Playing online @ a coffee shop

[yimyammer]

I hang out at a coffee shop that has free wireless internet and wanted to play online poker occasionally, but I'm concerned about security.

Is there a way to protect myself from being hacked?

FYI: I run Norton and that's all.

I assume for me to be hacked it would have to be by someone in the coffee shop or within range of the wireless internet the coffee shop offers (ie they could be in their car in the parking lot, but not in a different city/state)?

[DonovanMD]

Dont be cheap and pay $40 for net at home.

Are the homeless getting into online poker now?

[yimyammer]

[ QUOTE ]
Dont be cheap and pay $40 for net at home.

Are the homeless getting into online poker now?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not being cheap and that's not even the point of my question.

I looked into Verizon Wireless and the connection is ridiculously slow (about a year ago). It was $80/mo which I would have happily paid if it competed with my home DSL service. My high speed home internet has spoiled me to the point where I can't tolerate the dial up type speeds I've tested with wireless service.

I want to be able to play outside of my house/office. I work out of my house and I'm going crazy spending all my time inside.

What is Net at Home? If it's a wireless service, don't the same issues/concerns I have still apply?

[Sandviper23]

I have played at coffee shops alot, its a good break from the house.

The place I've played at the most has been Buffalo Wild Wings. Not sure how big of a chain it is, but I find it to be alot better than coffee shops simply because you get table service and better food.

[PLOlover]

not 100% sure but think if u just play poker its ok cause secure connection.

but don't check email cause even if login is secure (https) after login your email page is clear (http) for yahoo/hotmail, and anyone on lan can see your traffic. and if u get popup about security certificate warning don't click ok it might be fake.

[Humble Pie]

[ QUOTE ]
I want to be able to play outside of my house/office.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like..........

[giddyyup]

My concern about public networks, like coffee shops, has also been regarding (if I recall correctly) issues raised in posts about problems people have had with their accounts with poker sites due to using the same IP addresses linked with nefarious customers. Most of the posts I mention concerned somebody in the same household or dorm, but I imagine its possible such a customer could be playing at the local coffee joint as well.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]

I looked into Verizon Wireless and the connection is ridiculously slow (about a year ago). It was $80/mo

[/ QUOTE ]


So you were in a non-major city and you were just getting 'National Access' (like dial-up speed) instead of 'Broadband Access' of the major cities? (although it's admittedly not as fast as true broadband I think it does okay).

You may want to check again.
Looks like Verizon (and other services too I assume) are getting into more and more cities.

For example, I'm moving down to the Florida panhandle now and on my last visit to Destin and Panama City I was surprised to see that I was now getting Broadband Access speed down there.
As recently as a few months ago Destin, FL was still just national-access speed.
I really wasn't expecting them to get Broadband Access speed at all because it's a pretty small town and it's not even close to an interstate. Just the beach.

Anyway, I think Verizon updates their Broadband Access/Hi-Speed coverage on their website so you may want to check again to see if the area where you are living would now be faster speed.

Also, if you get Verizon calling plan service then I think the Broadband Access is only $60/mth.

[mappedout]

i'm the MIS at the co i work for and i def wouldnt trust too many public hotspots, especially since verizons network is soo strong these days in most bigger cities (my boss happens to have a house in destin,fl...weird). add that with the fact that being on your own broadband eliminates the security concerns + the poker room noticing ip address fubar makes it the smart play. now you just need to get yourself that dell laptop that has a 20" lcd builtin and breakaway kb, find the best cab service and get wasted while playing at my table [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] gl

[MicroBob]

Both parents and my sister live in Destin so we visit there often.
Verizon had always had National-Access there until just recently. I assume it was mostly similar in Panama City although I hadn't been there before this week.

I believe that the Broadband-Access stuff in the cell-towers is likely the same technology they use for the hi-speed phones like V-Cast and whatever their hand-held device stuff.
I'm not positive about that. It's just a guess.

If I'm correct that it's all pretty much the same technology then they have every incentive in the world to get on the stick and get the V-Cast/Broadband Access into as many out-of-the-way towns and onto as many lengthy stretches of interstate as possible.

When I first got the Verizon-Wireless in Sept, 2005 they weren't even in Memphis yet which isn't exactly the smallest city in the world (but they were in Nashville the cust-serv rep cheerfully informed me which, of course, doesn't help me in the slightest).

So Verizon hi-speed didn't even get into a mid-major size city like Memphis until Dec, 2005 or so.
And by June, 2007 they are covering such off-beaten-path places like Destin, FL.

Of course, all the other wireless-broadband providers like Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobil, etc should have similar incentives to get into as many of those small cities as possible.
Of course Sprint likes to brag in their commercials that their hi-speed covers more cities than Cingular (it might just be 2 little cities more for all we know).
They understand that wide coverage is a big deal.

I'm pretty content with my Verizon broadband but it really does depend on where you are. And my guess is still similar to what it always has been in that I suspect there isn't that much difference in quality/speed/coverage between all the major providers. Or if there is there's a high likelihood that the difference wouldn't effect you in the slightest.

Major cities will mean good speed. Middle of the Rocky Mountains nowhere near a major city will probably mean crappy speed whether you have Sprint, Verizon or whatever.