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How can I accomplish getting a peaceful home with my siblings, mom, etc?

My siblings and I are getting our Mom a laptop for Mother's Day...?

  • ...and we want to make sure she can get online with it. She doesn't have cable TV or barely even phone service (she buys cards at Sam's Club for long distance). Sitting at her kitchen table, we can get a nice, strong wifi signal, so getting online with 'our' laptops while visiting has never been a problem. Here are my questions: Is this "borrowed" internet connection secure? Can she shop online and give her credit card numbers & check her banking even tho it's not "her" wireless connection? and If we need to set her up with her own wireless connection, what would be the best and cheapest way to go about it? I don't want to sign her up for some $35 a month service... Thanks! (These questions sound somewhat silly to me, but I'm the one taking the lead on this, and as we are already all hooked up at home, with a desktop computer and DSL account/ wifi/ etc., I've never had to deal with them.)

  • Answer:

    Hi Shades, The answer to your question(s) is no. This can get rather complex so I'll try to say this using layman's terms. Since the connection is borrowed, you'll forfeit all administrative privileges on data encryption. In other words, every single piece of data that is transmitted to (or from) the laptop to (or from) the internet will be compromised. Not to mention the vulnerabilities of any data residing on the laptop itself. Very risky Shades! This goes for you too whenever you're at your Mom's place with your laptop. Unless you've got a really good firewall installed on your computer, your data is at risk as well. What's scary is, your stuff can get swiped and you won't even know it. As far as setting her up with her own wireless connection, here's a guide that I think you'll find to be of some help. http://www.high-speed-internet-access-guide.com/ Seriously, make sure that you set the laptop up with a good firewall and a secure "encrypted" connection. It's dangerous out there and it only takes one intrusion occurrence to really mess things up.

Shades of Grey♥ at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Shades, a lot of times like this, I wish I was a nerd. Well, I might be a nerd, but a dumb nerd. I would say, that with proper precautions you can be secure. But I don't know the perfect answer to give you and jeopardize your security. Good Luck, and you will figure it out somehow.

^glen^magnific^ ^mufflerdent^

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