Question

Obviously there are security reasons to close a wireless network and it’s not fun if someone is stealing your bandwidth. That would be a serious problem?

To address the first concern: Does a device on the same wireless network have any special privileges or access that an other device on the internet has?
Assumptions : Wireless network is connected to the internet

The second seems like a community issue. If your neighbor is stealing bandwidth, you’d act just as if he were ‘borrowing’ water or electricity.

First, Talk to him about the problem and if that doesn’t work, go to the authorities or lock stuff up. Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Bruce Schneier is famous for running an open wireless network at home (see here). He does it for two reasons:

1. To be neighborly (you’d let your neighbor borrow a cup of sugar, wouldn’t you? Why not a few megabits?)
2. To keep away from the false sense of security that a firewall gives you. In other words, it forces him to make sure his hosts are secure.

Personally, I would never run an open wireless network for one reason: accountability. If someone does something illegal on my network, I don’t want to be held accountable.