How am I able to surf the web since my computer is not connected to the internet?

[elocs]

I am on dialup and it is very slow. I have one phone line, so when my phone is on (I have a dial tone) I am not connected to the internet. My phone is on right now as I type this.

I first noticed this at DU this morning when I played a video on uTube. Usually it takes 40 seconds to load 3 seconds of video, so it is pretty much useless, but today it loaded very quickly for dialup. I also watched some video from a local tv station and it surprisingly loaded fast. I had no idea what was going on, but my big surprise was when I went to disconnect from the internet and found that I was already disconnected. I checked and my phone had a dial tone.

I am using a Mac mini with OS 10.4.11 on Camino. I am baffled. Any ideas?
(I am not a donor, so I cannot post this on the Mac group.)

[JanMichael]

1. are you picking up wifi from a neighbor?

?

[MADem]

2. Are you perhaps connected, unwittingly, to your neighbor's wireless broadband account? NT

[gateley]

3. Picking up WiFi from a neighbor, maybe?

Plus, Macs are just amazing! :7

[annabanana]

4. magic?

Did someone sneak in and connect you to a DSL account?

[On the Road]

5. Sure You Don't Have DSL?

Or maybe your computer has a built-in wireless modem and is picking up a local signal?

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

6. Do you see an icon in the top row that look like a quarter circle?

Changes are youre seeing someones wireless connection..

Hey are you the sob leeching my wireless..

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

7. Internet Gnomes

1) Sneak in and give elocs high speed
2) Get him to DU
3) ?
4) Profit

[mainegreen]

8. Internet gnomes are manually carrying the packets back and forth to your computer

and the lines outside your house.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

9. What kind of string are you using?

:radio:

[NoGOPZone]

10. It's amazing what Agent Mike can do, isn't it? nt

[Warren DeMontague]

11. You're not.

We're not really here. This is a dream, it's all taking place inside your head.

Here, I'll prove it to you- you're wearing white socks.

See?

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Thank Barack Obama for that.

The audacity of hope!!

[GodlessBiker]

13. It's because you forgot to retract the antennae at the top of your head.

[elocs]

14. Picking up a neighbor's WiFi is a possibility I suppose, but I don't know who that might be

or how to tell. For years I had used webtv and when MSN bought it, if you picked MSN for your isp then they threw in webtv for nothing. Although it has been a long time since I used webtv (which is only dialup) I am still on dialup with MSN.com. My mini does have Airport, but I haven't used it for years. I took my mini to a friend's house who has WiFi and my mini picked it up immediately. I'm going to have to scope this out some more.

Thanks for the responses.

[BlueJazz]

15. Note to Mr.Smith. Damnit....If you can't run the Matrix like a pro then maybe...

...it's time for a change.
This "elocs" incident can be very damaging to our system.
Pull..The.. Plug..NOW!

[elocs]

16. OK, I checked and my AirPort is on and it shows connected to linksys.

Now it's signal level is almost nothing and so dialup is much faster than it was this morning. It does show a base station id. I suppose I could solve this by turning the AirPort off. There are times when I have been online and have been timed out without knowing it, then evidently being on AirPort. I had never considered picking up anybody's WiFi signal, so this was a mystery to me.

Thanks again for the responses, and the humorous ones too.

[SoCalDem]

17. Jesus loves you n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. Are you stealing it?

:silly:

[elocs]

19. No, as I stated in my OP when I went to disconnect from the internet

I found that I was already disconnected even though I could still surf the web. I had never even given AirPort or WiFi a thought since I am not using a laptop. Initially it was a mystery to me until people here pointed out that I might be hooking onto a neighbor's WiFi, which appears to be the case.

[Warren DeMontague]

20. You realize, of course, that by logging on to DU you have put your neighbor on Agent Mike's NSA list

...I hope you're happy, now!~ ;-)

[Nederland]

21. It's called FM technology

"Fucking Magic"

[The Straight Story]

22. You are actually insane, and this thread only exists in your head - same with your computer

There is no DU either.

Now, take more shrooms and you will be in GDP....

:rofl:

[elocs]

23. Something stronger than shrooms are needed to survive or endure GDP,

which is the epitome of insanity.