck before panicking.
After checking several neighbors, some of whom did not give him the "are you crazy?" look, he finally caught another neighbor who is in the business. His response was immediate: "mobile jammer". Those sorts of thingies that are supposed to keep cell phones from working in concerts and important meetings and whatever, sometimes legally. They are discussed here. The editor asked if they weren't regulated, and he said yes. But if you know what you are doing you can get one.
At any rate, the editor now has inssider (yes, that's how it's spelled) on his laptap and can see 11 "access points" in the neighborhood, what security they are running (and they all are), and so on. So the next time the mobile jammer visits, the editor will have some handle.
The neighbor mentioned netstumbler, which is also beggarware ("free"), but it didn't work on Windows 7 with a 64-bit intel chip. Inssider does.
So the next time your WiFi heads south, check to see if it's your fault or some external demon. Of course, reboot your router and recheck before panicking.
