will I be anonymous on internet if I use wifi?

Hi all and thanks for the input in another thread about the problems I have been having with my isp. I am no longer getting the Google captcha page everytime I goggle something. Now I am just getting disconnected every half hour or so, which has been going on for couple weeks. My isp once again rejects all responsibility, saying it is my phone company, or maybe the phone cord is too long, so on. Haven't changed phone company, haven't changed cords, haven't changed anything.[still technically challenged, too.] So I am sick of my isp and have been trying to learn about wifi. Some of you may know I am paranoid, so am wondering if I can be anonymous on the internet by using wifi. Wifi seems to be too good to be true, especially as I understand there is a machine you can use to make your own hot spots. I don't see how the various isps will let us get away with getting free wifi. What is the catch to all this? They must have thought of some way to make us pay for it, thus losing anonimity. Also, I have an older desk top computer; how do I tell if I need hot spot spotting software? Appreciate your input regarding these three questions. [in really simple language]
Thanks alot,
Sheena

 

I'm replying to my own post, where my questions are probably stupid, as no one has inputted. Never claimed to know anything technical, only have had a computer 4 years, taught myself what little I know about using it.
I know wifi uses radio waves, and I guess my confusion is about how the companies could keep you from using a certain frequency if you had a receiver that could use that frequency; ie, how do they limit your access so that you have to pay them to use their frequency?
Sheena

 

It's not the frequency that matters but what is transmitted over it, like your ISP details etc., including IP address and if you don't have a valid password then you're stuck in limbo.

 

BTW, someone else will have to chime in about free wifi access points like an airport etc.

 

Using WiFi will not make you anonymous.

Your computer has several signatures it leaves wherever it goes.

The first is your MAC address. If you use a wireless service at a public venue or a hotel, they may be required by law to maintain your MAC to IP address information and keep your browsing logs.

Your browser itself may have cookies(browser, JAVA and Adobe Flash), specific version information about your computer and the browser that can personally identify your computer/browser.

So while it may not be simple to tie your name to a web site you have visited, it is certainly possible.

For truly anonymous web browsing you may want to look at a commercial anonymizer or use something like TOR (The Onion Router)

-Nate

 

auggiedog;
For me, there are privacy issues. I am wondering why we can't be as private in at least some of our communications as we are in person. Used to be, these things were sacrosanct. There are whole countries where wifi is completely free. Not sure I agree that everything should be held by a private party for sale. As well, I don't have even remotely enough tech knowledge to be able to circumvent anything.

 

Thanks for this informative post. I am just learning. Sometimes I need to be quite private so I like to try to learn when I am private as opposed to assuming. As well, while I hope I am not obsessive about survivalist things; the country is in worst shape than I think a lot of folks realize. I want to be able to protect myself and stay in touch in the event of widespread civil unrest. It isn't always the best idea to broadcast one's activities in such times. If, for example, you have food, you could be robbed of it if someone finds out where it is. Getting far afield, but just to say that the government isn't the only one who has legitimate reasons for needing privacy.
sheena

 

Tim,
Compared to you, I have zero technical knowledge. So, with all due respect, are you saying that in case of civil unrest, all transmitting towers will be knocked out? Some might remain, and also local lans, and there are personal machines that create areas of wi fi. To me, it is worthwhile to try to maintain as much communication as possible for a myriad of reasons; attempting to acquire resources and alerting to dangers such as robbery, so on. Whatever information might still be accessible on the internet could be helpful. There are degrees of civil unrest, I am not speaking of a nuclear attack, ect, that takes a few survivors back to the stone age. There are people on this site alone that are capable of building communication mechanisms, and rebuilding them, starting lans, so on. So far as civil unrest goes, I think we are already having some of that, the extent isn't known perhaps because we are not told everything by the press and authorities. In a nearby usually very safe city they are now seeing some home invasions in 'middle class' neighborhoods, a new thing. To me the huge number of gangs throughout the west and southwest is civil unrest. People do not understand how widespread this gang activity is. These gangs commit the usual crimes, traffic in dope, and human trafficking, a growing problem.There are many websites concerned with gathering information about the 'real' state of America, as well as survivalist sites explaining how to store things, build generators, ect.
Sheena

 

I know this is an old thread but as I recently added a wireless laptop to my home network I'll add my two pennyworth.
If I open my network manager I can see two of my neighbours connections, but without the security key for their routers I'm not able to log in to their accounts. Not that I would anyway, but my point is there exist pretty good security measures put in place by most ISP's.