As a techno savvy person , you find more pleasure in hacking in to your neighbours wi-fi broadband than eavesdropping on them . May the first thing you are going to do when you shifted to a new locality is to search for how many open wi-fi connections are available so that you can enjoy an online life without monthly bills from your ISP .
Some people argue that accessing an open wi-fi internet connection is not really against any rules and regulations and it is quite different from breaking in to someones network. But your neighbors technical illiteracy is not a valid reason for you to access their internet connection without their permission. Most of the time this kind of access is happening in metro cities were the wi-fi density is high and you are surrounded by the temptations of so many open wi-fi access points .
If a user forgets to protect their wi-fi access pint with a password , it does not give you a right to break in to their network. Even if you find a car unlocked with keys in place on some ones driveway , it will not give you a valid reason to drive away with that car .
Accessing a wi-fi network is not just about stealing the bandwidth of their internet connection , but also about accessing their personal data . If any data lose or theft happens on your Neighbors systems and if he /she is going for any kind of cyber forensics , you are going to be the culprit as your mac id is in the router and will act as a clear evidence against you .
So please stay away from unauthorized use of open wi-fi you find on your vicinity
“your mac id is in the router and will act as a clear evidence against you .” No. Because you can easily spoof your network card mac address and choose any mac you want and no trace will be leaved behind.