Hotspots R' Us

On my last trip back to So Cal, I brought along my iBook.

The brood and I camped out at my Mom's for a few nights, and my Dad's for a few nights.

Mom lives in a tri-level condo in a 60-unit complex deep within the San Gabriel Valley.
Dad lives in a two-story house on a cul du sac just north of San Diego.

Mom has an SBC Yahoo 384K DSL line.
Dad has dialup.

We stayed upstairs in both places.

At my Mom's, my iBook found no less than 4 unsecured wireless networks. I had my choice, so I found one that seemed faster than the others and used it the entire time I was at my Mom's. It was named "linksys."

At my Dad's, my iBook found only 2 unsecured wireless networks. Both were of equal signal strength and speed. I used the one labeled "netgear."

Here in my small town, I now know of 6 unsecured wireless networks within the town's limits, 2 of which are within sniffing distance of my home office. Just the other day I found another hotspot while parked at our local Sonic, ordering a breakfast burrito (no cheese) and a Sonic Sunrise.

A future project will be to do a street by street sweep of my small town to find out just how many of my neighbors are "sharing" their wireless networks.