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USA Has More Open Wi-Fi Hotspots Than EU

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the my-password-is-passw0rd dept.

Mark.JUK writes "Some 40% of wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet access hotspots in the USA are unlocked and do not require a security password, which compares with 25% in Europe; according to WeFi based statistics. Across the world, approximately 30% of recorded Wi-Fi access points are unlocked, while some 70% are locked. Nice to see everybody taking security so seriously, then. It should be perfectly possible to 'share' Wi-Fi while using WPA or WPA2 security measures at the same time."

11 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. USA! USA! USA! by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, number one, baby!

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    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  2. Re:Maths Lesson by bakawolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    WEP?

  3. Are there really more open hotspots? by olsmeister · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or does the USA just have a higher percentage?

  4. Re:How secure is secured? by snspdaarf · · Score: 2, Funny

    She could like sports, 'ey? 'ey? Know what I mean? Wink-wink, nudge-nudge!

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    Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
  5. Re:How secure is secured? by SharpFang · · Score: 2, Funny

    Realistically, it depends on traffic. I assure you a WEP network with long key and running a low transmission (for example instant messenger + RSS + WWW surfing, vs video streaming, torrents or online games) can take good many hours to break. Speaking from experience, two lunches, four beers and about 8 episodes of Cowboy BeBop before that nice mexican restaurant became Internet-enabled for me.

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    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  6. Re:No wonder by bsane · · Score: 2, Funny

    ROFL

  7. Re:This isn't a bad thing. by omnichad · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's real simple to get this included on consumer routers. Just make a command-line tool that will run easily on busybox, then open source it. Give it a real cryptic name. Linksys and the like will include it on their next router, come up with a cute name for it, and call it their own.

  8. This is under reported by kurt555gs · · Score: 1, Funny

    With http://www.aircrack-ng.org/ you can have many more available WiFi hotspots.

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    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  9. Re:This isn't a bad thing. by poolguy · · Score: 1, Funny

    Great!! When I travel, I want to be able to go into a coffee shop, get my espresso, and pay for my espresso without subsidizing your desire to sit down and use your laptop on the internet without having to hand out credit card information or any other sort of credentials. I make a point of only frequenting coffee shops for their coffee, which I pay for. The expectation of free internet access is about as arbitrary as expecting a free blowjob during my oilchange at Jiffylube.

  10. Well yeah by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...the MOST unlocked hotspots? SWEET.

    The fact that most of them connected to the web at something around 48kbps, not so sweet.

    We have the largest tin-can-and-string network IN THE WORLD, BITCHES.

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    -Styopa
  11. Re:This isn't a bad thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I think you've been going to the wrong JiffyLube.