Main > Everything Else

Mobile hotspot - Am I missing something?

<< < (11/12) > >>

knave:
I was surprised to hear about the all the tethering emails and threats to auto switch by AT&T. Looking into it further it looks like they can tell pretty easily for android phones too. They count the hops data packets take from your end device to their routers. If your phone is 10 hops away usually and you are sending packets from 11 hops then they know you have another device in the mix.

I don't know if it's true or not but some folks were complaining that AT&T was even counting plugging in a stereo was being called tethering by AT&T.

Fortunatly for me I'm more than happy to stick to Wifi. I pay $15 for data on AT&T and am happy there.

ark_ader:

--- Quote from: shmokes on April 17, 2012, 12:06:51 pm ---
--- Quote from: ark_ader on April 17, 2012, 05:40:05 am ---
Give up so easily?  Keep looking.   :)


--- End quote ---

Every time I engage you I'm afflicted with slight pangs of guilt. I feel like I punched a petulant 12-year-old in the face or made fun of an extremely obnoxious kid in a wheelchair.



edit: grammar


--- End quote ---

I'm not interested in your past behavior.

You are changing the subject, which can only mean...   :lol

ark_ader:

--- Quote from: Green Giant on April 17, 2012, 10:20:38 am ---
--- Quote from: ark_ader on April 16, 2012, 02:32:24 pm ---Tethering is a really bad idea, as is rooting your phone when still in contract.

The Windows 7 phones are getting better, and soon to eat into the android market.

--- End quote ---
Why is rooting bad?  It is freaking sweet.  I rooted my phone.  Verizon doesn't check for that nor do they know how.  I even jacked my phone up and had to send it in to get a new one.  Pretty much the only negative thing is when they sent it back it already had the new OS which made it impossible to root; however I haven't checked in a few months so I should be able to root it now.

FYI, rooting on an Android is a very very simple process and nothing like jailbreaking or whatever they call it on an iphone.  It is far less invasive.  You are simply unlocking the root directory of the phone for access.  Apps still can't gain root access unless you give them permission similar to giving administrative rights to modify some windows folders.

As for eating into the Android market, probably true.  Of the big three phone OS's out there, Android is hands down the most complicated while also being the most versatile.  There is nothing that Windows or iOS can do that Android can't do with more setup steps.  I know my parents have Android phones, but they probably use them to 10% of their capability.  A windows phone is probably in their future.

Being a tech guy, Android will always be the superior option to me.
One last thing, why is tethering bad?  It is as secure as your home router.

--- End quote ---

Rooting on Android devices and you will think I am being hypocritical here...that it is fine on devices that are not carrier subscription (3G for example) based, but on devices like tablets that have only wifi.

My Hannspad has a sucky stock rom, but I rooted the device and put a LG990 ROM that supports the Tegra2 hardware in the Tablet.  So I can play games and do useful stuff like Netflix, Lovefilm and BB iPlayer.  I use my device for study, so it is great that I have access to under clock, thus having a longer battery, etc.  I'm finding out that I will have to move to ICS once we have a stable build, and a rooted device is a requirement.

Rooting phones is not a good idea, as some apps out there can take advantage of a rooted device, and cause all kinds of problems.  This is well documented.  Also you would be breaking the T&Cs of your contract, which could get you into trouble.  Like I said about Shmokes wanting to use the tethering, again it is a bad idea.  But he is a clever fellow, and I am sure he will refrain from using a dumb WPA2 key.  The rest of the population...who knows.  I still get calls from people getting their phones hacked.  You would be surprised how much trust people invest in their personal devices... ::) 

Is your home router secure?  Are you sure about that?  You just don't have anyone local hacking you....yet.  ;D   I keep a password list and change it every month just to be sure, and I also have an Heterogeneous NT4 server box that gives some added protection.   Not enough to keep a determined individual out though.

So if you still want to root your phone, well it is your responsibility at the end of the day.

kahlid74:

--- Quote from: knave on April 18, 2012, 12:32:25 pm ---I was surprised to hear about the all the tethering emails and threats to auto switch by AT&T. Looking into it further it looks like they can tell pretty easily for android phones too. They count the hops data packets take from your end device to their routers. If your phone is 10 hops away usually and you are sending packets from 11 hops then they know you have another device in the mix.

--- End quote ---

Without diving too deeply into this yes it's possible but not reliable.  Hop count was all the rage in the 90's.  Since then we've created and use protocols that are much faster/stronger/smarter and are hop agnostic.  Every carrier is different and if they use hop count it's their call.  As having been in the trenches in many of these situations I would look to hop count after using several other tools first.


--- Quote from: ark_ader on April 18, 2012, 02:43:13 pm ---Rooting phones is not a good idea, as some apps out there can take advantage of a rooted device, and cause all kinds of problems.  This is well documented.  Also you would be breaking the T&Cs of your contract, which could get you into trouble.  Like I said about Shmokes wanting to use the tethering, again it is a bad idea.  But he is a clever fellow, and I am sure he will refrain from using a dumb WPA2 key.  The rest of the population...who knows.  I still get calls from people getting their phones hacked.  You would be surprised how much trust people invest in their personal devices... ::) 

Is your home router secure?  Are you sure about that?  You just don't have anyone local hacking you....yet.  ;D   I keep a password list and change it every month just to be sure, and I also have an Heterogeneous NT4 server box that gives some added protection.   Not enough to keep a determined individual out though.

So if you still want to root your phone, well it is your responsibility at the end of the day.

--- End quote ---

Yeap, it's the responsibility of the person who roots it.  My experience has been that with individuals who are smart enough to root it, they are smart enough to protect it.

I think you've read a little bit too much into CNN or Fox news reports about hacking Wifi.  Hacking wireless in general requires gathering over the air packets.  Hacking WPA and attempting to hack WPA2 requires gathering a lot over the air packets (days and weeks worth) and you're still brute forcing based on rainbow tables and dictionaries.  Maybe it's been a while since I delved into the air cracking world but WPA/WPA2 aren't WEP.  They don't have a clear "crack" known.  They focus around inefficiencies in the algorithms that allow said rainbow tables and dictionary attacks to be more accurate but they are still a brute force guessing game.  If you're using WEP well yeah, then you'll be hacked mighty quick.

Also, NT4?  What is this, the 90's?  Did you mean Server 2008 or 2003?  I don't live in the Windows world very often anymore but come on, really?  You're talking about wireless being insecure and you're using a server that hasn't been patched in years?

Ed_McCarron:

--- Quote from: knave on April 17, 2012, 12:14:44 pm ---I havn't really had a reason to root it yet but maybe someday.

--- End quote ---

Installing your antitheft stuff as root lets you do a few things...  Avast, for example, lets you not only install as root (so it can turn on the GPS, wipe the phone,etc), it lets you reflash the bootloader so that even if someone pulls the SIM or does a hard reset, it'll reload itself.

For example, someone finds my phone, turns it off, puts in a prepaid sim card (with a new number) and does a factory reset.

10 minutes later, Avast has reinstalled itself, locked the phone, and SMS'd me the new number and location.

Can't do tricks like that if it's not rooted.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version