2 wifi questions

**Vitis Vinifera** · 02-28-2012, 03:22 PM

1. I like to head to Panera because of the wifi they have. And in different towns, depending on where I am. The problem is that my GN thinks it's the same wifi and hangs at failing to connect. I don't see a way to make it detect the wifi as though it was a brand new place, whereas it thinks its an existing (incorrect) one.

2. This is more for wifi admins. The place I work at has a wifi network. It's a pretty big place. If I can do this totally hidden, I'd like to connect. Can admins tell who is connected to their wifi network? If so are there ways I can hide myself?

thanks......

**pool_shark** · 02-28-2012, 03:42 PM

If the admins at your job have any sense their wifi access is locked down to specific devices, or at the very least specific user ID's.

**Vitis Vinifera** · 02-28-2012, 03:48 PM

it's not - it's totally open....which brings me back to my questions

**LabRat** · 02-28-2012, 03:57 PM

1) Settings-->Wi-Fi-->Panera-->Forget

2) They will at least know your MAC Address

**Vitis Vinifera** · 02-28-2012, 04:21 PM

Silent, I've tried your answer for 1. It doesn't seem to remove it.

As for 2, can they trace the MAC back to me?

**nuchdog** · 02-28-2012, 07:25 PM

As Silent said

Settings-->Wi-Fi-->long press the network you want (Panera)-->Forget

This should work.

**Andrew Martonik** · 02-28-2012, 10:08 PM

1) Already been answered properly.

2) Why are you trying to do shifty stuff on your work WiFi? Lol. If they have any sense of what they're doing, they're aware of everything that's going on on a corporate network. They'd be stupid not to.

Just use 3G if you don't want them to see what you're doing...

**Vitis Vinifera** · 02-28-2012, 10:27 PM

marton, the only shifty thing about using their WiFi is that I don't have their express permission. Which is......slightly shifty =)

What makes me think that they aren't aware of everything is the fact that it's not protected. I'm just wondering if they could figure out I'm using it.

**LabRat** · 02-29-2012, 03:51 PM

They can trace it to a Samsung device, don't know if they can go any deeper than that.

There is a Mac Spoofer app in the Market but it has only been tested on a HTC HD2. Worth a try if your that worried about it.

**TabGuy** · 02-29-2012, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by Vitis Vinifera

marton, the only shifty thing about using their WiFi is that I don't have their express permission. Which is......slightly shifty =)

What makes me think that they aren't aware of everything is the fact that it's not protected. I'm just wondering if they could figure out I'm using it.

Using wifi without permission is . Also grounds for termination. Is it worth the risk?

**chubb** · 02-29-2012, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Vitis Vinifera

marton, the only shifty thing about using their WiFi is that I don't have their express permission. Which is......slightly shifty =)

What makes me think that they aren't aware of everything is the fact that it's not protected. I'm just wondering if they could figure out I'm using it.

I use my unprotected work wifi never got told we can or can't. And I figure if they don't password protect it they must not care. I just don't visit any questionable sites and watch what I download. Depending on what your doing with their network could get you fired.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

**Andrew Martonik** · 02-29-2012, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by Vitis Vinifera

marton, the only shifty thing about using their WiFi is that I don't have their express permission. Which is......slightly shifty =)

What makes me think that they aren't aware of everything is the fact that it's not protected. I'm just wondering if they could figure out I'm using it.

Why risk it? Either ask for express permission and know their policies about it, or just use 3G/4G instead. Simple solution.

**jdbower** · 02-29-2012, 08:32 PM

I don't connect to corporate WiFi explicitly because it's not secure - company policy says it's perfectly OK but I'm not sure the apps I use are all encrypted.

From the MAC address they can find your manufacturer, it would take a huge amount of work and lawyers for them to get to your phone's actual identity from MAC address alone. However, they'll also be giving you your IP address. From that it's often pretty easy to figure out who you are based on what you do, Android Central, for example, is not SSL encrypted so from here they'll be able to pick out your username. Using something like Firesheep they'll probably even be able to steal your session and see your profile information. And of course if you access any corporate resources that's a big indicator.

I agree with +martonikaj, even a hidden SSID is a form of protection so it doesn't hurt to ask permission instead of risking possible termination.

**Vitis Vinifera** · 03-04-2012, 02:37 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Regarding the Panera wifi not resetting when I change towns.......well I'm a total noob with wifi and smartphones and the problem is I needed to open a browser and login to their network before I could get connectivity. Lesson learned.

Regarding the wifi at my work, looks like the smart thing is to leave it alone. I'll innocently bring this up next time I talk to one of the IT guys, and transition into what the purpose of the network is and if it's cool to use it.