thelinuxlink.net

I was trying to get OpenVPN going on my Slackware box at home before leaving, but I think there are some problems with the scripts when generating keys and I'll need to investigate a little further. So to be safe on this trip I'm using SSH socks proxy. I could lock down Firefox and Thunderbird to do DNS through the remote system, but Akregator uses the proxy settings of Konqueror with no DNS lock down option. So I've verified with Wireshark that my DNS lookups with Akregator are in the clear, not that I'm too worried. So what are you guys using for VPN type security? Anyone setup any of the IPSEC VPNs? How much trouble were they?

I'm typing from Starbucks in Monterey, CA. using wifi, free with AT&T because I have AT&T DSL. This is quite a fun way to pass time while the wife gets her shopping on, .

Bugz

If I am at some public place, I typically try to not do much sensitive stuff, and if I need to I either use sites that use SSL or use SSH tunneling to get my traffic out of the danger-zone. If I ever get some serious upload speed, I'm gonna setup a full-on VPN server.

This is interesting. I was staying in a Holiday Inn Express just outside Monterey, CA this week, and they wouldn't let me login and access their wireless with my Linux laptop. It's an open network, and Network Manager would connect just fine, but I would get an error message when trying to access any website instead of getting redirected to their login page. I talked to the girl at the front desk that confirmed how it was supposed to work. Then I called the 800 number on the information card in the room only to be told by a guy with an Indian accent that they didn't support the property I was at. So I booted into Microsoft Vista, connected, and was instantly connected to their login page for network access. The error message was unique to their gateway/router, so all I can think is that is was choking on my OS, as I could use Firefox in Vista to get to the login page. And the wireless connection details were identical in Linux and Vista, i.e. IPs, DNS... The login page was with Pronto Networks which turns out uses OSS. Their web pages kind of suck, but I found a link to Resort Wifi that is a partner and appears to have the relationship with Holiday Inn. So I wrote a nice e-mail to see what they say about my experience. I'll give them some time to respond so when I give Holday Inn some feedback I can include their response. I'm kind of pissed that I had to spend my time in Windows Vista while I stayed there. It will be unfortunate if a company using OSS is discriminating against users that might use OSS too.

http://www.prontonetworks.com/

Partner that provides wireless for hotels:
http://www.resortwifi.com/

At least AT&T Wifi hotspots work with Linux, and are free if you have an AT&T DSL package above basic. So that gives you McDonalds and Starbucks among other locations for those that might have AT&T DSL and not know.

Bugz