Is it illegal to share your wireless connection with a neighbor?

Question

I have Mediacom Cable Internet and have a wireless bridge/router to my neighbor allowing him to use the internet too.

Answer 1

no

Answer 2

No, but...

It's always a matter of contract and not of law, even if when you share anything with someone there is a tacit (silent) agreement (that is legally effective) between you and that person.

So when you reach an agreement with a person and you don't break any laws (I'm speaking about frauds and similar) you can do almost everything you want.

Then there is the contract between you and your telco company, the ISP provider who is giving you the internet access. In this case you have to read carefully that contract. There are surely some clauses regarding the number of connected PC, maybe something regarding the location of the connection (max one flat, one room, one area/district).

By the law you are free to do what you want with you internet connection (till you don't broadcast the signal on a large scale, ie a town), but you must respect the ISP contract, and you must to read this contract really carefully. Most of all the fees part if any.

Answer 3

Under recent international agreements it is now considered illegal to do so with someone from a different household as it deprives the ISP of a subscription. Some ISPs have already prosecuted for this. None has lost a case. With fines in the thousands (any country) and up to 5 years prison, people who just answer no without checking their facts should stick to answering cooking questions. They could get you in trouble.

Answer 4

Why would you do they might hack you and i dont think the signals will be strong enough

Answer 5

keep doing it, the feds will be barreling through your door with a swat team any time now.

d**n, some people take me w-a-a-a-y too seriously.

Answer 6

It IS illegal. It is considered stealing from the ISP. All you have to do to confirm it is to check your contract...