Scenarios:
Using the phone offline while having a simcard attached to the phone. (Assumption: due to celltower tracking, the location of the carrier is constatnly monitored)
Connecting to wifi and having simcard attached to the phone while using a vpn. (Assumption: the vpn is useless because the real location is still trackable via celltower)
Connecting to wifi without a simcard while using a vpn. (Assumption: real location should be hidden because of the vpn and the lack of a simcard)
Connecting the phone to internet via ethernet-cable while using a vpn. (Assumption: real location should be hidden because of the vpn and the lack of a simcard)
While i'm sure that my assumption for the first two scenarios is accurate, i'm confused about the last two, what's the difference between connecting via wireless-wifi or ethernet-cable in terms of geolocation tracking, could the true location still be tracked in the first example (using a vpn over wifi without a simcard)?
Wi-Fi Location Tracking: How Does It Work?
Wi-Fi location tracking is a system created to locate devices in areas where GPS doesn't work as well. Read our article for the full story.
vpnoverview.com
Interesting.
Now i'm confused if using a vpn prevents sites from determing my real location based on the wifi-router/modem.
Don't confuse things:
A SIM card ( full form: Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module ) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and laptops).
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks in the world, used globally in home and small office networks to link desktop and laptop computers, tablet computers, smartphones, smart TVs, printers, and smart speakers together and to a wireless router to connect them to the Internet, and in wireless access points in public places like coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors with Internet connectivity for their mobile devices.
A VPN ( full form: Virtual Private Network ) is a mechanism for creating a secure connection between a computing device and a computer network, or between two networks, using an insecure communication medium such as the public Internet. VPNs are mostly absused to bypass internet censorship. Encryption is common, although not an inherent part of a VPN connection. VPNs cannot make online connections completely anonymous, but they can increase privacy and security. VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined.
Related
I'd like to be able to deploy a lightweight web server on my mobile device (android 2.1) but there are obviously NAT issues with respect to the mobile provider's network. Is there anyway I can make my device publicly available/addressable over the internet?
Thanks
as far as i know you cant, the service provider will assign each device a private address, it can only go online through their own NAT services, the phone will connect to any GSM Service providers signal distributors.
the only public IP available would be the Signal Distributors, and I doubt very highly your service provider would go through the trouble of assigning your phone a static private IP and then Port forwarding to your phone.
you can do this over WIFI without trouble you just need webservices running on the phone.
as far as i know there is no direct way of connecting to your mobile phone using a public IP Address
Hi All,
At this point, I'm just brainstorming, and would like some input. (I hope this thread is in the right place)
I'm trying to find a setup to connect to free wifi hotspots that are far away, and share that connection to a group of devices locally. For example, this solution may be useful in a boat or an RV, when you're not particularly close to a free access point.
There are commercial solutions like the Rogue Wave however, this doesn't do anything to authenticate through the Terms of Service (TOS) pages that are frequently used at free access points.
This is what brings me to using Android. There are Android apps which automate the process of accepting the terms of service. My favorite right now is WebWifiLogin (I'm familiar with the security risks involved in using public wifi; and may also have the Android device to also establish a VPN connection when doing this.) (I can't find an equivalent macro-authentication solution that will run on a PC, which would make this much easier.)
So here's my proposed solution:
1. Start with a powerful omnidirectional wifi antenna (Possibly add an in-line amp if needed. Also perhaps a directional antenna may be better for non-mobile use.)
2. Connect the antenna to any Android device that supports an external Wifi antenna. I found several Android TV devices which should work. Like This, or possibly this.
3. Set up some kind of local access point/bridge. One option may be to use fqrouter2 which supposedly uses the same Wifi radio for the local WLAN, while it also connects to the remote one. Another option may be to USB or Ethernet tether to a DD-WRT Router.
Result:
The Android device has a range to connect to a free hotspot up to a mile or two away, then automatically accepts the TOS using the WebWifiLogin app, and shares that connection locally to a handful of devices.
So am I crazy? Is this too complex to work correctly? Is there a simpler solution that I'm missing?
Can anyone confirm whether I've posted this in the correct sub-forum?
Thanks.
I use a slightly different method which yields the same results.
I have a Linksys WRT54GL router (with high gain antennas) which runs DD-WRT and a script called AutoAP. The script scans for unencrypted WIFI access points, makes sure they're live, and automatically connects to the strongest one in range.
I set up a second WPA2 encrypted WIFI SSID in the router which I connect to with my Android tablet. Once WebWifiLogin on the tablet handles the TOS login, the remote access point allows web access for any device that connects to the WRT54GL router (either by WIFI to the secondary SSID or through one of the ports)! This happens because the remote access point usually checks/remembers TOS acceptance by the MAC address of the connected device. Since it only sees the MAC address of my router, anything behind the router now gets access.
ssenemosewa said:
Once WebWifiLogin on the tablet handles the TOS login, the remote access point allows web access for any device that connects to the WRT54GL router
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great information; thanks!
I would not have thought WebWifiLogin would work when connecting through another router. When WebWifiLogin is running, its status says "Listening for WiFi events" (Or something similar) so I was under the impression that WebWifiLogin would only work if the connection to the AP is made directly by the Android WiFi interface, and not through a intermediary router.
This makes things much easier.
My WiFi is a FREE application for anyone who wants to tap onto your nearest WiFi connection at ease. An added feature that My WiFi provides is a speed test which allow users to test their connecting speed range so that they are able to gain access to the Internet through a secured and flexible manner
Search "My WiFi" on Google Play and get the orange logo app
I am new here so I shall upgrade my account to devBD later
===== Key Features =====
Free WiFi Connection
No matter where you are, My WiFi is an all-inclusive WiFi Finder application that will be able to detect the nearest WiFi signal that is available to you, allowing you to tap onto that Free WiFi Network and surf the net as you wish for FREE. What’s more, that particular WiFi connection will be stored in your mobile device for future use if you are out and about.
WiFi Speed Test
Upon connection of a WiFi, users are able to do a simple test of how strong or weak that connection is. You will be able to see metrics such as download and upload speeds for that connected network, Furthermore, My WiFi is smart enough to recommend suggestions to you pertaining to the current online activities that you are able to do with the current network e.g. messaging, gaming, or video streaming.
Secured WiFi Connection
During the Speed test process, My WiFi is also intelligent enough to detect and deter any SSLStep attach or WiFi interception or WiFi Hijacking that may compromise the security of your phone and the contents within it. My WiFi will alert you immediately if a specific network has such an issue and prompt you to disconnect from it.
HotSpot Detection
Once the connection is successful, you are able to view and monitor the quality of your WiFi. If your personal WiFi is turned on, there will be many users that are out to connect to your hotspot, which means you need to do a password change for your current router to improve the security of your WiFi and keep the connection consistent and fast without having to compromise the speed.
Users in India & Brazil are Supported, other countries are on the go.
Download
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartech.mywifi
A virtual private network, or VPN, is an encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. Everyone is using VPN according to their needs. Businesses use VPNs to connect remote datacenters, and individuals can use VPNs to get access to network resources when they’re not physically on the same LAN (local area network), or as a method for securing and encrypting their communications when they’re using an untrusted public network.
How it works
A VPN works by routing your device’s internet connection through your chosen VPN’s private server rather than your internet service provider (ISP) so that when your data is transmitted to the internet, it comes from the VPN rather than your system. The VPN acts as an intermediary of sorts as you connect to the internet, thereby hiding your IP address – the string of numbers your ISP assigns your device – and protecting your identity. Furthermore, if your data is somehow intercepted, it will be unreadable until it reaches its final destination.
A VPN creates a private “tunnel” from your device to the internet and hides your vital data through something that is known as encryption.
syncmedia1 said:
Spoiler
A virtual private network, or VPN, is an encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. Everyone is using VPN according to their needs. Businesses use VPNs to connect remote datacenters, and individuals can use VPNs to get access to network resources when they’re not physically on the same LAN (local area network), or as a method for securing and encrypting their communications when they’re using an untrusted public network.
How it works
A VPN works by routing your device’s internet connection through your chosen VPN’s private server rather than your internet service provider (ISP) so that when your data is transmitted to the internet, it comes from the VPN rather than your system. The VPN acts as an intermediary of sorts as you connect to the internet, thereby hiding your IP address – the string of numbers your ISP assigns your device – and protecting your identity. Furthermore, if your data is somehow intercepted, it will be unreadable until it reaches its final destination.
A VPN creates a private “tunnel” from your device to the internet and hides your vital data through something that is known as encryption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@syncmedia1 Please check your private messages / conversations. Thanks very much!
Regards
Oswald Boelcke
Hello,
I hope you can help me with the following questions:
When you connect to a WLAN, Android automatically determines whether it has an internet connection.
If no internet connection is detected, you are still connected to the WLAN (or a message is displayed that there is no internet connection and whether the connection should be maintained), but the data traffic is routed exclusively via the mobile network.
Now I have a network device that sends out its own WLAN but does not have Internet access itself. When I connect to its WLAN, I still cannot access the device because it recognises that no Internet connection is possible via this WLAN. Only when I explicitly switch off the mobile data can I access the device via the WLAN.
So I did some research to find out what mechanism underlies this behaviour.
What I have already been able to find out is the following:
When connecting to a WLAN, Android checks the accessibility of https://connectivitycheck.gstatic.com/generate_204. If this URL is accessible, data is also sent.
If this URL is available, data traffic is also routed via the WLAN.
So I reproduced the URL using these instructions and made it accessible locally via a redirection at my DNS server.
Now a connection to the device is actually possible via the WLAN without having to explicitly switch off the mobile data.
However, Android still recognises that no internet access is possible via the WLAN.
As I understand it, this should not be the case, since I am simulating existing access via the reconstructed connectivity check URL.
So there seem to be other mechanisms here that check the internet connection.
How exactly is connectivity checked on Android?
Can anyone tell me what other mechanisms exist here and how they can be simulated?
The second question I have also concerns the WLAN.
When I am connected to a Wi-Fi network, Android sometimes reports that the quality is low even though the Wi-Fi reception is excellent and the signal strength is also displayed as "very good".
I don't have any network rating provider active in Android.
How does Android determine that the quality is low and how can I prevent this check?
What criteria are used to rate networks without a network rating provider set up?
For completeness:
In the developer options of my smartphone, the setting "Mobile data usage always activated" is of course active.