WebGuru’s Blog about Digital Life

Sometimes it is very funny to see how the Internet work. The Internet is great with its powerful penetration degrees, it can reach to anyone, anywhere and anytime. That is why we are happy to get all these unlimited information we need from the Internet. But if we did not pay attention to the information date, things will be different. I remember weeks ago, a undated news about one Airline merging had been ranked top in Google News even it was an old news. But this news item caused the stock market moving crazy for a while because people thought this airline would talk acquisition again.

But of course, today I am here not talking about something like that crazy. I just wanted to mention one blog post which has been pop-up on the Internet recently and referred to me by co-workers a couple of times.

This blog is about Hacking a commercial airport WLAN with a simple Image handler manipulation. It is great since everybody wants Free Wi-Fi. That is why it was becoming popular in digg and introduced in Lifehacker blogs. But everyone was just blindly excited and forgot the most important thing: check the publish date of this blog!

This blog was published in August, 2006, nearly two years ago. Many things would have changed in two years, especially in the high technology fields. But nobody was expressing any interests to verify this hack method first, instead just simply to digg or forward.

The reality is You can not use the image handler redirection to hack Atlanta Airport Wi-Fi networks. I am not saying what the blog author said was not correct. Yes, he were right. But at that time, Atlanta Airport Wi-Fi system was still in pilot mode. And since October 2006, they have changed their system with different vendor.

Now, when you are sitting in Atlanta Airport, and trying to connect to the Internet with the SSID ‘ATL-WIFI’ you will be re-directed to the Wi-Fi Splash page. Even you type “http://www.google.com/search?.gif” or any Image extenstions, you will still be re-directed to the Splash page. Unless you click one of the WISPs logo down the bottom (Wireless Services Providers) and log on. So I do not believe you can use the method above to hack the ATL Wi-Fi.

Of course, if you have a new way to do so, please let me know.

Well, I could not tell you how you can hack the commercial airport wireless system. But I might be able tell you how to get free wi-fi services in Atlanta Airport. Just Stay tuned, and I will let you know soon.

At the meanwhile, let me tell you what websites you can browser without paying next time in Atlanta Airport Wi-Fi networking (lists will be updated from time to time).

The City of Atlanta
Atlanta Regional Commission
Georgia Department of Economic Development
Georgia Dept of Transportation
Hartsfield-Jackson Area Transportation Management Association
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce