Hi,

I see that Apple have announced free Cloud (www.thecloud.net) wifi access for all o2 iPhone customers.

Does anyone have any clue as to how they would restrict this to o2 customers? I wonder if it will work for people in the UK with unlocked iphones on other networks!

Hopefully just noticed two pubs and one shopping centre in town have CLOUD.

How would it work....

Just noticed that cloud uses mac addresses (no user/pass) for authentication.

Our phones mac address will NOT be on the o2 database...

or perhaps they will be ...?

Does anyone know about the formatting of mac addresses and if certain bits indicate the device to be an iphone. If they only worked on these bits rather than the complete address.

My guess is that your mac address will be supplied as part of 02 uk activation and then end up in the cloud database. Cancel/End of contract removed from cloud database.

Most likely a service you sign up for (giving them your mac adress), or some program you run on the iPhone that will give O2 your mac adress over either wifi or edge.

Originally Posted by mdfreeman

or perhaps they will be ...?

Does anyone know about the formatting of mac addresses and if certain bits indicate the device to be an iphone. If they only worked on these bits rather than the complete address.

My guess is that your mac address will be supplied as part of 02 uk activation and then end up in the cloud database. Cancel/End of contract removed from cloud database.

There are some ways to see which device has which MAC adress. But you can clone mac adresses pretty easily.. So you can change your MAC adress all you like = cloud network sounds pretty insecure to me.

Originally Posted by maddox

Hi,

I see that Apple have announced free Cloud (www.thecloud.net) wifi access for all o2 iPhone customers.

Does anyone have any clue as to how they would restrict this to o2 customers? I wonder if it will work for people in the UK with unlocked iphones on other networks!

probably via the phone's imei, which will be registered with O2 when activated...

I will try my iphone in a cloud access point this afternoon.

Cloud covers all the airports as well...

Originally Posted by MetalRat

probably via the phone's imei, which will be registered with O2 when activated...

The Cloud just run 802.11 kit though... not sure that the IMEI is transmitted as a matter of course to Wifi hotspots, especially since most Wifi connections will be made via laptops - IMEIs are only identifiers for GSM kit are they not?

Unless the Cloud change their authentication protocol to also ask for the IMEI of a mobile Wifi phone *if it is an iPhone* then I find this unlikely.

They'll have to go by MAC addresses or have some access to O2's phone number database. MAC addresses will be cloned and access procured that way, phone number will be more difficult... but will require custom software on the Cloud's side as it's not generic for all 802.11 equipment...

First of all,

mac addresses can be spoofed so that's not much of a problem.

Second, it is possible that Cloud wont check the full length of the MAC address (that would require a large and ever growing database as iphones continue to sell) but just the vendor part of it (first few digits, dont remember exactly which ones). In which case we will PROBABLY be good to go, even with American Iphones. Id love to be able to surf the web with my iphone during my vacation in the UK

I'm already using their "unlimited" service at £9.99 a month which allows you to register several devices.
You register the mac address of each device.